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.
Maryland Film Festival
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First 10 Documentaries Announced for 2019 Maryland Film Festival Featuring Miles Davis, Mike Wallace
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Stanley Nelson’s Miles Davis documentary and an eye-popping expose on the world of competitive dog grooming (scored by Baltimore’s own Dan Deacon) are among the first 10 documentaries selected for the 2019 Maryland Film Festival. The Festival will run Wednesday, May 8 through Sunday, May 12 in Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District!
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First 10 Films Announced for 2019 Maryland Film Festival
Frances Ferguson directed by Bob Byington The Maryland Film Festival has announced the first 10 narrative films selected for the 21st edition taking place from Wednesday, May 8 through Sunday, May 12 in Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District. Also included in these 10: John Waters’ annual pick.
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2015 Maryland Film Festival Completes Film Lineup, Fest to Close with THE WOLFPACK
Maryland Film Festival completed its 2015 lineup today, unveiling its Closing Night film, the titles for its annual Opening Night Shorts Program, and a few late-breaking features. The 2015 Festival runs May 6 to 10 in downtown Baltimore.
Maryland Film Festival’s Closing Night film will be Crystal Moselle’s The Wolfpack (pictured above), the mind-blowing buzz documentary that took home the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. MFF also announced 5 additional emerging features for its lineup, including new work from Joe Swanberg, Rick Alverson, and Andrew Bujalski; and two repertory screenings guest-curated by key figures in Baltimore’s cultural scene: musician Abdu Ali introducing Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, and Wham City’s Alan Resnick and Dina Kelberman introducing Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls.
Maryland Film Festival first devoted its Opening Night to celebrating shorts filmmakers in 2002, and has done so each year since 2004. Opening Night will take place in the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Falvey Hall the evening of Wednesday, May 6th. Each Opening Night short will be hosted by its filmmaker. MFF 2015’s Opening Night shorts are:
BAD BOY OF BOWLING (Bryan Storkel) From the co-director of Fight Church, a high-octane portrait of a bowling star with a plus-sized personality.
CHARLOTTE (Angel Kristi Williams) A coming-of-age story from the director of MFF 2012’s The Christmas Tree, a Baltimore native.
MELVILLE (James M. Johnston) A rapper struggling with personal pain finds release in music. Directed by the producer of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.
PINK GRAPEFRUIT (Michael Mohan) A couple sets up two friends for a romantic weekend. Winner of the narrative shorts jury award at SXSW.
SHARE (Pippa Bianco) A young woman returns to high school after being shamed by an explicit video. Winner of a special jury prize at SXSW.
Feature films announced for MFF 2015 today:
Best of Enemies (Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville) In 1968, a ratings-starved ABC coordinated a series of debates between conservative journalist William F. Buckley, Jr. and liberal novelist and thinker Gore Vidal. The network garnered huge audiences—and perhaps a bit more than they bargained for, as high-level political discourse collided with name-calling and meltdowns. This Sundance-premiered documentary comes courtesy of Twenty Feet From Stardom director Morgan Neville, and author/filmmaker Robert Gordon (of MFF 2012’s Very Extremely Dangerous).
Digging For Fire (Joe Swanberg) When young parents Tim (Jake Johnson) and Lee (Rosemarie DeWitt) agree to house-sit for a wealthy acquaintance, Tim finds something suspicious on the grounds—and an initial spark of intrigue becomes a consuming obsession. Joe Swanberg continues to take his unique working methods to the next level, with an amazing cast that includes Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Jane Adams, Sam Elliott, and Mike Birbiglia, all working together to deliver an infectious mix of comedy, drama, romance, and thrills.
Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989) Spike Lee’s modern classic, detailing racial tensions and police brutality on the hottest day of summer in Bedford-Stuyvesant, has never been more crucial and relevant. With the sounds of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” blasting from boomboxes, this seminal film boasts cinematography from Ernest Dickerson, and an Academy Award-nominated screenplay (not to mention an iconic performance) from Lee; his phenomenal ensemble cast includes Ossie Davis, Danny Aiello, Ruby Dee, Rosie Perez, Joie Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson. Selected and guest-hosted by musician, DJ, and curator Abdu Ali.
Entertainment (Rick Alverson) Gregg Turkington, perhaps best known for his persona Neil Hamburger, stars as The Comedian, a beleaguered, Hamburger-ian performer who endlessly tours Grade-Z clubs and non-venues across America, shocking and dismaying audiences with his lewd and convoluted punchlines. At turns bleak, poignant, disturbing, and darkly hilarious, this fascinating and beautifully composed provocation from the director of The Comedy also features Amy Seimetz, John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Lotte Verbeek, and Michael Cera.
People, Places, Things (Jim Strouse) In this thoughtful and hilarious rom-com, Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords and What We Do in the Shadows stars as a graphic novelist whose comfortable life is shaken after walking in on his wife with another man. Downgraded to a tiny apartment and weekends-only status with his twin daughters, a bright spot appears when a student in a college art course he teaches challenges him to be more social and adventurous.
Results (Andrew Bujalski) High-octane personal trainer Kat (Cobie Smulders) works for her friend, fitness guru and entrepreneur Trevor (Guy Pearce)—both of whom have their lives turned upside-down when nouveau-riche couch potato Danny (Kevin Corrigan) arrives at their gym. The director of MFF 2013’s Computer Chess follows up that highly experimental work with something different: a romantic comedy with a stellar cast and a massive heart.
Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven, 1995) Intentional camp? Brilliant social commentary? A noble failure? Irredeemable trash? Books have been written exploring what Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Starship Troopers, The Fourth Man) was going for with this follow-up to mega-hit Basic Instinct. Starring Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, and Gina Gershon, this seedy, Vegas-set film was derided upon its release but has lived on as a midnight movie and cult favorite. Selected and guest-hosted by Alan Resnick and Dina Kelberman of Wham City.
The Wolfpack (Crystal Moselle) CLOSING NIGHT This extraordinary documentary brings us into the lives of the Angulo brothers, who grew up homeschooled and in extreme isolation from the outside world in a Lower East Side apartment. Home video became their only window into the outside world, and they took to recreating their favorite scenes and styling themselves after films such as Reservoir Dogs. But when one of the brothers escapes the confines of their apartment, all of their lives are forever changed. A sensation at Sundance, where it won the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize, this is a documentary that delivers on the buzz, built on amazing access to a truly incredible story and unforgettable characters.
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14 More Feature Films + John Waters Pick: KILLER JOE Added to 2015 Maryland Film Festival
Maryland Film Festival continues to add to its lineup for the 17th annual festival which will take place May 6 to 10, 2015 in downtown Baltimore.
Today’s announcement includes two special events that have become annual MFF traditions: a film selected and hosted by legendary filmmaker and MFF board member John Waters, and a silent film presented with a live original score by Alloy Orchestra. Waters has selected William Friedkin’s 2011 neo-noir Killer Joe, starring Matthew McConaughey; Alloy will accompany 1926’s Son of the Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino.
In addition to these repertory-film events, Maryland Film Festival unveiled another fourteen feature films for MFF 2015, including the area premieres of an exciting array of emerging narrative, documentary, and international titles.
The titles announced today for MFF 2015 are:
6 YEARS (Hannah Fidell) The director of MFF 2013’s A Teacher returns with the story of Mel (Taissa Farmiga), whose future becomes unsettled when her long-term boyfriend Dan (Ben Rosenfield)’s career aspirations pose a threat to the stability of their relationship. Co-starring Lindsay Burdge and Joshua Leonard, and executive-produced by Jay and Mark Duplass, this poignant drama boasts real relationship insights and resonant, true-to-life performances.
CROCODILE GENNADIY (Steve Hoover) This intense, visually stunning, and morally complex documentary uses a remarkable central character as a window into change and tumult in contemporary Ukraine. Pastor Gennadiy Mokhnenko wages a one-man war against drug abuse and serves as a tough-love father figure to homeless and at-risk youth, squaring off with dealers and intervening in the lives of addicts. But is vigilante action the answer to these problems? Executive produced by Terrence Malick.
DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON (Douglas Tirola) This uproarious documentary, which premiered at Sundance, brings the history of The National Lampoon to raucous life. In 1970, a new counterculture rag spun off from the Harvard Lampoon, launching a comedy revolution impacting not just the printed word but also film, television, radio, and beyond—and giving an early platform to some of the major talents of late-20th Century comedy.
FIELD NIGGAS (Khalik Allah) Street photographer Khalik Allah takes us into the nightlife of 125th Street and Lexington in Harlem, shattering the usual wall between documentarian and subject as he paints portraits of modern street life filled with love and humor, but also hard times and regret. An immersive documentary with a unique visual sensibility, Allah’s film comes to MFF fresh from wowing audiences at True/False and Sarasota.
FOR THE PLASMA (Bingham Bryant and Kyle Molzan) A young woman joins a friend in a sleepy town in Maine, where they use computers and digital cameras to observe a nearby forest, collecting abstruse data used to make stock-market predictions. This challenging, idiosyncratic piece of cinema-as-puzzle finds a film language all its own; shot on Super 16mm, it also boasts an evocative score by experimental composer Keiichi Suzuki.
FRAME BY FRAME (Alexandria Bombach and Mo Scarpelli) This SXSW-premiered documentary follows four photographers in contemporary Afghanistan. These members of an emerging free press risk life and limb to fill the photojournalist void left by the withdraw of international media—not to mention make up for lost time, as photography was banned under Taliban rule. Their images and stories are unforgettable.
GIRLHOOD (Céline Sciamma) In a tough suburb of Paris, teenager Marieme navigates an often harsh, male-dominated world—her life taking a new turn when she finds a place within an initially hostile all-girl gang. From the director of Water Lilies and Tomboy comes an emotionally rich drama that wowed audiences at Cannes, Toronto, and Sundance, driven by an unforgettable lead performance from Karidja Touré.
IN THE BASEMENT (Ulrich Seidl) The director of the staggering Paradise trilogy, all three films of which were presented within MFF 2013, returns to the realm of intimate documentary with this stylized, disturbing, and darkly hilarious work. The basements of Austria open up to Seidl’s camera, revealing private lives built around such underground worlds as shooting ranges, taxidermy, BDSM, and Nazi memorabilia.
JAUJA (Lisandro Alonso) Viggo Mortensen stars as a Danish engineer who’s travelled to Patagonia with his teenage daughter to work for the Argentine army. When she disappears, he ventures out in pursuit, embarking on a journey full of crises physical, emotional, and existential. Lisandro Alonso (MFF 2010’s Liverpool) works here not only with one of contemporary cinema’s greatest performers, but also a bold new visual approach.
KILLER JOE (William Friedkin, 2011) Legendary filmmaker John Waters has selected a favorite film to host within each Maryland Film Festival since its inaugural 1999 edition. This year’s choice is William Friedkin’s Texas-set neo-noir, with Matthew McConaughey as a cop who doubles as a hitman, and Emile Hirsch as a drug dealer who summons “Killer” Joe’s services—but quickly finds himself in over his head.
LIMBO (Anna Sofie Hartmann) In a small port town in Denmark, high-school student Sara (Annika Nuka Mathiassen) grows increasingly fascinated by her young professor Karen (Sofía Nolsøe Mikkelsen), and her challenging ideas about gender, art, and life. This work of patient beauty screened at Rotterdam, San Sebastian, and SXSW, and will be hosted at MFF by guest curator Matt Porterfield (the director of Hamilton, Putty Hill, and I Used to Be Darker).
THE REAPER (Zvonimir Jurić) From Croatia comes this tense and moody drama about a quiet loner haunted by his criminal past—and by other residents of his small town, who won’t let him forget. When he stops one night to come to the assistance of a woman stranded by the roadside, his evening takes a strange turn, launching three intertwined plot threads that recall Haneke in their grim outlook and narrative potency.
REBELS OF THE NEON GOD (Tsai Ming-liang, 1992) Over the last three decades, Tsai Ming-liang has produced one of the most impressive and distinct filmographies of our time, each starring unique presence Lee Kang-sheng. This is where it all began: Tsai’s first feature film, set amidst the streets, malls, and arcades of Taipei youth culture in the early 1990s. Newly restored, and enjoying its first release on the U.S. big screen.
SON OF THE SHEIK (George Fitzmaurice, 1926) MFF favorites Alloy Orchestra have introduced new generations to the wonders of silent cinema with their innovative scores for films including The Lost World, Metropolis, and Man With a Movie Camera. Now they return to MFF to accompany screen legend Rudolph Valentino’s final film, an adventure classic from the director of Mata Hari.
TIRED MOONLIGHT (Britni West) Gorgeously shot vignettes built around a mix of local non-professionals and seasoned performers (including Girls’ Alex Karpovsky) coalesce into a rich and poetic portrait of a pit-stop town in Montana situated amidst stunning natural beauty. Tired Moonlight premiered at Slamdance 2015, where it took home the Jury Award for Narrative Feature, and went on to screen within such prestigious festivals as New Directors/New Films and the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
VENICE (Kiki Álvarez) It’s payday, and three female coworkers at a hair salon in Havana head out for a night on the town, their moonlit partying encountering unexpected twists and yielding surprising personal revelations. This exciting independent Cuban/Colombian co-production not only gives us rare access to an insider’s view of Havana, it also displays a refreshingly frank and empowered take on female sexuality.
Today’s new announcements join the 20 features already announced for MFF 2015, including the world premiere of Stephen Cone’s ensemble drama HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY:
BEATS OF THE ANTONOV (Hajooj Kuka)
THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION (Stanley Nelson)
BREAKING A MONSTER (Luke Meyer)
CALL ME LUCKY (Bobcat Goldthwait)
CHRISTMAS, AGAIN (Charles Poekel)
DEEP WEB (Alex Winter)
FUNNY BUNNY (Alison Bagnall)
A GAY GIRL IN DAMASCUS: THE AMINA PROFILE (Sophie Deraspe)
GOD BLESS THE CHILD (Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck)
HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY (Stephen Cone) World premiere.
PROPHET’S PREY (Amy Berg)
SAILING A SINKING SEA (Olivia Wyatt)
STINKING HEAVEN (Nathan Silver)
TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL (Jeffrey Schwarz)
TWO SHOTS FIRED (Martín Rejtman)
UNCLE KENT 2 (Todd Rohal)
UNEXPECTED (Kris Swanberg)
WELCOME TO LEITH (Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker)
WESTERN (Bill and Turner Ross)
A WONDERFUL CLOUD (Eugene Kotlyarenko)
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Maryland Film Festival Reveals Names of 10 More Films on 2015 Lineup
Maryland Film Festival revealed the names of ten more films on the the lineup for the upcoming 17th annual festival, which will take place May 6–10, 2015 in downtown Baltimore. Films include Charles Poekel’s Christmas, Again; Todd Rohal’s comedy Uncle Kent 2; and new documentary work from Bobcat Goldthwait, Amy Berg, and Alex Winter.
The films include:
THE AMINA PROFILE (Sophie Deraspe) Two women, Sandra in Montreal and Amina in Syria, meet online, and begin a flirtatious relationship that quickly turns serious. When Amina begins to blog as “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” she garners international attention as an outspoken representative of a marginalized community. Then Sandra hears that Amina has been kidnapped—and, in this fascinating documentary fueled by mystery, politics, and sexuality, she must examine how much about Amina she truly knows.
BEATS OF THE ANTONOV (Hajooj Kuka) War reporter and documentary filmmaker Hajooj Kuka takes viewers into the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions of South Sudan, where we meet displaced South Sudanese who live under the constant threat of bombardment from the Sudanese military via Antonov cargo planes. But defying familiar victim narratives, Kuka’s camera finds resilient people that summon strength and positivity from music, laughter, and a determination to maintain their culture against any odds.
CALL ME LUCKY (Bobcat Goldthwait) Since the 1980s, Barry Crimmins has established himself as a comedian’s comedian, armed with a rapid-fire technique and a scathing political perspective aimed at shocking American audiences out of their complacency—even as he never quite gets the respect he deserves. Peers like Margaret Cho and Marc Maron join documentarian Bobcat Goldthwait in paying tribute to Crimmins’ many contributions to the comedy community and political activism over the decades.
CHRISTMAS, AGAIN (Charles Poekel) Noel (Kentucker Audley) sells Christmas trees off a lot in New York, living a quiet and solitary life in the camper that anchors the site. As Christmas nears, a mysterious woman lands in Noel’s life, and tries to find a way into the closed-off, emotionally blocked world he’s constructed. Beautiful Super 16mm cinematography and unforgettable performances from Audley and Hannah Gross yield a moving character study of quiet, gentle humanism.
DEEP WEB (Alex Winter) With Downloaded (MFF 2013), Alex Winter established himself as an expert at illuminating complex issues at the intersection of the internet and legality—and giving audiences intimate access to the personalities at the center of his story. Deep Web excitingly confirms that status, turning its lens on the online black market Silk Road, and digging deep into the still-unfolding story of Ross Ulbricht, the man accused of being the site’s creator and moderator, “Dread Pirate Roberts.”
GOD BLESS THE CHILD (Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck) Four brothers spend a day on their own in Davis, California, with their thirteen year-old sister forced to look after them as best she can in the absence of their troubled and unreliable mother. This visually stunning experimental drama, which premiered at SXSW, turns an unflinching eye on the behavior of children in the absence of adults, with results at turns hilarious, awkward, poignant, and unnerving.
PROPHET’S PREY (Amy Berg) The director of Deliver Us From Evil and West of Memphis takes us deep into another explosive story, that of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Exploring allegations of sexual abuse, family expulsions, forced marriages, and other horrors, this Sundance-premiered documentary paints an unforgettable portrait of conformity, fear, and oppression.
TWO SHOTS FIRED (Martin Rejtman) Veteran Argentine filmmaker Martin Rejtman brings his unique deadpan sensibility to the story of a sixteen-year-old who finds a gun in his house. He shoots himself out of boredom—but, after a near-miss with death, finds that the major change in his life is an annoying whistle in his chest, sabotaging the music he makes with an amateur recorder quartet. A disloyal dog, a strange vacation, and a bizarre cast of characters add up to a quietly anarchic comedy that channels Aki Kaurismäki and Roy Andersson’s A Swedish Love Story as it refuses to play by conventional narrative rules.
UNCLE KENT 2 (pictured above) (Todd Rohal) Kent Osborne, the mild-mannered animator whose mundane daily routines and love life fueled Joe Swanberg’s Uncle Kent, is desperate to make a sequel—an idea that excites precisely no one else. But when Swanberg gives Osborne his blessing to take the idea elsewhere, things takes a decidedly warped turn, as MFF favorite Todd Rohal takes over at the helm, steering the film deep into the realm of psychotronic dark comedy.
WESTERN (Bill and Turner Ross) In the neighboring towns of Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Mexico, a rugged cattleman and a populist mayor navigate changing times as the specters of cartel violence and xenophobia threaten harmonious cultural and economic exchanges between the U.S. and Mexico. Marked by muggy days and thunderous nights, this evocative and immersive documentary from the directors of 45365 and Tchoupitoulas delivers a thrilling mix of fascinating characters, riveting narrative, and extraordinary sensory detail.
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Maryland Film Festival Unveils First 10 Films on 2015 Lineup
Maryland Film Festival revealed the first 10 films on the lineup for the upcoming 17th annual festival, which will take place May 6 to 10, 2015, in downtown Baltimore.
The first ten feature films announced for MFF 2015 include Stanley Nelson’s Black Panthers documentary, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution; Kris Swanberg’s Unexpected; Olivia Wyatt’s look at Moken culture, Sailing a Sinking Sea; and Eugene Kotlyarenko’s rom-com, A Wonderful Cloud. Also announced for MFF 2015 is the world premiere of Stephen Cone’s coming-of-age drama Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party.
THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION (Stanley Nelson) Master documentarian Stanley Nelson has demonstrated an unparalleled ability to bring history to life with films such as Freedom Summer; The Murder of Emmett Till; andJonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple. Here he turns his lens on the revolutionary Black Panther Party and the various cultural forces that worked to support or destroy the group, creating an essential portrait of a singular radical moment in the American experience.
BREAKING A MONSTER (Luke Meyer) Viral-video sensation Unlocking the Truth, a teenage metal buzz-band from Brooklyn, navigate the bizarre current state of the record industry in this fascinating, fist-pumping, and often hilarious documentary. Fresh from its premiere at SXSW, this exceptional rock doc follows the band as they sign a major-label record deal and are suddenly caught up in an adult-driven world of contracts, tours, interviews, and branding. From Luke Meyer, co-director of MFF 2006 hit Darkon.
FUNNY BUNNY (Alison Bagnall) The writer/director of The Dish & the Spoon returns with this offbeat, infectious mix of comedy and drama. Kentucker Audley stars as an obesity-awareness canvasser who strikes up a friendship with a wealthy, emancipated 19-year-old named Titty (Olly Alexander) and the animal-rights-activist object of Titty’s desire, Ginger (Joslyn Jensen). Co-starring Josephine Decker, Louis Cancelmi, and Anna Margaret Hollyman.
HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY (Stephen Cone) A pool party celebrating the seventeenth birthday of Henry Gamble (Cole Doman), the son of a megachurch preacher (Pat Healy), sets the stage for this expertly observed ensemble drama. As sunny skies fade into moonlight, director Stephen Cone (The Wise Kids, Black Box) offers a subtle and insightful portrait of a community full of pressures and secrets —exploring identity, sexuality, and organized religion in the process. World premiere.
SAILING A SINKING SEA (Olivia Wyatt) This experimental documentary, which premiered at SXSW, looks at the traditional lifestyle of the Moken people, a seafaring community of Burma and Thailand. Olivia Wyatt’s gorgeous and immersive film transports viewers deep into the turquoise sea and onto thirteen different islands, giving us intimate access to a culture where shamans, mermaids, and sea gods collide with present-day practices. Executive-produced by Will Oldham.
STINKING HEAVEN (Nathan Silver) This ultra-dark comedy looks at a communal home for sober living in 1990s suburban New Jersey, which spirals into dysfunctional decline when an outsider arrives on the scene. Director Nathan Silver’s film boasts an uncompromising visual aesthetic that goes against the grain of contemporary indie filmmaking—not to mention a fantastic cast that includes Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Keith Poulson, and Eleonore Hendricks.
TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL (Jeffrey Schwarz) Top-notch documentary biographer Jeffrey Schwarz has captivated MFF audiences with definitive looks at iconic personalities William Castle, Vito Russo, and Divine. Now he delivers the warm and intimate story of 1950s Hollywood heartthrob Tab Hunter, who simultaneously balanced a stratospheric career on the silver screen with a secret life as a gay man. From his rise to stardom to his reinvention as a cult-film star with John Waters—and a number of fascinating surprises—it’s all here.
UNEXPECTED (Kris Swanberg) High-school science teacher Samantha (Cobie Smulders), already dealing with stress and uncertainty as her low-income school prepares to close, finds out she’s pregnant. When she discovers her favorite student Jasmine (Gail Bean) is also with child, the two form a tight and unconventional bond. From Kris Swanberg (whose earlier features Empire Builder and It was great, but I was ready to come home. both screened within MFF) comes this refreshing character study that mines honest emotions and the quiet battlefields of love and friendship for real beauty and insight.
WELCOME TO LEITH (pictured above) (Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker) This edge-of-your-seat documentary follows the arrival of notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb to a small town in North Dakota, where he promptly buys up land for like-minded collaborators and disrupts town council meetings, leading to fears that he plans a neo-Nazi takeover. As his behavior escalates further into the outrageous and threatens to get violent, a once-placid community must decide how to react.
A WONDERFUL CLOUD (Eugene Kotlyarenko) When his ex-girlfriend visits him in Los Angeles to resolve some lingering business entanglements, Eugene seeks to revisit old feelings, and introduces her to an LA populated by a wild cast of artists, scenesters, and eccentrics. Variety called this gleefully anarchic romantic comedy “a raucous, wholly improvised 21st-century Annie Hall.” Starring director Kotlyarenko (whose 0s & 1s had its world premiere at MFF 2010) and Kate Lyn Sheil (Sun Don’t Shine, House of Cards).
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Maryland Film Festival Announces 2014 Opening Night Shorts and 2014 Closing Night Film, LITTLE ACCIDENTS
Little AccidentsMaryland Film Festival concluded its 2014 lineup announcements by unveiling its Opening Night Shorts program, and its Closing Night film, Sara Colangelo’s LITTLE ACCIDENTS. Also announced were two late-breaking features added to MFF 2014’s lineup, Riley Stearns’ FAULTS, and Desiree Akhavan’s APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR.
MFF 2014’s CLOSING NIGHT FILM
Maryland Film Festival 2014’s Closing Night film will be Sara Colangelo’s drama Little Accidents, which explores the aftermath of a coal-mining disaster on a small Appalachian town. The film, which premiered at Sundance 2014 to great acclaim, stars Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook, Chloë Sevigny, Jacob Lofland, and Josh Lucas, and was shot by Rachel Morrison (Fruitvale Station, Sound of My Voice). The script was developed at Sundance Labs, and won the 2011 Maryland Filmmakers Fellowship, which is administered by Maryland Film Festival.
MFF 2014’s OPENING NIGHT SHORTS
Maryland Film Festival prides itself on its special advocacy for short-form filmmaking. The festival first devoted its Opening Night to short films in 2002, and has done so each festival since 2004. Past years’ opening night programs have included work from filmmakers such as David Lowery, Lauren Wolkstein, Frances Bodomo, Riley Stearns, and Bobcat Goldthwait. In addition to devoting its opening night to shorts, MFF 2014 will also feature 10 short-film programs, featuring work of all genres from around the globe.
All Opening Night shorts will be hosted by their filmmaker on the evening of Wednesday, May 7th in MICA’s Brown Center. MFF 2014’s Opening Night Shorts are:
THE BRAVEST, THE BOLDEST Director: Moon Molson
Two Army Casualty Notification Officers arrive at the Harlem projects to deliver Sayeeda Porter some news about her son serving in the war in the Middle East. But whatever it is they have to say, Sayeeda ain’t trying to hear it. Moon Molson is the director of previous MFF shorts Pop Foul and Crazy Beats Strong Every Time; The Bravest, The Boldest screened in the Shorts Competition at Sundance 2014.
EASY Director: Daniel Laabs
A character study that follows the relationship between two brothers; one on the verge of becoming an adult, the other becoming a teenager. Daniel Laabs is the co-director of MFF 2011’s short film 8; EASY premiered within SXSW 2014.
I WAS A TEENAGE GIRL Director: Augustine Frizzell
Emma and Jesse are close friends. One night, after an intense breakup, they have a heartfelt conversation that challenges the boundaries of their friendship in an unexpected way. I Was a Teenage Girl premiered within SXSW 2014.
MORE THAN TWO HOURS (Iran) Director: Ali Asgari
It’s 3 a.m., and a boy and a girl are wandering the city. They are looking for a hospital to cure the girl, but it’s much harder than they thought. More Than Two Hours was nominated for the Palme d’Or for best short film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
VERBATIM Director: Brett Weiner
A jaded lawyer wastes an afternoon trying to determine if a government employee has ever used a photocopier. All the dialogue in this film comes from an actual deposition filed with the Supreme Court of Ohio. Verbatim premiered within the Shorts Competition at Sundance 2014.
LATE-BREAKING ADDITIONS TO MFF 2014’s FEATURE LINEUP
APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR (Desiree Akhavan)
APPROPRIATE BEHAVIORShirin is a young woman caught between identities: bisexual, but afraid that coming out to her parents will prevent her from being the perfect Iranian-American daughter; a hip Brooklynite whose friends—and particularly her ex-girlfriend—can’t understand her trepidation about being honest with her family about her sexuality. In the depth of its characters and relatability of its situations, Desiree Akhavan’s warm and hilarious debut feature stands alongside filmmakers like Noah Baumbach, Lena Dunham, and Nicole Holofcener in delivering romantic comedy of the very highest order.
FAULTS (Riley Stearns)
FaultsAnsel Roth is one of the world’s leading experts on cults, and has built a career out of helping former members overcome brainwashing and reintegrate into society. He’s also a broken man, joylessly slogging from hotel to hotel in a futile attempt to promote his poorly received second book to ever-dwindling crowds. So when he’s approached by a distraught couple seeking his help in rescuing their daughter from a new and powerful cult family, Ansel’s anything but enthusiastic—until they put a large sum of money on the table. From Riley Stearns, director of MFF 2013’s Opening Night short The Cub, comes a brilliant film that confidently moves between dark comedy, thriller, serious drama.
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“THE CASE AGAINST 8” “HELLION” “OBVIOUS CHILD” Among 8 More Feature Films Added to Maryland Film Fest 2014
THE CASE AGAINST 8 Maryland Film Festival taking place May 7-11, 2014 in downtown Baltimore, continued announcing titles for its 16th annual festival, unveiling 18 feature-length films in addition to the 22 already announced.Today’s announcement included Sundance-premiered titles The Case Against 8, Hellion, and Obvious Child; films from Russia, Uruguay, and Quebec; documentaries about street photographers, art forgers, and a former Wire Actress; Onur Tukel’s vampire comedy Summer of Blood; and Slamdance special jury prize-winner I Play With the Phrase Each Other.
The 18 feature films announced today for MFF 2014 are:
ACTRESS (Robert Greene) Brandy Burre had a recurring role on HBO’s The Wire before giving up her career to start a family. When she decides to reclaim her life as an actor years later, the domestic world she’s carefully created crumbles around her. The latest non-fiction film from the director of Fake It So Real (MFF 2011).
APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT (Amanda Wilder) This documentary recalls the pioneering early work of Frederick Wiseman as it embeds viewers in the inaugural year of a democratic free school where classes are voluntary and children and staff have equal votes in creating the rules.
ART AND CRAFT (Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman) For several decades, gifted and incredibly prolific forger Mark Landis compulsively created impeccable copies of works by a variety of major artists, donating them to institutions across the country and landing pieces on many of their walls. Art and Craft brings us into the cluttered and insular life of an unforgettable character just as he finds his foil in an equally obsessive art registrar.
THE AUCTION (Sébastien Pilote) This poignant character study from Quebec follows a sheep farmer who’s stayed true to the way of life he inherited from his father even as, one by one, his neighbors sell off their farms to developers. As he reaches old age, his two daughters come back into his life in ways that change him forever.
BALTIMORE IN BLACK AND WHITE (Mary Posatko, Emily Topper) One night in 1972, a murder rocked a Baltimore family. Years later, Emily Topper returns to the city, seeking closure for a crime that has haunted her family over 40 years—and uncovers complex issues of race and class in the process.
BUZZARD (Joel Potrykus) In the unnerving and darkly comic tradition of Frownland and Bad Fever comes the story of Marty, a bored and angry office worker who takes his penchant for cheating the system over the edge. Fresh from screenings at SXSW and New Directors/New Films.
THE CASE AGAINST 8 (Ben Cotner, Ryan White) With the passing of California’s Proposition 8 in 2008, the right for same-sex couples to marry was repealed. A very unlikely pair of lawyers—Theodore Olson and David Boies, who faced off during Bush v. Gore—decided to challenge Prop 8, and take their case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. This riveting documentary offers remarkable access as it follows that fight from day one to its emotional conclusion.
CELESTIAL WIVES OF THE MEADOW MARI (Aleksey Fedorchenko) From the writer/director team behind 2010’s Silent Souls comes this frank exploration of the sex lives of female members of the Meadow Mari, a western Russian ethnic group that prizes fertility, beauty, and happiness.
DEEP CITY: THE BIRTH OF THE MIAMI SOUND (Dennis Scholl, Marlon Johnson, Chad Tingle) While the soulful sounds of Detroit and Memphis are celebrated worldwide thanks to influential labels like Motown and Stax, the 1960s and 1970s saw explosions of soul and funk scenes throughout the country. Deep City mixes wonderful music and archival footage with new interviews as it documents the songwriters, performers, and entrepreneurs behind a vibrant Miami record label that should’ve been huge.
EVERYBODY STREET (Cheryl Dunn) More than a dozen photographers (including Ricky Powell, Jamel Shabazz, Martha Cooper, and Boogie) are the subject of this visually rich documentary celebrating artists who have given us new ways to see both the streets of New York and the colorful characters that populate them.
GLENA (Allan Luebke) This rousing documentary follows Glena Avila, a woman who, despite no background in the sport, gave cage fighting a try. In the process, she discovered a deep passion and strong talent—but also put new pressures on her finances, love life, and relationship with her teenage son.
HELLION (Kat Candler) Juliette Lewis, Aaron Paul, and newcomer Josh Wiggins shine in this drama following a Southeast Texas teen trying to find himself amidst a group of hell-raising friends and a father tormented by his own personal demons. A feature developed from Candler’s short of the same name, which screened within the festival in 2012.
I PLAY WITH THE PHRASE EACH OTHER (Jay Alvarez) The first feature film composed entirely of cellphone calls centers around Jake, a young neurotic who moves to the city to live with his friend Sean, a fanatical poet who survives by swindling inexperienced Craigslist customers. Winner of a Special Jury Prize for Original Vision at Slamdance 2014.
THE MILITANT (Manolo Nieto) A wave of exciting films from Uruguay has hit the festival circuit over the last decade, evidence of a rich film culture previously under-represented on U.S. screens. As with Gigante and A Useful Life (MFF 2011), films that share beautiful camerawork from The Militant’s Arauco Hernández Holz, this film focuses on an idiosyncratic loner struggling to find his rhythm with the people around him—in this case, a taciturn student organizer who relocates from the big-city university to a rural outpost after his father passes away.
OBVIOUS CHILD (Gillian Robespierre) When a 20-something Brooklyn comedian gets dumped, her comedic material and personal life both head in impulsive new directions, leading to an unwanted pregnancy and an appointment at Planned Parenthood. Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann, David Cross, Gabe Liedman, and Richard Kind star in this comedy that mines a divisive issue for surprisingly warm and hilarious returns.
SUMMER OF BLOOD (Onur Tukel) Neurotic romance collides with bloody horror and the mixed blessing of immortality in this vampire comedy set in contemporary New York. Starring writer/director Tukel (co-star and co-writer of MFF 2011’s Septien) alongside Anna Margaret Hollyman (star of MFF 2013’s White Reindeer), Dakota Goldhor, and Dustin Guy Defa.
THE VANQUISHING OF THE WITCH BABA YAGA (Jessica Oreck) From the director of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo and Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys, both of which screened within the festival, comes this mysterious feature that descends into Eastern Europe’s haunted woodlands to deliver a captivating mix of documentary, experimental film, folklore, and animation.
YOUNG BODIES HEAL QUICKLY (Andrew T. Betzer) At once meditative and transgressive, this challenging art film shot in and around Maryland brings to mind the work of Harmony Korine and Bruno Dumont in telling its story of two young brothers on the run as they hope to reconnect with their estranged father, a key figure in a disturbing subculture. Cast includes Kate Lyn Sheil (Sun Don’t Shine, The Comedy) and Julie Sokolowski (of Dumont’s Hadewijch).
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“Call Girl of Cthulhu” “Fort Tilden” “Evolution of a Criminal” Among 12 More Films Added to Film Lineup for 2014 Maryland Film Festival
CALL GIRL OF CTHULHUMaryland Film Festival continued unveiling the lineup for its 16th annual festival, taking place May 7-11, 2014 in downtown Baltimore, announcing 12 more feature films in addition to the 10 announced already. Among the titles announced today are SXSW buzz films Fort Tilden, Evolution of a Criminal, and The Mend; the latest from Oscar-nominated documentarians Joe Berlinger and Marshall Curry; cutting-edge films made in Greece, South Korea, Taiwan, and Nepal; and the premiere of Maryland-made Lovecraftian horror film Call Girl of Cthulhu.
The 12 feature films announced today for MFF 2014 are:
CALL GIRL OF CTHULHU (Chris LaMartina) Baltimore-based D.I.Y. horror helmer Chris LaMartina’s latest tells the Lovecraft-inspired story of a virginal artist who falls in love with a call girl that turns out to be the chosen bride of the alien god Cthulhu.
EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINALEVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL (Darius Clark Monroe) In this gripping blend of documentary, true-crime, and personal essay, a filmmaker confronts his past, dissecting the circumstances that led him to commit a bank robbery as a young man, and his journey since that act. Executive-produced by Spike Lee.
FORT TILDENFORT TILDEN (Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers) Winner of the grand jury award for narrative feature at SXSW 2014, this satire of Brooklyn hipsters making their way to a day at the beach takes on Samuel Beckett-esque barbs as ordering coffee and locking a bicycle become almost insoluble dilemmas.
THE HIP-HOP FELLOW THE HIP-HOP FELLOW (Kenneth Price) The points of intersection between hip-hop culture and academia are explored in this documentary following Grammy Award winning producer 9th Wonder’s tenure at Harvard University. Interviewees include Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Kendrick Lamar, Young Guru, Phonte, and DJ Premier.
MANAKAMANA MANAKAMANA (Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez) This new feature from Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab (Leviathan, Sweetgrass) offers immersive access to an ancient journey now taken in a modern cable car, as viewers ride along in real-time with pilgrims and tourists bound for Nepal’s Manakamana temple.
THE MEND (John Magary) Shades of Cassavetes’ Husbands and Mike Leigh color this revelatory mix of comedy and drama, as estranged brothers (Josh Lucas and Stephen Plunkett) reconnect at a moment of crisis and embrace increasingly wild and impulsive behavior.
MOEBIUS (Kim Ki-duk) South Korean maverick Kim Ki-duk returns with perhaps his most shocking and darkly humorous exploration yet of the connections between pleasure, penance, spirituality, and the human impulse for violence.
POINT AND SHOOT (Marshall Curry) When Baltimore native Matthew VanDyke traveled to Libya to join the rebels who were taking up arms against Gaddafi, his experiences became international news. His stranger-than-fiction story is told by the director of MFF documentaries Street Fight, Racing Dreams, and If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front.
SEPTEMBERSEPTEMBER (Penny Panayotopoulou) After a seemingly solitary woman’s beloved dog passes away, she becomes overwhelmed by her loneliness. In her search to ease the pain of losing her best friend, she unexpectedly connects with a sympathetic family that lives in her neighborhood. This expertly crafted and warmly human film from Greek director Penny Panayotopoulou signals her triumphant return after a decade-plus hiatus from filmmaking.
STRAY DOGSSTRAY DOGS (Tsai Ming-liang) The first digitally shot feature from master director Tsai (whose films I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone and Walker screened within the festival) continues his unique 25-year collaboration with lead Lee Kang-sheng, this time situating him as the homeless guardian to two young children in Taipei.
WATER LIKE STONE (Zack Godshall, Michael Pasquier) A documentary portrait of Leeville, Louisiana, a fishing village among the fastest-disappearing wetlands in the United States—and the unforgettable characters who call it home.
WHITEY: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. JAMES J. BULGERWHITEY: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. JAMES J. BULGER (Joe Berlinger) This documentary dissects legend from fact in investigating the story of Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, uncovering a web of corruption in the process. From the director of Crude and co-director of Brother’s Keeper, Some Kind of Monster, and the Paradise Lost trilogy.
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First 10 Films Revealed for 2014 Maryland Film Festival incl. Michael Tully’s PING PONG SUMMER
Ping Pong SummerMaryland Film Festival has begun unveiling the lineup for its 16th annual festival, which will take place May 7-11, 2014, in downtown Baltimore and include approximately 50 feature films and 10 short-film programs from around the world. The first ten feature films announced for MFF 2014 include the area premieres of a number of highly anticipated independent, documentary, and international features, including Michael Tully’s star-studded, shot-in-Maryland Ping Pong Summer; Josephine Decker’s beautiful and provocative Thou Wast Mildand Lovely; Fernando Eimbcke’s poignant coming-of-age comedy Club Sandwich; and Stanley Nelson’s riveting civil-rights documentary Freedom Summer.
Maryland Film Festival has distinguished itself as a creatively charged meeting place for filmmakers and audiences, offering all its U.S. feature films hosted by a filmmaker in a relaxed and competition-free environment. The festival is also known for its close relationship with legendary filmmaker John Waters, who selects and hosts a favorite film within each year’s festival. Building on record ticket sales and submissions over the last several years, the festival expanded to five days in 2013, and will again offer five days of programming in 2014, using seven screens in and around Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District.
Lineup announcements will continue over the next 2 weeks. The first ten titles announced for MFF 2014 are:
CLUB SANDWICHCLUB SANDWICH (Fernando Eimbcke) Poignant drama, gentle comedy, and a hint of transgression mix brilliantly as we observe the coming of age of a 15-year-old teen vacationing with his single mother in a sleepy Mexican beachfront resort. From the director of Lake Tahoe and Duck Season.
FIGHT CHURCHFIGHT CHURCH (Daniel Junge and Bryan Storkel) Christianity and the world of Mixed Martial Arts collide in this thought-provoking and expectation-challenging documentary from Academy Award Winner Daniel Junge and Bryan Storkel.
Freedom SummerFREEDOM SUMMER (Stanley Nelson) In the summer of 1964, a thousand civil-rights volunteers worked to combat segregation in Mississippi. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders; Jonestown: The Life & Death of Peoples Temple; The Murder of Emmett Till) tells their story.
Happy ChristmasHAPPY CHRISTMAS (Joe Swanberg) Following his breakthrough hit Drinking Buddies, Joe Swanberg re-teams with star Anna Kendrick and cinematographer Ben Richardson (Beasts of the Southern Wild) for an insightful look at family and friendship centered around a Chicago Christmas. With Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, and Lena Dunham.
KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER (David Zellner) The Zellner brothers (Goliath, KID-THING) bring their unique mix of resonant drama and offbeat comedy to an expanded canvas, following a young Japanese woman who believes her worn VHS copy of Fargo contains instructions to recover that film’s buried treasure.
PING PONG SUMMER (Michael Tully) The director of Septien returns with a sweet and hilarious love letter to summers spent in Ocean City, MD during the golden era of hip-hop, boasting a cast that includes Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris, and Robert Longstreet.
THE STRANGE LITTLE CATTHE STRANGE LITTLE CAT (Ramon Zürcher) This strikingly original film builds on Robert Bresson’s ideas of space and sound to create a moving-image sculpture inside a Berlin apartment during a family gathering. Notes of gentleness and tension merge to form a strange visual symphony.
THOU WAST MILD AND LOVELYTHOU WAST MILD AND LOVELY (Josephine Decker) Following her Butter on the Latch, which premiered at MFF 2013, Josephine Decker further explores themes of budding romance and psychological terror against a backdrop of bucolic beauty. Fresh from its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale).
WHO TOOK JOHNNYWHO TOOK JOHNNY (David Beilinson, Michael Galinsky, and Suki Hawley) When Johnny Gosch disappeared in 1982, his picture appeared on milk cartons, catapulting the issue of missing children into the public’s imagination. The team behind Horns and Halos and Battle for Brooklyn follows the search for answers over decades of stunning twists and turns, resulting in an unforgettable documentary experience that will have audiences questioning everything and everyone.
WILD CANARIESWILD CANARIES (Lawrence Michael Levine) From the director of 2010’s Gabi on the Roof in July comes this captivating blend of comedy, romance, and mystery set in contemporary Brooklyn. The all-star indie cast includes Levine alongside Sophia Takal, Alia Shawkat, Annie Parisse, Jason Ritter, and Kevin Corrigan.
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Cinematographer BRADFORD YOUNG to co-host Maryland Film Festival’s Closing Night Film “MOTHER OF GEORGE”
Cinematographer Bradford Young will co-host the 2013 Maryland Film Festival Closing Night screening of Oscilloscope Laboratories’ Mother of George alongside director Andrew Dosunmu.
Young won the U.S. Dramatic Cinematography award at Sundance 2013 for his work on both Mother of George and David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. His other film credits as cinematographer includes Dee Rees’ Pariah (2011) and Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere (2012), as well as two features screened within Maryland Film Festival: James Spooner’s White Lies, Black Sheep (MFF 2008) and Dosunmu’s earlier feature Restless City (MFF 2011).[caption id="attachment_3772" align="alignnone" width="550"]
Mother of George[/caption]
Mother of George is the story of a Nigerian couple in Brooklyn struggling to make their young marriage work while running a restaurant and navigating a new culture, featuring “gripping central” performances from Danai Gurira (of The Visitor, The Walking Dead, and Treme) and Isaach De Bankolé.Bradford Young image via The Western Front