FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington will present Jay Craven, award-winning filmmaker, director, writer and producer, as its next reader in the UMF Visiting Writers Series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Emery Community Arts Center on the UMF campus.

An independent New England filmmaker, Craven leads the film studies program at Marlboro College in Vermont. He also directs the Movies from Marlboro program where 22 professionals mentor and collaborate with 32 students from multiple colleges to make a full-tilt, professional feature film for national release every two years.

His latest film produced through the program, “Peter and John,” is set in 1872 on Nantucket and stars Jacqueline Bisset.

Craven has written and directed seven feature films including “Where the Rivers Flow North,” with Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal and Michael J. Fox; “Disappearances,” with Kris Kristofferson; and “Northern Borders,” with Bruce Dern and Genevieve Bujold.

Craven has also made four documentaries and an Emmy-winning regional comedy series for public television. His films have played 73 international festivals, including Sundance, and he has had special screenings at Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian, Harvard Film Archives, Art Institute of Chicago, Cinematheque Francaise and others.

Craven’s awards include The Producer Guild of America’s 1995 NOVA Award for Most Promising New Motion Picture Producer of the Year; two New England Emmys for “Windy Acres”; 1998 Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and two National Endowment for the Arts Regional Film fellowships.

The reading is free and open to the public.

FMI: Jay Craven, [email protected], www.movies.marlboro.edu.