Mustache film festival to be held in Maine

Ellahi Bakhsh Baluch, a Pakistani renowned for his thick mustache, poses on a stage during a national flag rally in Islamabad November 30 1998. REUTERS/Stringer .

Move over, Cannes. Maine will be playing host to its first-ever international mustache 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 mustaches or a  main character who wears a mustache, said Nick Callanan, head of No Umbrella Media, a video production company organizing the event.
The idea for the mustache 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 organizations, he said.
This year's 2012 Stache Pag will feature contestants wearing all manner of mustaches, 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 mustache. 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.

Source: REUTERS