Projectionist Jak Peters stands near a projector on Wednesday while checking the 35 mm print of the film “What’s Love Got to Do With It” at the Waterville Opera House, in preparation for the Maine International Film Festival that runs from Friday to Sunday, July 16, in downtown Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — City business leaders are bracing for a boost in economic activity downtown as the 10-day Maine International Film Festival prepares to open Friday in a new consolidated location at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center.

“We’re super excited to have a large concentration of people downtown,” Jason Furchak, co-owner of Holy Cannoli, an eatery on Waterville’s Main Street, said on Wednesday. “It’s a real test of what our downtown is supposed to be.”

For years, the festival – known by its acronym, MIFF – has screened some 100 films at several locations across the region, including at the Waterville Opera House, the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville, and the Skowhegan Drive-In Theatre. MIFF draws thousands of film enthusiasts to the region, but with its events scattered, the economic impact hasn’t been felt that keenly downtown, some business owners said Wednesday.

“When it was further it didn’t bring a lot of people here,” said David Spinney-Porter, co-owner of Incense & Peppermints, a candy and gift store Spinney-Porter and his husband opened six years ago on Main Street.

In MIFF’S 26th year, the festival has now found a permanent, consolidated home in the Paul J. Schupf Art Center on Main Street, which is connected by a skywalk to the Waterville Opera House. The $18 million, 32,000-square-foot arts center was built by Colby College as part of a broader effort to revitalize downtown Waterville.

The celebration of Maine and international filmmaking is expected to draw thousands of people to downtown Waterville to stay, shop and eat while enjoying the festival.

“We’re really excited to welcome people to our new home, and in person,” Mike Perrault, the festival’s executive director, said Wednesday. “The Maine Film Center has three state-of-the-art theaters, it’s connected directly to the opera house … it’s going to be just a hub of activity for people who love movies and the arts in general.”

The arts center, which opened last winter, houses the Waterville Opera House, the Maine Film Center, and Ticonic Gallery and Studios. With a centralized box office and a single set of staff, Perrault said that it hasn’t been too challenging to adapt this festival into the new space.

Festivalgoers should find it a lot easier to see multiple movies in a single day at the center, Perrault said, adding that consolidating MIFF’s operations also will have a positive ripple effect on area businesses.

“We hope people can explore the Central Maine area, support our local businesses, have an adventure, and then also come to the movies and be transformed in that way as well,” Perrault said.

Anticipating the increased exposure, the co-owners of Holy Cannoli said Wednesday that they will be extending their business hours to 7 p.m. each day.

At the Lockwood Hotel on Main Street, a two-minute walk from the festival’s new home, interim General Manager John Phillips-Sandy said they already have seen a significant increase in bookings for the coming days, and expect even more people to check in once the festival begins.

“Last year, we saw great crowds coming in,” Phillips-Sandy said of when only Lockwood’s restaurant, Front and Main, was open. “Now that we have the hotel open as well … that’s just really exciting.”

Projectionist Jak Peters stands near a projector on Wednesday while checking the 35 mm print of the film “What’s Love Got to Do With It” at the Waterville Opera House, in preparation for the Maine International Film Festival that runs from Friday to Sunday, July 16, in downtown Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The festival kicks off Friday with a screening of a new feature film from Maine, “Hangdog,” at 7 p.m. Another three film screenings and a rock concert will take place on Friday, and 15 more films will be shown Saturday. The festival concludes on Sunday, July 16.

This Sunday, after a string of screenings and events, the festival will honor one of its two special guests, Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, with the “Mid-life Achievement Award.” Enyedi has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, Perrault said. She also served as the jury chair for the short film competition at Cannes this year.

The festival’s other special guest is Bill Morrison, an archivist, and filmmaker who will have a threefold exhibition of his work shown Thursday and Friday next week. In part, Perrault said, Morrison’s work is being screened at MIFF in anticipation of an upcoming exhibition of his work at the Colby Museum of Art in August.

The full festival schedule, ticket information, and related details can be found at miff.org.