Maryland Film Festival (MdFF) announced the full lineup of 104 films and 33 programs for the 23rd annual edition of the festival, with Women Is Losers, directed by Lissette Feliciano as the 2021 Closing Night film.
The debut feature written, directed, and produced by American filmmaker and Tribeca Film Institute alum Lissette Feliciano, Women Is Losers is a feminist coming-of-age drama set in 1960s San Francisco. The film stars Lorenza Izzo (Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood), Bryan Craig (Grand Hotel), Chrissie Fit (Pitch Perfect), and Simu Liu (Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), and premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival in March 2021.
“I heard of Maryland Film Festival because Kathryn Bigelow was the first female director to ever close it,” said Feliciano. “You cannot be what you cannot see. It’s an honor to be here ten or so years later as the first Latinx woman to ever close MdFF.”
For the first time this year, the Festival offers new and returning audiences what it describes as an accessible way to navigate a selection of 2021 Festival films. The Baltimore Pathway features stories made in and about Baltimore and celebrates emerging and established local filmmakers and the breadth of stories Baltimore inspires. The Family Pathway includes films for movie lovers young and old and features stories of discovery, family, and coming of age.
With 13 shorts programs and 20 features, this year’s line-up truly has something for everyone,” said Christy LeMaster, Artistic Director of the Starvos Niarchos Foundation Parkway Theatre and Maryland Film Festival. “There are fast-paced crowd pleasing comedies, like First Date; uplifting, family-friendly documentaries like Lily Topples the World; auteur takes by emerging directors, like the animated narrative Cryptozoo; and several excellent short and feature length movies of all types made by Baltimore-based filmmakers.”
Baltimore Pathway
- All Light, Everywhere directed by Theo Anthony
- Anatomy of Wings directed by Nikiea Redmond and Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander
- Balti-Shorts, various directors, short film program
- Baltimore is Burning, various directors, short film program
- Mom & M directed by Jena Burchick
- Strawberry Mansion directed by Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley
Family Pathway
- Beans directed by Tracey Deer
- Lily Topples the World directed by Jeremy Workman
- Mom & M directed by Jena Burchick
- Teen Dreams, various directors, short film program
“As a Baltimore native, it is such a joy to be an official selection of the 2021 MdFF and make my feature-length debut with my documentary, Mom & M,” said Jena Burchick, director of Mom & M. “The film offers an intimate portrait of Baltimore transplants, the Richard family, and a glimpse into the complexity of marriage and what unfolds when one partner comes out as transgender, while caring for an ill child.”
“Beauty happens in Baltimore City. Healing happens. Young women grow up breaking cycles and improve our communities one breath at a time. The spirit of Baltimore lives in our community story, Anatomy of Wings,” said Nikiea Redmond and Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander, co-directors of the documentary film.
The 2021 Maryland Film Festival will be held Wednesday, May 19 through Thursday, May 27, 2021.
2021 Maryland Film Festival lineup.
Feature Films
- All Light, Everywhere directed by Theo Anthony
- Anatomy of Wings directed by Nikiea Redmond and Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander
- At the Ready directed by Maisie Crow
- Beans directed by Tracey Deer
- Cryptozoo directed by Dash Shaw
- First Date directed by Darren Knapp and Manuel Crosby
- Fugitive Dreams directed by Jason Neulander
- Have a Nice Life directed by Prashanth Kamalakanthan
- iGilbert directed by Adrian Martinez
- Lily Topples the World directed by Jeremy Workman
- Mom & M directed by Jena Burchick
- No Ordinary Man directed by Aisling Chin-Yee & Chase Joynt
- Paradise directed by Immanuel Esser
- Rival directed by Marcus Lenz
- Soy Cubana directed by Jeremy Ungar, Ivaylo Getov
- Strawberry Mansion directed by Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley
- The Badger directed by Kazem Mollaie
- Trees of Peace directed by Alanna Brown
- We’re All Going to the World’s Fair directed by Jane Schoenbrun
- Women Is Losers directed by Lissette Feliciano
Short Films
- Altered States
- Asparagus 2 directed by Yuma Slowbinder
- Best Guests directed by Max Sherwood
- Common Dwelling directed by Nick Butler
- FREEZE directed by Maya Albanese
- Please Enjoy Your Stay directed by Tynan DeLong
- Shoot-the-Chutes directed by Molly Pattison and Andrew Wood
- Slow Vine directed by Glenn Fellman
- Midnighters
- Inheritance directed by Annalise Lockhart
- Mealworm directed by Eddie Shore
- PHANTOM VALLEY directed by Nina Kotyantz
- Someone’s In Here directed by Ben Kitnick
- Standing Woman directed by Tony Hipwell
- The Star in the Mirror directed by Miceál Og O’Donnell
- ZONA directed by Masami Kawai
- Narrative Frontiers
- Enviar y Recibir directed by Collins Salovaara
- Kabibi directed by Elaisha Stokes
- Stagiaire directed by Marina Michelson
- Succor directed by Hannah Cheesman
- Whalebone directed by Cameron Morton
- World directed by Christine Haroutounian
- Animated Shorts
- Bad Mood directed by Loris Giuseppe Nese
- Concoction directed by Jon Frier
- Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad directed by Camrus Johnson and Pedro Piccinini
- Night Lights directed by Hannah & Todd Churn
- Nuevo Rico directed by Kristian Mercado
- Our Bed is Green directed by Margaret Brennan
- Sad Beauty directed by Arjan Brentjes
- Snow Angel directed by Evie Metz
- The Wind directed by Miranda Javid
- Baltimore is Burning
- Children of Paris directed by Brandy Creek
- Into the Light: A Trip Through Baltimore Ballroom directed by Jason Gray and Kathryn Martin
- The Filthiest People Alive directed by Thomas A. Hedges
- Balti-Shorts
- Diary directed by Gillian Waldo
- Fugazi’s Barber directed by Joe Tropea and Robert A. Emmons Jr.
- SAVE THE MANCHILDS, FOR THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH directed by Gyasi Mitchell
- The Aviary directed by Charlie Knott
- The Cal, The Coz, and the Streak directed by David Bonnett Jr.
- Words for Thomas directed by Alonzo Hellerbach
- Queer Stories
- BUTTERFLY directed by Lazarus Lazarides
- It’ll Be Over Soon directed by Benjamin Rigby
- Kind Of directed by Noah Schamus
- Light on a Path, Follow directed by Elliot Montague
- Lilac Lips, Dutchess County directed by Tristan Scott-Behrends
- Plaisir directed by Molly Gillis
- Pure directed by Natalie Jasmine Harris
- Trade Center directed by Adam Baran
- Unorthodocs
- American Wildlife directed by Elizabeth Lo
- BALTIMORE directed by Margaret Rorison
- Drills directed by Sarah Friedland
- Space Lady directed by Sophia P. Feuer
- There Was Nobody Here We Knew directed by Khaula Malik
- Wavelengths directed by Jessie Zinn
- Documentary Shorts
- A Syrian Woman directed by Khawla Al Hammouri, Louis Karim, and Sayad DeCaprio
- Florida Woman directed by Catie Skipp
- God’s Plant directed by Jeremy Seifert and Malek Asfeer
- Lion on the Mat directed by Asali Echols
- Ten Leaves Dilated directed by Kate Hinshaw
- Ti David directed by Ben Kitnick and Jess Obert
- Teen Dreams
- Afro directed by Jenn Shaw
- CLASS OF 2020 directed by Faye Tsakas
- Cousins directed by Mandy Marcus
- Forever Tonight directed by Swetha Regunathan
- In Sync directed by Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz
- Twice as Good directed by Kristian King
- Lineage
- Leave a Message directed by David Malouf
- Lina directed by Elizabeth Manashil
- MADA (Mother) directed by Joseph Douglas-Elmhirst
- Soon directed by Jérémi Roy
- Strawberry Shake directed by Dianne Bellino
- Diverging Forms
- Animal Trials directed by Drew Durepos
- Another Horizon directed by Stephanie Barber
- Malembe directed by Luis Arnias
- Morning Sickness in the USA directed by Cristine Brache
- News from Nowhere directed by Ben Balcom
- The Canyon directed by Zachary Epcar
- Valid & Literal Magic directed by Ebony DeGrace
- Charged Spaces
- Benjamin, Benny, Ben directed by Paul Shkordoff
- Bruiser directed by Miles Warren
- Da-Dzma (A Sister and a Brother) directed by Jaro Minne
- Grandma’s House directed by Dante Jiayu Liu
- In Accordance With directed by Sarah Friedland and Alessandra Lacorraza
- Outsiders directed by Gleb Osatinkski
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