Maine to host first-ever moustache film fest

 Move over, Cannes. Maine will be playing host to its first-ever international moustache film festival, part of its annual pageant that celebrates the bristly facial hair.

The festival set for March 30 in Portland will feature short films with storylines that involve moustaches or a main character who wears a moustache, said Nick Callanan, head of No Umbrella Media, a video production company organising the event.

The idea for the moustache film festival, believed to be the first of its kind, grew out of an annual mustache pageant held locally to benefit arts and cancer research organisations, he said.

This year’s 2012 Stache Pag will feature contestants wearing all manner of moustaches, from handlebars to horseshoes, Callanan said. There are also the walrus and Fu Manchu styles, he said.
“It’s just about men expressing themselves,” he said.

To be considered for the festival, films must be eight minutes or less and have a mustache theme or a main character with a moustache. Callanan said he has received submissions from as far away as Norway.

The films will be screened ahead of the pageant, which has been held annually for five years at bars, bowling alleys and elsewhere, he said.

What began as a gathering of friends mushroomed into an event that attracted some 450 people last year, he said.

The pageant includes categories for various types of moustaches, including the “Magnum, PI,” named after the amply mustachioed television character played by actor Tom Selleck.

Hollywood movies that would be considered “moustache films” might include Smoky and the Bandit, starring Burt Reynolds with a thick moustache, Tombstone with Val Kilmer or films featuring Chuck Norris.