Maryland Film Festival – Baltimore Magazine

The ’80s and ’90s Were a Golden Era of Filmmaking in Baltimore. Can it Happen Again?

Aaron Hope — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:00:44 +0000

Arts & Culture

The ’80s and ’90s were a golden era of filmmaking in Baltimore. Can it happen again?

BY MAX WEISS

EDITED BY RON CASSIE

Illustration by Ryan Olbrysh

January 2026

JACK GERBES, then the location and project manager of the Maryland Film Office, was driving in a van with Jodie Foster. The Academy Award-winning actress was in her director mode that day, scouting locations for her upcoming film, Home for the Holidays, that would be filmed in Baltimore and star Holly Hunter and Robert Downey Jr.

She admired the classic, American-style homes in north Baltimore and knew she wanted to use one of the exteriors for her movie.

She landed on a house with a big porch that she really liked in Homeland and sent Gerbes to inquire about its availability. He knocked on the door and an elderly man answered.

“Hi, I’m Jack Gerbes and I . . .”

“Not interested,” the man said, gruffly.

“No, I’m not selling anything,” Gerbes demurred, quickly. “I’m from the Maryland Film Office and . . .”

“We don’t want it,” the man said.

Sensing that things were going south, Gerbes motioned for Foster, who emerged from the car and joined Gerbes on the porch.

The man looked at her, blinked, then turned back toward the house:

“Honey, Jodie Foster is here.”

Such was life in the ’80s and ’90s—all the way through the early aughts—in Baltimore. Hollywood films and network television shows were shot here regularly. It wasn’t all that unusual to see film sets, with trailers and a busy crew. You might see Julia Roberts in Hampden or Al Pacino or Eddie Murphy at City Hall. Maybe you’d spot Meg Ryan in Fells Point or Kevin Bacon downtown on Charles Street. You were liable to catch mop-topped actor Steve Guttenberg literally anywhere—he appeared in no less than three Baltimoremade films (Diner, Bedroom Window, and Home for the Holidays).

Friends took the day off from work to be extras—or maybe you did—and came back with tales of how excruciatingly boring film work can be. TV stars became regulars at local coffee houses and restaurants.

Sometimes Baltimore played itself. More often, it was used as a stand-in for other cities.

“We were Paris in Washington Square,” says Debbie Dorsey, former head of the Baltimore Film Office and chair of the Maryland Film Industry Coalition (MFIC), referring to the 1997 film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and based on the Henry James novel. “We used the Peabody library. And we were a lot of places for My One and Only, a road trip film starring Renée Zellweger. We had to be St. Louis, Boston, and several other cities for that one. We were also London in Washington Square—we filmed on Bethel Street in Fells Point—Fells Point’s a perfect London.”

That “America in Miniature” nickname proved to be prescient. Maryland really did have any terrain you needed—mountains, beaches, urban, rural—and an incredibly wide variety of architecture.

And, of course, countless times Baltimore has stood in for Washington, D.C., largely because it was cheaper and more convenient than D.C.—and way easier to get permits—and our townhouses could mimic theirs.

It was Mayor—and later Governor—William Donald Schaefer who fell for the idea of turning Baltimore into “Hollywood East” (a lofty designation that John Waters gently mocked in Cecil B. Demented). A natural showman himself, Schaefer liked the idea of mingling with stars, of making Baltimore a glamorous destination.

For decades, the Maryland Film Office would host an annual schmoozefest in L.A., an attempt to woo filmmakers and studios to produce their movies in Baltimore. Schaefer loved those. Jack Gerbes, who would go on to become the director of the Maryland Film Office until retiring last year, has a signed picture of Schaefer posing with an Academy Award in his office. Jed Dietz, the former director of the Maryland Film Festival, remembers Schaefer chatting up Jodie Foster at one of those parties.

“He had no idea who she was at first,” says Dietz with a chuckle. “He kept calling her ‘young lady.’” Once Schaefer found out she was looking to make a film, he laid on the charm: “If you come to Baltimore, we’ll get you whatever you need,” he said. “If you need a mountain, we’ll get you a mountain.”

ABOVE: JODIE FOSTER DIRECTING ANNE BANCROFT AND CHARLES DURNING IN 'HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS'; EDDIE MURPHY, THE STAR OF THE 1992 FILM, 'THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN'.—FOSTER: PARAMOUNT PICTURES/PHOTOFEST; MURPHY:BUENA VISTA PICTURES/PHOTOFEST.

ONE OF THE FIRST MAJOR FILMS to come to town was 1979’s ...And Justice for All, starring Al Pacino as a renegade lawyer fighting corruption. The film is particularly famous for Pacino’s quotable catch phrase: “You’re out of order! You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order!” Much of it was filmed at the Baltimore courthouse. Al Pacino stayed at the Belvedere Hotel during the shoot.

Artist Harper Burke was a 17-year-old aspiring actress and a student at Bryn Mawr when ...And Justice for All came to town. She was particularly interested in the acting “method” and knew that Lee Strasberg, considered to be the father of method acting in America, was in the film. She decided to check it out for herself.

'THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN.'—EVERETT COLLECTION, INC./ALAMY

“They were filming in an assisted living center in Mt. Washington,” says Burke, now 64.

She mustered up all of her own method chops and moseyed onto the set like she belonged there.

Strasberg and Al Pacino were both in the scene, which was set in a hospital room. Strasberg’s wife, Anna, also an acting coach, was observing. Burke stood behind the camera, looking thoughtful.

Nobody stopped her.

“I was out of my mind nervous,” she laughs. But she didn’t show it. “I guess the method worked.”

She was able to chat up Anna Strasberg and ask for advice. “I’m an actress who wants to move to New York,” she said. “What should I do?” “Read. Read everything you can,” Anna replied. After the scene, Burke followed Al Pacino to his trailer, peppering him with questions about his relaxation techniques before a scene. “I saw you do a neck roll,” she said. He laughed: “There’s a lot more to it than that.” He even put his arm around her (in a paternal sort of way). Of course, like every other 17-year-old at the time, she had a major crush on him. But she did notice one disappointing thing: “He was short.”

Longtime O’s broadcaster Tom Davis also had a brush with cinematic fame on the ...And Justice for All set. He signed up to be an extra for a house party scene shot in Ruxton and was surprised when the director, Norman Jewison, asked him to stand behind the bar, directly in the frame. “I had blond hair then,” he says. “It’s white now.” His job during the scene was to eavesdrop on a conversation between Al Pacino and Jeffrey Tambor while popping a maraschino cherry in his mouth. He knew there was a chance that his scene would be cut from the film, so he was thrilled when he went to a theater and saw his own face staring back at him.

“There were 18 takes,” he says, adding he never liked the candied fruit, but was willing to suffer for his art, such as it was. “So that’s 18 maraschino cherries.”

ABOVE: AL PACINO ON THE COURTHOUSE STEPS IN BALTIMORE; MICKEY ROURKE, ELLEN BARKIN, AND BARRY LEVINSON BEHIND THE SCENES OF 'DINER'. —PACINO: ©COLUMBIA PICTURES/PHOTOFEST; LEVINSON: ©MGM/PHOTOFEST.

Arts & Culture

Once Upon a Time in Baltimore: The Quiz

Think you can name all the films and stars on our cover and opening spread? Give it your best shot, here.

OF COURSE, ANY DISCUSSION of Baltimore film has to begin and end with Barry Levinson and John Waters, the yin and yang of local moviemaking.

Levinson, the mensch auteur, grew up in the middle-class Jewish neighborhood Forest Park. He had an interest in comedy writing and acting so he moved to L.A. after graduating from American University in Washington, D.C.

'...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.' —EVERETT COLLECTION, INC./ALAMY.

And he experienced success, especially as a writer, working with comedy legends—first writing for TV variety shows like The Carol Burnett Show and eventually working with Mel Brooks on the screenplays for Silent Movie and High Anxiety.

It was ...And Justice for All, which Levinson co-wrote with his then-wife Valerie Curtin, that brought him back to Baltimore. He says the concept came from discussions he had with friends here, who had become lawyers and told him, “The legal system is much more chaotic than it’s portrayed in film and television,” he recalls.

In Levinson’s mind, it just made sense to film it in Baltimore, since that’s what he knew. He asked director Jewison to scout the area, and he agreed that the city had the right stuff.

“And that’s how it happened,” Levinson says.

Next, of course, was the film that would change Levinson’s life, and the course of Baltimore film: Diner, about a bunch of male friends on the cusp of adulthood, who would hang out at a local diner and yap about women, the Colts, the relative talents of Frank Sinatra vs. Johnny Mathis—anything but their fears and hopes for an uncertain future. (The film used a real, albeit out-of-service diner for the shoot, which later became something of a landmark when it was relocated to Holliday and Saratoga streets and renamed the Hollywood Diner.)

A PROMOTION FROM THE MARYLAND FILM OFFICE.—COURTESY OF JACK GERBES

Again, Levinson didn’t see himself as some sort of savior who heroically brought film production to his hometown.

“Originally MGM wanted to film it in Chicago,” he says. “And I said, no, no. That’s not right. It takes place in Baltimore. Everything I wrote about is from Baltimore. Chicago doesn’t feel like the city I know.”

So the studio caved.

The film went on to launch the careers of several young actors, including Mickey Rourke and Kevin Bacon, and earned Levinson an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. In 2012, Vanity Fair named it the most influential film of the last 30 years.

It was the first of Levinson’s critically acclaimed Baltimore series, which focused on Baltimore life from an historical, often autobiographical lens. The others were Tin Men (1987), about dueling aluminum siding salesmen played by Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito (fun fact: they were initially supposed to be Formstone salesmen but the studio thought no one outside of Baltimore would get the reference); Avalon (1990), about the Baltimore Jewish immigrant experience; and Liberty Heights (1999), another coming-of-age film set in the 1950s, focusing on race relations.

Beyond that, Levinson worked out of Hollywood, where he’d been living since graduation. His incredible run in the ’80s and ’90s as a director included The Natural, Bugsy, Wag the Dog, and Rain Man, which earned him his first Oscar.

FORMER MAYOR WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER.—COURTESY OF JACK GERBES

Not long after Levinson had made his way to Hollywood, a young punk named John Waters, raised Catholic and the product of, it turned out, preternaturally patient parents, started making films with a group of misfit friends, nicknamed The Dreamlanders. The films, like Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, and Female Trouble, were low-budget and intentionally outrageous, even profane—but they always had a core of sweetness because, well, Waters himself was sweet. Now that Waters has become something of a treasured elder statesman, it’s hard to remember that he once was considered a pariah to some of Baltimore’s most decorous people, an example of everything wrong with kids these days. (Waters, true to form, relished the characterization.) For years, his films were scruffy, DIY affairs—sometimes filmed at his parents’ Lutherville house, turning their backyard into his backlot. But the budgets kept getting bigger and bigger—and eventually he was filming on soundstages and locations with large crews. He finally broke through to a mainstream audience with Hairspray, now considered a family classic. (Sorry, John.)

DIVINE (GLENN MILSTEAD) AND JERRY STILLER ON THE SET OF 'HAIRSPRAY'. —PICTURELUX/THE HOLLYWOOD ARCHIVE/ALAMY.

BY THE EARLY ’80S, Baltimore had acquired a reputation for being accommodating to film crews—helping with permits and location scouting and with plenty of experienced and willing crew members in town. More movies were filmed or partially filmed here—Accidental Tourist (based on Anne Tyler’s acclaimed novel), Her Alibi, Men Don’t Leave, Bedroom Window, Major League II, Runaway Bride, and the list goes on. Movie website IMDb lists 69 films that were at least partially shot in Baltimore between the years 1979 and 2000.

'THE BEDROOM WINDOW.' —ALBUM/ALAMY.

Emmy-nominated Baltimore makeup artist Debi Young, who has worked on films such as Shirley, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, and Jackie, got her start in film on the 1993 superhero comedy The Meteor Man, whose ensemble cast included writer-director-actor Robert Townsend, James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby, Luther Vandross, Sinbad, Marla Gibbs, and Robert Guillaume.

“My friends Janice Kinigopoulos and Lydia Benaim worked in the hair department, and we just talked about this recently, it was six days a week,” says Young with a laugh. “Six nights week, I should say, because the entire movie was shot at night, except for maybe three days shooting. But we were so excited to be there, we didn’t even want to go home. We loved it so much.”

Townsend, she continues, wanted to shoot in Black neighborhoods and among other locations, filmed in Reservoir Hill, making sure even the extras were taken care of, receiving hot meals each day. Naturally, the whole community came out to see the stars.

“I remember one local little girl whose birthday fell during the shooting,” recalls Young, whose Baltimore-associated credits include The Wire, Homicide, and Serial Mom, among many others. “She lived in the neighborhood and Robert [Towsend] found out it was her birthday and he gave her $50. I remember that child running over saying, ‘Mr. Robert is rich! He just gave me $50 for my birthday!’”

Not quite everything went as planned, notes Lashelle Bynum, a Baltimore Heritage board member who interviewed Lenny Clay, the former owner of Lenny’s House of Naturals, about The Meteor Man shoot.

“They had started to film in his shop, which was famous for cutting the hair of Earl ‘the Pearl’ Monroe, all kinds of politicians and TV personalities of the day,” Bynum says, shaking her head and smiling. “And then they broke his ceiling with their equipment and he put them right out. That was the end of that. Oh, Lenny was a character himself. Later, Homicide wanted to use his shop as a location and he told them, ‘Hell no.’”

Young also has fond memories of working on the Chris Rock/Bernie Mac 2003 film, Head of State, shot in Baltimore.

“Chris Rock played his younger brother, and they were so funny together,” Young says. “Tracy Morgan was in that, too. People loved it when we were shooting on the street or at Penn Station, especially. Fans would want to walk up and ask for autographs, and if they weren’t busy right at that moment, if it didn’t affect their work, they were gracious.”

But by 2005 or so that film work had largely dried up. Specialized crew members who had been able to make a living in town—gaffers, grips, camera operators, and the like—were forced to chase jobs out of state. The phones rang a lot less often at the Maryland and Baltimore film offices. A few productions still came, but it was more of a drip-drip-drip than a steady flow.

So, what caused this? There were many factors—a shifting film landscape, for one, as studios produced fewer movies, moving away from mid-budget films to megabudget Marvel and DC Comics tentpoles; the introduction and rise of streaming television; a declining audience for theatrical film—but mostly it had to do with money.

“A lot of films were going to Canada and other countries because the exchange rate was better and the labor was cheaper,” says Debbie Dorsey, who stepped down from her role as director of the Baltimore Film Office after BOPA temporarily lost its contract with the city. (BOPA has since rebranded as Create Baltimore.)

And those films that were made in the U.S.? Increasingly, they went to cities that offered better “incentives,” like Georgia, Illinois, and Massachusetts, which have no cap on the amount of tax credits a film can receive. (There’s a reason why that “Made in Georgia” jingle is probably stuck in your head.) By comparison, Maryland has a $12-million annual cap.

'SERIAL MOM.' —EVERETT COLLECTION, INC./ALAMY

Levinson, for his part, remained steadfast, long championing more film production in Baltimore—which he says can be an economic boom. In 2009, he even went to Annapolis to advocate for an updated film incentive program.

“I’ll never forget an article I read in the 1980s. The premise was that Hollywood studios are picking the pockets of people in Maryland,” says Levinson, still bristling at the memory. “The writer got it all wrong, because, in fact, the economics are very beneficial to the state. You have a whole crew coming in; that’s a lot of people. We’re hiring local people, too. We’re spending money on things like food, gasoline, hotels. Often, we’re renting properties. Georgia right now is making not thousands but millions.”

DIRECTOR JOHN WATERS, SEATED BETWEEN SAM WATERSTON AND KATHLEEN TURNER, ON THE SET OF HIS 1994 BLACK COMEDY, 'SERIAL MOM.' —©SAVOY PICTURES/PHOTOFEST

And, of course, when the right film hits, it can drive tourism to the region, not to mention boost civic pride. Which leads us to The Wire.

Baltimore has had an uneasy relationship with the David Simon oeuvre set and filmed here—including Homicide: Life on the Street (which Levinson produced), The Corner, The Wire, and We Own This City. All were excellent works of art—indeed, in many a critical circle The Wire is considered to be the best television series of all time. But they painted a dark picture of a city that was riddled with crime and drug abuse. The other big shows filmed in Baltimore— House of Cards and Veep—weren’t set in Baltimore, so they had no reputational value (and Veep’s production moved to Los Angeles for its final three seasons when they received better tax credits from California). To this day, Baltimore is mostly known by out-of-towners as the city of The Wire. (Levinson, for his part, was a fan of The Wire, thought it was “good for Baltimore,” and doesn’t understand why anyone would think otherwise.)

'THE METEOR MAN.' —©MGM/PHOTOFEST

Then came a series of unfortunate events: the pandemic and the writer’s strike, the retiring of Gerbes, the dissolution of the Baltimore Film Office—none of which improved Maryland’s already anemic filmmaking landscape.

But in 2025, there was one particularly bright light: Jay Duplass’ The Baltimorons, a love letter to Baltimore co-written by and starring Michael Strassner, a Baltimore native with deep ties to his hometown.

The film was made on a shoestring budget and greatly aided by the connections that Strassner and producer David Bonnett, also from Baltimore, were able to tap into.

“It was a lot of, who has a house we can use? Whose car would look good in this scene?” recalls Bonnett. When they needed a dentist’s office for the film, they went to Strassner’s real childhood dentist, who leaped at the chance. (Never before has a dentist’s office received such a raucous round of applause at a screening—the dentist and his staff were invited to the film’s local premiere at The Senator Theatre.)

ABOVE:ROBERT TOWNSEND, WRITER, DIRECTOR, AND STAR OF THE 1993 FILM, 'THE METEOR MAN', SHOOTING ON LOCATION IN WEST BALTIMORE; CHRIS ROCK AND BERNIE MAC, WHO CO-STARRED AS BROTHERS IN THE 2003 POLITICAL COMEDY 'HEAD OF STATE', WHICH WAS SHOT ON LOCATION IN BALTIMORE. —THE METEOR MAN:©MGM/PHOTOFEST & CINEMATIC/ALAMY;ROCK/MAC: PHOTOFEST.

As Strassner told Baltimore in August: “The city is filled with so many people who are willing to help. I had so many extras that were my family and friends. People just took time out to help and it was the most beautiful thing. Places like Rocket to Venus and Dylan’s [Oyster Cellar]. We were like, ‘Can we use these locations?’ And they were like, ‘Of course!’”

'HEAD OF STATE'. —AJ PICS/ALAMY.

Bonnett and his friend Jonathan Bregel, another Baltimore native who was the cinematographer for The Baltimorons, recently went to a networking event thrown by Baltimore Homecoming, an organization devoted to reconnecting notable Baltimore alumni with their hometown. They made their pitch about making films in Baltimore to a well-heeled crowd who received them with unexpected enthusiasm.

“People just wanted to give us money,” Bregel says with a chuckle.

“I hadn’t had that many people come up to me in a while,” says Bonnett. “I’ve been booked with meetings and Zoom calls since. But it’s still in the conversation stage.”

Nonetheless, Bregel remains optimistic. “The next golden age [of local cinema] won’t necessarily be about a few breakout names. It’s more about building an ecosystem where more [film] voices can thrive.”

Albert Birney, the micro-budget director of such indie darlings as Sylvio, Strawberry Mansion, and his latest, OBEX, says it’s possible to make a film for $11 grand, which was his budget for OBEX.

“People are shocked when you tell them that,” says Birney. “They have it in their heads that you need a lot of money to make a movie. And sure, that’s true of some types of movies, but there’s always other ways, you know.”

Small, largely self-funded indie films, like Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill and Hamilton or Angel Kristi Williams’ Really Love, are not going away and are very much in keeping with Baltimore’s resilient, do-it-yourself DNA.

And if someone handed Birney $5 million to make a film?

“Honestly, if someone gave me that check with no strings attached, I think I would talk to my friends and see how much they needed to do films cheaply this way, too,” he says. “It would be like, how many movies can we get out of this? And maybe I would take one million of it myself, because that would be more than I’ve ever had.”

TWENTY OF MANY

A few years after Baltimore’s original 1974 Charm City marketing campaign, Mayor William Donald Schaefer pivoted to Hollywood to rebrand Baltimore as a cultural hub. Why not? It’s a glamorous business and movies can be delightful. And the careers of native sons Johns Waters and Barry Levinson were taking off. During an era spanning the 1980s and 1990s (with spillover), the big studios shot a lot of movies here and, believe it or not, spotting a Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in Hampden, while always fun, wasn’t all that unusual. Here are some of the better-known films shot here. —Ron Cassie

...And Justice for All

1979

Starring Al Pacino, Jack Warden, John Forsythe. Co-written by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson. Plot: A passionate Baltimore defense attorney is forced to represent a corrupt judge, while also battling the legal system to defend the innocent.

Critics’ Rating:

Diner

1982

Written and directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Timothy Daly, Ellen Barkin. Plot: A group of buddies in late 1950s Baltimore struggle with the transition into the responsibilities of adulthood.

Critics’ Rating:

Tin Men

1987

Written and directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, Barbara Hershey. Plot: Rival, door-to-door aluminumsiding salesmen battle life, themselves, and each other in early 1960s Baltimore.

Critics’ Rating:

The Accidental Tourist

1988

Based on Baltimore author Anne Tyler’s novel by the same name. Starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis. Plot: A grieving Baltimore travel guide writer struggles to move forward after his son is killed and the tragedy causes his marriage to crumble.

Critics’ Rating:

Clara’s Heart

1988

Starring Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Ontkean, Kathleen Quinlan, Neil Patrick Harris. Plot: A well-to-do Baltimore family, suffering the loss of a child, hires a grounded housekeeper they’d met in Jamaica.

Critics’ Rating:

Hairspray

1988

Written and directed by John Waters. Starring Ricki Lake, Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Divine, Jerry Stiller, Debbie Harry, Mink Stole. Plot: A teenager lands on a local TV dance show and advocates for integration.

Critics’ Rating:

Avalon

1990

Written and directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Armin Mueller-Stahl, Elizabeth Perkins, Joan Plowright, Aidan Quinn. Plot: A Polish-Jewish family builds a new life in Baltimore in the early and mid-20th century.

Critics’ Rating:

Cry-Baby

1990

Written and directed by John Waters. Starring Johnny Deep, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrrell, Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, Polly Bergen. Plot: A teenage rebel with a heart of gold wins the love of a good girl, causing a scandal.

Critics’ Rating:

He Said, She Said

1991

Starring Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Perkins, Sharon Stone. Plot: Two rival Baltimore Sun journalists become co-hosts of a morning news show and a romanticcomedy drama ensues from their different perspectives.

Critics’ Rating:

The Distinguished Gentleman

1992

Starring Eddie Murphy, Lane Smith, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Joe Don Baker, Victoria Rowell, Charles Dutton. Plot: A con man believes becoming a U.S. congressman is a ticket to fast money, but then he develops a conscience.

Critics’ Rating:

The Meteor Man

1993

Starring Robert Townsend, Marla Gibbs, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby, Luther Vandross. Plot: A teacher working in an urban environment discovers, after being hit by a falling meteor, that he has new superpowers.

Critics’ Rating:

Sleepless in Seattle

1993

Starring Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks. Plot: A recently widowed Seattle man’s son calls a syndicated radio talk show to help find his dad find a new companion. A Baltimore Sun reporter, who is engaged, believes she might be his soulmate.

Critics’ Rating:

Serial Mom

1994

Written and directed by John Waters; Starring Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Suzanne Somers. Plot: A picture-perfect suburban mother and homemaker will literally commit murder over the slightest offenses to keep her children content.

Critics’ Rating:

Guarding Tess

1994

Starring Shirley MacLaine, Nicolas Cage, Richard Griffiths. Plot: A dedicated Secret Service agent gets assigned to protect an eccentric former first lady, but he thinks the job is beneath him until she and her driver are kidnapped.

Critics’ Rating:

Major League II

1994

Starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen, Omar Epps, Dennis Haysbert, Bob Uecker. Plot: After winning the division title the previous season, success appears to have ruined the infighting Cleveland Indians, who get off to a slow start before a late-season rally.

Critics’ Rating:

12 Monkeys

1995

Starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer. Plot: In a future where most of humanity has been wiped out by disease, a convict living in an underground compound is sent back in time to learn about the man-made killer virus.

Critics’ Rating:

Enemy of the State

1998

Starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet, Regina King. Plot: A U.S. congressman is assassinated after opposing a counter-terrorism bill in a financially motivated crime that eventually entangles an honest labor lawyer.

Critics’ Rating:

Runaway Bride

1999

Starring Julie Roberts, Richard Gere, Joan Cusack, Héctor Elizondo, Rita Wilson. Plot: A New York columnist writes about a woman who has left three fiancés standing at the altar. However, he gets the details wrong and goes to meet the woman himself.

Critics’ Rating:

The Replacements

2000

Starring Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Orlando Jones, Jon Favreau. Plot: During a pro football strike with four games left in the season, team owners hire substitute players, including a washed-up former college quarterback who lives on a houseboat.

Critics’ Rating:

Head of State

2003

Starring Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Dylan Baker, Robin Givens, Lynn Whitfield. Plot: After the Democratic Party presidential and vicepresidential nominees die in a plane crash, a likable D.C. alderman is picked as the replacement.

Critics’ Rating:

COVER AND SPREAD: THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST: ALLSTAR PICTURE LIBRARY LIMITED./ALAMY; ENEMY OF THE STATE: AJ PICS/ALAMY; RUNAWAY BRIDE: AJ PICS/ALAMY; SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE: TRISTAR PICTURES/RGR COLLECTION/ALAMY; TIN MEN: PICTURELUX/THE HOLLYWOOD ARCHIVE/ALAMY; THE REPLACEMENTS: ZUMA PRESS, INC./ALAMY; TRACI LORDS: AJ PICS/ALAMY; JOHNNY DEPP: MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD/ALAMY; EDDIE MURPHY: MAXIMUM FILM/ALAMY; AVALON: MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD/ALAMY; KATHLEEN TURNER: ALBUM/ALAMY; BRAD PITT: PICTORIAL PRESS LTD/ALAMY; BRUCE WILLIS: AJ PICS/ALAMY; THE METEOR MAN: TCD/PROD.DB/ALAMY; . . . AND JUSTICE FOR ALL: EVERETT COLLECTION, INC./ALAMY; DINER: RGR COLLECTION/ALAMY; HEAD OF STATE: ALBUM/ALAMY; HAIRSPRAY: PICTURELUX/THE HOLLYWOOD ARCHIVE/ALAMY; BEDROOM WINDOW: ALBUM/ALAMY; HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: AJ PICS/ALAMY; HE SAID, SHE SAID: ENTERTAINMENT PICTURES/ALAMY; JOE TYNAN: MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD/ALAMY; GUARDING TESS: CINEMATIC/ALAMY; MAJOR LEAGUE II: PICTURELUX/THE HOLLYWOOD ARCHIVE/ALAMY; WHOOPI GOLDBERG: AJ PICS/ALAMY. THIS SPREAD: CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: THE METEOR MAN: ©MGM/PHOTOFEST & CINEMATIC/ALAMY; HEAD OF STATE: AJ PICS/ALAMY; ROCK/MAC: PHOTOFEST.

Source

Three Maryland Film Festival Screenings You Can’t Miss This Year

Max Weiss — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 21:38:32 +0000

The Hypnosis.—Jonathan Bjerstedt

After taking one year off, The Maryland Film Festival is making its big return May 2-5 in honor of its 25th anniversary. Throughout the weekend, Station North’s SNF Parkway Theatre will host panels, events, after-parties, gaming and tech programs, and, of course, a curated lineup of screenings that celebrate diverse filmmakers from near and far. Here are three highlights we recommend snagging tickets to:

The Hypnosis

Directed by Ernst De Geer

As The Hypnosis starts, Vera (Asta Kamma August) is facing the camera, practicing a pitch for the new women’s health app she’s building with her boyfriend, André (Herbert Nordrum). Speaking in English, although the film is mostly in Swedish, Vera tells the story of getting her first period when she was 12 and how much blood there was. She didn’t know it at the time, but she had a coagulation disorder. But because of the stigma surrounding women’s health, she was ashamed to tell anyone. The app she’s building is to educate girls like her.

An older female partner is impressed with Vera’s presentation. But André isn’t so sure. For starters, she mispronounced “definite” as “definitive,” he notes. Secondly, was her tone too heavy? No, the older woman says, it was just right. We see immediately that this is the dynamic between Vera and André. There’s love there, but he carries a noticeable sense of superiority. He’s the boss of this relationship—both in business and in life. Shortly thereafter, Vera visits a hypnotherapist to help her quit her nervous habit of smoking. But the therapist immediately sees that Vera isn’t so much anxious as unsatisfied. She feels like she’s a submissive participant in her own life. She doesn’t get to express her truest self.

The therapist says she wants to try something “radical” with her. We don’t see what exactly transpires, but the next time we see Vera, she is noticeably changed. She jumps on André’s back in a playfully exuberant way. She stands up to her imperious mother.

But when André and Vera attend “Shake Up,” a conference where would-be entrepreneurs first workshop and then make their pitch to an audience of investors, her behavior gets increasingly bizarre. At first, Julian (David Fukamachi Regnfors), the casually self-regarding coach to the investors, is impressed by her passion and outside-the-box thinking. He’s amused when she reaches across the bar and pours herself a glass of milk, as the bartender is nowhere to be found. He likes her bluntness when she calls André out for not having read a book he claims to have loved. The attendants of Shake Up see themselves as disruptors, after all—iconoclasts who are “shaking up” the system. But in Ernst De Geer’s squirm-inducing satire, the myth of this disruption only goes so far.

Soon, Vera is pretending to have an imaginary Chihuahua and really committing to the bit. Later, she dons an apron and starts serving drinks to participants. Is she joking or has she gone mad? Has she been hypnotized to act like a child, to indulge her id? Suddenly, Julian is no longer amused. For his part, André is annoyed, baffled, embarrassed. He’s a buttoned-up kind of guy. Her outbursts are the antithesis of the image he’s trying to project. And if we’re being honest with ourselves, we in the audience find her behavior cringy as well.

The Hypnosis is about what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real, to borrow a phrase. Will this be the end of Vera and André’s relationship? Will she sabotage the investor pitch? And what would you do if you encountered someone like Vera in the wild?

Aint No Back to a Merry-Go-Round
Directed by Ilana Trachtman

The title is a reference to the Langston Hughes poem, “Merry-Go-Round”—the implication being, they can send Black people to the back of the bus, but there is no back of a perpetually spinning merry-go-round. This symbolism was a reality at the Glen Echo Park, just outside of D.C., in 1960. The amusement park was “whites only,” even though many Black children lived nearby.

Interviewed by Ilana Trachtman in her stirring new documentary, those Black residents, now senior citizens, still talk wistfully about hearing the happy cries of children in the pool and on the rides and feeling horribly excluded. But two events converged to finally integrate the park. Nearby Howard University started the Nonviolent Action Group (NAG…get it?) on campus. And the adjacent town of Bannockburn, a would-be utopia of liberal values and co-operative living, was founded. The residents there were largely white and Jewish, some survivors of the Holocaust, but many of them—particularly the housewives who were bored and overeducated—joined NAG in protesting the park.

The film combines video-illustration, contemporaneous documentary footage, and interviews with the surviving activists—including several Howard students who went on to become prominent civil rights leaders and the aging liberals of Bannockburn who are still fighting the good fight (one has a Black Lives Matter button pinned to her lapel)—to tells its enraging but ultimately inspiring story.

Ain’t No Back To a Merry-Go-Round reminds us the civil rights movement was full of people like this, righteous citizens who saw injustice and overcame their own differences to come together and fight it.

When Morning Comes
Directed by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall

Kelly Fyffe-Marshall’s film is a poignant look at Jamal (Djamari Roberts), a young Jamaican boy who finds out he’s being sent to live with his grandmother in Canada. His mother, Janeesha (Shaquana Wilson), a widow, loves and him wants what’s best for him—but the prospects in Jamaica are grim.

Janeesha’s boyfriend works in a coal mine. The school bully gets killed by gang-related gun violence—we see his mother sobbing in church. And yet, despite the poverty and crime, When Morning Comes is a love-letter to Jamaica.

Jamal has a happy life. He goes fishing on the boat of his best friend’s father. He plays soccer and runs races with his schoolmates. He tentatively flirts with a girl—undoubtedly his first crush—and rides on the back of a motorbike with an older friend. Everyone knows him and greets him with a cheerful “wah gwaan?” (“what’s going on?”). The people who live in Jamaica are clear-eyed about the hardships they face, but they also love their country—its “water and wood,” its cool breezes, its laid back vibes—and of course, its reggae music, which powers the soundtrack.

In one of the film’s most touching scenes, Janeesha tells her mother what Jamal can eat. He’s allergic to pork. And he really loves oatmeal and eggs and mint tea before bed. Oxtail is his favorite. She cries as she recounts these things—she’s also folding clothing into his suitcase—and her mother reassures her, in that uniquely Jamaican fashion, “You don’t have to worry, Janeesha.” Jamal is loved and therefore, we know Jamal will be okay.

Source

GameChanger: Sandra Gibson

Lauren Cohen — Wed, 19 May 2021 15:50:57 +0000

—Photography by Mike Morgan

Sandra Gibson was in the midst of planning the 2020 Maryland Film Festival when the pandemic hit. Her team ultimately moved the whole thing online, but at the time, she had no idea that the 2021 festival (from May 19-27) would also have to go virtual. On the plus side, this unusual year has given her lots of time to reimagine the Parkway Theatre and its role in both the Station North community and all of Baltimore.

First of all, how did last year’s virtual fest go?
For a bootstrap thing, we think it went extraordinarily well. It was a brand-new platform. We were inventing as we went. We had 17 feature films. 150 filmmakers. 15 blocks of shorts. [We had] world, North American, and Baltimore premieres. We had a few thousand people participate. All 50 states. We hadn’t had that kind of participation before, so the reach was greatly expanded.

What made you decide to go virtual again this year?
It was an agonizing decision. We just didn’t believe it would be safe enough, that audiences would be comfortable enough, or that we’d actually be able to open at enough of a capacity to have the festival in-person. Plus, the Maryland Institute College of Art told us they weren’t inviting anyone onto their campus, and we use their facilities, so that sort of made the decision for us.

But it will still be a great festival. You have to create the excitement differently. We’re adding family programming. We’re looking for spaces to do drive-in screenings. There will be more in-depth conversations. There will be surprises. I don’t have the [full] lineup yet, but we’ll probably have 32 events like we did last year, and we’ve extended it through the 27th for extra viewing time. It’s a lot to go through. But you can actually watch everything in nine days, if you’re truly committed.

You’re in the midst of making a lot of changes to the Parkway, too.
The plan is to fully activate the entire building—really set it up to do exhibitions, installations, small public art pieces. Things that provide extra context and give people a reason to drop by. We’re trying to be more community responsive, more socially engaged. We’ve sort of coined this as “art house plus”—the best of art house, the best of a contemporary art museum. We’re going to be launching a center for moving image. We’ll still have our theatrical releases, but it’s going to be plussed up in a way that is not only inviting but fits our community.

How do you make the Parkway a place where everyone feels at home year-round?
It all comes down to community programming. How do we build programs that feature the themes and ideas that matter to the people that live in our area? You have to be in the community. You have to be conversant and interested in where the community’s at, and support the community in its effort, its demands, its needs, and its growth and evolution. That work takes time. We’re starting to get on that path. We’re building a community advisory panel. [Filmmaker] Radha Blank said it best—we were premiering an episode of Netflix’s She’s Gotta Have It that hadn’t been released yet, and she got up and said, “The Parkway is my birthright.” If you don’t feel comfortable here, make it your own. You have to do that. This place belongs to you.

Source

Weekend Lineup: June 12-14

Lauren Cohen — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 11:32:00 +0000

Editor’s Note: After this piece was published, Hotel Revival’s Virtual Happy Hour scheduled for Friday, June 12 was unexpectedly cancelled.

EAT

June 14: Bake Sale for Black Lives Matter

Peabody Heights Brewery. 401 E 30th St. 1-4 p.m.

This weekend, you can quell sweet-tooth cravings while supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. The Charm City Night Market is partnering with Peabody Heights Brewery to raise money for two local organizations including Black Yield Institute, a Cherry Hill-based initiative that works to end food apartheid, as well as the Baltimore Action Legal Team, which provides legal support to those protesting against racial injustice. Chef Cai Lindeman from Noona’s will be running the sale at the brewery with options from local favorites including Codetta Bake Shop, Bramble Baking Co., Dutch Courage, Black Rock Orchard, Red Emma’s, and True Chesapeake Oyster Co. To limit contact at the bake sale, you can buy virtual vouchers in advance to redeem for your goodies of choice. If you can’t make it out, donations are also being accepted online.

DRINK

June 12: Hotel Revival Virtual Happy Hour

Instagram Live. 5-7 p.m. Free.

After a long week, there is no better way to unwind than with your favorite summer cocktail or an ice-cold beer. While we’d love to enjoy our drink of choice in-person at Hotel Revival’s upstairs garden bar, tuning in to this virtual happy hour from your cozy couch or breezy porch is still a worthy way to start your weekend. Head to the Mount Vernon hotel’s Facebook or Instagram account to bump along to beats spun by DJ Trillnatured and turn your living room into a dance party of your own.

SEE

June 12-21: Maryland Film Festival’s Virtual Fest

Times and prices vary.

For all of the film buffs and cinephiles out there—this Friday the Maryland Film Festival is bringing the big screen to you. Although the Parkway Theatre is temporarily closed due to COVID-19, the show must go on, and this year the annual movie event is going virtual. Unlock access to 17 feature films and 15 short films or browse the website and buy individual tickets to the movies you know you can’t miss. TT the artist’s Dark City Beneath the Beat will kick off the festival and explore Baltimore City through its club music and dance scene. Don’t forget the popcorn!

HEAR

June 12: Lafayette Gilchrist Trio Streaming Concert

7 p.m. $5.

There’s nothing like listening to live music, especially when it’s coming from acclaimed pianist and local legend Lafayette Gilchrist. This Friday, An Die Musik will stream a performance by Gilchrist alongside his jazzy trio as a part of the venue’s quarantine concert series. The group will be previewing their new album Now, ahead of its October release. Get your tickets and listen to Gilchrist and his fellow musicians use their instruments to confront social issues, such as police brutality and wealth gaps, affecting Baltimore.

DO

June 13-14: Virtual HonFest

11-4 p.m. Free.

Not everyone’s got what it takes to be one of Baltimore’s Best Hons, but if you’re fluent in Bawlmerese and no stranger to a wash-and-set hairdo, you may just get the gold. This annual festival honors the working women of America, but especially the working women of our cherished Charm City. No need to go downy Hampden, hon—this year the competition is virtual. Don your Bawlmer fashion and snap a picture to share on social media using the hashtags #HONfest2020 and #SaferatHomeHON to have your shot at local fame. Just remember, the higher the hair the closer to god.

Source

Four Can’t-Miss Titles From This Year’s Virtual Maryland Film Festival

Max Weiss — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 19:55:00 +0000

The Virtual Maryland Film Festival runs from June 12-21. Read all about the fest here and access the films and check out the complete lineup on the MdFF website.

A Thousand Cuts
4 stars

A Thousand Cuts tells the story of an intrepid journalist going up against a populist, misogynist, law-and-order touting politician who boasts about his penis size and disparages the “Fake News” as out to get him. The politician’s name is Rodrigo Duterte and he is the president of the Philippines.

Watching Baltimorean Ramona S. Diaz’s terrific documentary is a bit like looking at America through a funhouse mirror. The similarities between Duterte—and the movement he inspires—and Trump are uncanny. But Duterte is like Trump Unplugged. While Trump tweets “Law and Order!” and calls on the National Guard to pepper spray innocent protesters, Duterte murders drug users (not dealers), no questions asked—and brags about it. (It’s his way of cleaning up the streets.) While Trump rails against fake news and can be rude and bullying to journalists, Duterte has journalists arrested and casually threatens their lives.

It’s into this environment that we get to know the absolute dynamo that is Maria Ressa, the editor of the Filipino newspaper Rappler, the only publication that speaks truth to power in the country. Ressa has been celebrated as a human rights leader across the globe. She was included in Time magazine’s Person of the Year issue in 2018. She is feted by the likes of George and Amal Clooney. She is the constant recipient of humanitarian and journalism awards. At home, however, she and her staff—many young women—are threatened, subject to arrest (Renna is arrested twice over the course of the film), and exposed to despicable online abuse.

Renna herself is a wonderful heroine: Compact and slightly androgynous, with rimless glasses and a no-fuss haircut, she exudes intelligence, charisma, and pluck. She’s so small she seems vulnerable—but her self-possession and clarity of purpose makes her formidable. She says she doesn’t scare easy. What Diaz makes clear is that Renna is scared—but that the work means more to her than her own safety.

A Thousand Cuts—the title is a reference to how Duterte is chipping away at Filipino democracy—is a must see for those who care about freedom of the press, democracy, and the future of one particular country—our own.

Mayor
4 stars

Like so many of the best documentaries, David Osit’s Mayor feels like a work of fiction.

Its central character, Musa Hadid, is a kind-hearted, put-upon bureaucrat, an everyman thrust into absurdist and sometimes dangerous circumstances.

As the mayor of Ramallah, the seat of Palestine’s government, he has many of the usual bureaucratic duties to worry about: Should the city have a brand identity other than We Ramallah? (And should there even be a space between “We” and “Ramallah”?) Should the fountain in town square have an aspirational name like “The Fountain of Life”? And should he hide in his office in City Hall as Israeli soldiers raid his city?

You see, being the Mayor of an occupied municipality brings with it all sorts of challenges and dangers. More than anything, Hadid wants to serve his citizens, provide them with clean water, and pretty scenery, and quality schools. But as he grapples with those things, he must also grapple with the Israeli soldiers, whom he can see from his rooftop, and who make their presence known from time to time, in occasionally threatening fashion.

“I feel jealous of other cities,” he says at one point. “There’s so much that they can do that we can’t.”

Hadid is a wonderfully expressive man—he sighs, wipes his brow, rests his head in his hands, when dealing with problems both quotidian and dire. (When he’s reacting to inept coworkers and bureaucrats, his lack of poker face become particularly comedic.) And we also see Ramallah as a city caught between two identities: On the one hand, French cafes and American chain restaurants like Popeye’s and KFC line the streets (although the Star & Bucks coffee shop is a hilarious knockoff). On the other hand, a lack of autonomy (Ramallah doesn’t even control its own sewage system) and the prospect of real danger looms at every turn.

Beautifully shot, both comedic and tragic, Mayor is a film that offers an intimate look at life in Palestine and at one good man trying his hardest to serve his people.

Raf

3 stars

The unsettling Raf, which has the rhythms and creeping dread of an early Yorgos Lanthimos film, also has shades of The Talented Mr. Ripley, but in reverse.

In this case, it’s a rich young woman, Tal (Jesse Stanley), who aggressively inserts herself into the life of a working class 29-year-old named Raf (Grace Glowicki). The unassuming Raf works odd handyman and janitorial jobs to make ends meet, and has a passionless relationship with her boyfriend Roger (the film’s writer/director Harry Cepka).

Tal seems fascinated by everything about Raf—the offbeat impressions she does (including Charles Manson), the “dance like no one is watching” moves she makes when grooving to her beloved techo music, her bucket hats, and her self-portraits posing with Samurai knives. But does she respect and care about Raf or just see her as some sort of amusing pet project? Tal, we see already, is a provocateur, a careless escalator of conflict (at one point, she confronts a man who cat-called her with such in your face aggression, it’s a miracle no one is seriously hurt). Regardless, Raf is completely under Tal’s spell and the dynamic between them becomes disturbing. In some ways, Tal could be seen as a send up of certain type of off-putting theater type (she is a Shakespearean actress). Everything she does seems performative, as though she’s always being observed by an imaginary audience. She doesn’t just have conversations, she interrogates people, wearing her judgment on her sleeve. And she views everyone else as characters in a drama that she’s starring in.

Things shift when Tal brings Raf to her summer house on the lake. There, Tal’s equally extra brother (Victor Dolhai) shows up and they both seem to view Raf as a plaything. The film grows increasingly menacing, like a horror film waiting for the horror to kick in. Does it ever arrive? Well, you’ll have to watch to find out.

Dark City Beneath the Beat

3 stars

I’m thrilled that Baltimoreans are finally going to get to see rapper/music impresario TT the Artist’s film, a love letter to club music, the healing power of dance, and, above all, the city of Baltimore. But I confess I’m sad that it won’t be screened in a packed theater (for now). Oh, the party we would’ve had.

Still, this kinetic, kaleidoscopic film, one that manages to acknowledge Baltimore’s deep-rooted struggles while celebrating its spirit and beauty, is well worth seeing on video. The film, which is barely over an hour, is hard to describe. It’s part music video, part documentary, party hip-hop-inflected Busby Berkeley musical, part tone poem. If you’re looking for a linear history of club music you won’t find it here. Instead, you meet some of its main players (a few, like Mighty Mark and TT herself are identified; several, somewhat frustratingly, aren’t). You learn the colorful names of some of the dance moves (like the Sponge Bob, Crazy Leg, Sexy Walk, and Cherry Hill) and watch some beautiful spoken word rap and dancing.

Occasionally the film, which combines soaring drone footage with on-the-ground camerawork, pauses for an elaborate musical number. In one case, as orange jumpsuit-clad dancers surround the puckish emcee DDm, we see them in aerial view, creating stunning patterns against the Inner Harbor. In another, an all-too-resonant tragic-comic dance number features a white cop at Lexington Market, first finding the club music irresistible, then shooting dead (with a finger gun, in this case) the black man who performs it. We get brief glimpses at the King and Queen of Baltimore dance competitions, we hear about gone-too-soon club dance legends like K. Swift and Tamika “Fatgirl” Raye, and we hear straight talk about Baltimore’s violence and addiction.

The dancing—filled with kicks and scissors and stepping so fast it sometimes looks like the film has been sped up—is electrifying. There is something a little bittersweet about the film—namely, that TT left Baltimore for LA to start her own, all-female record label, Club Queen records. No doubt she still has mad love for her adopted city. But her absence will be felt.

TT the Artist will participate in a live Q&A after the film first drops on June 12 at 8:30 p.m.

Source

The Maryland Film Festival Goes Virtual

Max Weiss — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 17:27:00 +0000

When the Maryland Film Festival (MdFF) postponed its annual May fest, it just seemed like another COVID-19 bummer to be thrown on the pile with other canceled events including Artscape, AFRAM, and the Inner Harbor fireworks.

But rejoice, Baltimore cinephiles! In the true spirit of “the show must go on,” the MdFF is back—and while not quite bigger than ever, certainly more accessible.

From June 12-21, the Parkway Theatre will host the first-ever Virtual MdFF. The 17 feature films and 15 short film packages can be accessed directly through the festival’s site. And just like a regular festival, you can buy individual tickets or an all-access pass to attend all of the films and events.

“We’re so excited about this,” says MdFF executive director Sandra Gibson. “And the filmmakers are excited, too.”

Gibson says she and the MdFF team will do everything in their power to recreate the “energy” of the live festival. That includes streaming Q&As with filmmakers, casts, and crews; some pre-recorded Q&A sessions with the directors of the shorts; and even virtual comedy shows and Twitch dance parties co-hosted by The Crown in Station North.

“We really want to encourage people to have fun,” Gibson says.

Among the many titles being screened are TT the Artist’s highly anticipated Dark City Beneath the Beat, about the Baltimore club music scene; Ramona Diaz’s A Thousand Cuts, about a Filipino journalist who speaks truth to power; and the beautiful, tragic-comic Mayor, about the mayor of Ramallah in Palestine.

Gibson notes that there are certain advantages to the virtual fest. For one, a single film can now be watched by a small group of folks who are social distancing together, as opposed to each person having to buy their own ticket.

“I’m going to have a watch party with my husband and son,” she says.

Also, the films can be watched any time once you have a ticket. In the past, it was tricky to watch every single film because of overlapping screenings and simple time constraints.

Now, says Gibson, “You can curate your own festival.” And finally: “No lines!”

Not all of the films that were scheduled to run in the original live fest have made the transition, as some are holding out for theatrical release. And some of the features (not the shorts) are geo-restricted, meaning they can only be watched by people in the DMV region (sorry folks in New York and LA!). But Gibson is thrilled they were able to pull the whole thing together.

“There are a lot of moving pieces,” she says.

Gibson’s ultimate recommendation? Buy an all-access pass and watch all the films and content on offer. After all, you have 10 days.

“You can totally binge out!”

Learn more about the MdFF and buy tickets, here. Also, watch this space for reviews of select titles.

Source

Ramona S. Diaz Discusses Impact of Canceled Maryland Film Festival

Max Weiss — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 10:42:00 +0000

To no one’s surprise, the Maryland Film Festival (MdFF), which was supposed to run from April 29-May 3, was forced to cancel this year in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Parkway Theatre, the festival’s headquarters, has been closed since last month but—in some heartening news for fans of alternative cinema—has (temporarily) rebranded itself as the Parkway Virtual Theatre, hosting a streaming movie platform directly on its site.

Nonetheless, for indie filmmakers, the cancellation of festivals like MdFF can have a chilling effect on the success and viability of their movies. To that end, we wanted to check in with local documentarian and MdFF board member Ramona S. Diaz, whose A Thousand Cuts, about a fearless journalist taking on a corrupt Philippine president, was set to have its local premiere at the fest.

She spoke to us from her home in Mt. Washington.

Tell us the about your film.

It’s about press freedom in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte, who’s widely known for his war on drugs. It takes place in 2019, against the backdrop of the midterm election. I follow the journey of Maria Ressa, a prominent journalist who is speaking truth to power. And I follow her through this season of election when she gets arrested twice. The film turns out to be about press freedom, disinformation, and the war on drugs, all those things intertwining.

You had brought A Thousand Cuts to Sundance, right?

Yes, in competition. We were scheduled to screen at 12 film festivals this spring. And special screenings, all of which, of course, were canceled.

It was just going to be a classic roll out of small independent film—you premiere at a top tier festival, the spring festivals give you momentum, and then you do your sort of limited theatrical in the summer, and then it’s on to award season. That was a nice plan many years ago, it seems.

How was the reception at Sundance?

Something happens at Sundance and other festivals. You show them a documentary film and the audience has been immersed in someone else’s life for two hours…and then when the lights come up those people actually come up on stage. Like, they jump off the frame. The audience absolutely levitates. It’s this magic that happens that can’t ever happen on Zoom. It was beautiful.

You were also supposed to screen at SXSW in Austin. When did you find out that it had been canceled?

I was on my way to Manila to have a private sneak preview screening of the film to the people who participated in it. So they were flying me out. I fell asleep—by the time we were over the Pacific, I woke up and saw on my phone that it was canceled. And I knew then that everything would be canceled. A lot of people were looking to see what SXSW was going to do because it was the first major festival. By the time I left Manila five days later, everything was canceled—Cleveland, Full Frame, Hot Docs.
Some people were postponing, which I think was just postponing the inevitable.

Was it hard getting out of Manila?

I flew there, I think March 7. The screening was on Tuesday. I did some master classes. And then the plan was, on Thursday, I would fly directly to Austin.
The world changed in a week. So when South By was canceled, I thought, I’m going to stay the weekend in Manila. Why not?
So I stayed, which was not a very good idea! In the span of like 48 hours, the country was shutting down and the president gave everyone 72 hours to [come home]. All international flights were being grounded. But yes, I was able to get out.

How disappointing was the cancellation of the MdFF for you?

It was interesting for me to be a filmmaker and then sitting on the board of the Maryland Film Festival. I could really see it from both sides. Of course, as a filmmaker, you always wish, let’s just postpone. But the reality is, it’s a tough choice. Even if you postpone until fall, six months later you’re mounting another festival. How do you do that?

What’s the plan to roll out the film? Are you going to do Video on Demand? Or take advantage of the Parkway’s new streaming platform?

We’ve turned down most digital offers. As a consumer there’s so much glut right now. Because everyone’s thinking the same way: “Let’s put our film out there! People are home!” But I personally get very overwhelmed by choices. So I just decide I’m going to read a book. I really love that specialness and anticipation of a live audience. We’re willing to sit it out until the summer [in the hopes that the film gets a theatrical release].

This whole thing must be so disappointing for you.

I do have to say: I’m very lucky. I have a team. I have sales agents and funders backing it and other people thinking as to what to do with it. But I’m still mourning my film. There’s something that happens when you roll out a film like this. You form a cohort with other filmmakers who are at every festival and that becomes your cohort throughout the year. It becomes a special group. I’m mourning that cohort. It’s not going to happen this year. Relative to what’s happening in the world—people are dying—I feel a little guilty for mourning. But it’s still a real grief, I think.

I really look forward to seeing the film when this is all over.

In the theater! Hopefully at the Parkway, live.

Source

Weekend Lineup: May 10-12

Kaitlyn Pacheco — Thu, 09 May 2019 17:15:32 +0000

EAT

May 12: Mother’s Day Brunches

Locations, times, and prices vary.

The last few days before Mother’s Day mark the annual scramble for last-minute bouquets, sentimental cards, and—if you’re really behind—brunch reservations at her favorite local spot. If you’re still searching for a table, we recommend snagging seats for the first-ever brunch service at popular Italian restaurant Orto, indulging in a three-course mid-morning meal at Minnow, or any of the other Sunday specials listed in our roundup of mom-worthy spots.

DRINK

May 11: Classy Trashy Birthday Bashy

Peabody Heights Brewery, 401 E. 30th St. 7-10 p.m. $35-40.

It’s been five years since Mr. Trash Wheel officially started churning trash from the Jones Falls, and we can barely remember what Baltimore was like before his googly eyes could be seen on every T-shirt, sticker, and plush toy. To celebrate the milestone birthday, Peabody Heights Brewery is throwing an all-out bash with live music, trash-themed games, and, of course, all-you-can-drink beer. Be one of the first fans to try the latest beer release in collaboration with the Healthy Harbor Initiative, Mr. Trash Wheel’s Solar Power Sour. And be sure to recycle the can!

SEE

May 8-12: Maryland Film Festival

Station North Arts & Entertainment District. Times vary. $8-450.

Baltimore might not be as glamorous as Hollywood, but according to film critic Richard Brody, it becomes the “center of cinematic gravity” each year during this five-day film celebration. Whether you’re a casual moviegoer or a full-blown cinephile, take advantage of this opportunity to watch more than 100 shorts, features, and documentaries, as well as attend Q&A sessions and workshops with acclaimed filmmakers at the historic Parkway Theatre in Station North. Pro tip: Make your movie-watching plan based on our reviews of eight of this year’s featured films.

HEAR

May 11: Welcome to Shakesville Saturday Morning Tunes

WTMD, 1 Olympic Place, Towson. 9-11 a.m. Free-$40.

Although the premiere of the Baltimore Rock Opera Society’s much-anticipated show Welcome to Shakesville is still two weeks away, the cast and crew will perform a sneak preview of the colorful opera for their toughest critics: local music-loving kids. With throwback nods to 1960s psychedelia, this puppet-filled performance will transport audiences of all ages to the magical world of Shakesville with tons of surf jams along the way. If dancing is not enough to tire out your little one, there will be bike rides by Race Pace Bicycles, a reading corner, and cake from Eddie’s of Roland Park to knock them out by noon.

DO

May 11: Remfest

Remington Ave. and 28th St. 12-9 p.m. Free.

Despite the smash-hit success of the first-ever RemFest, Remington-based businesses and neighbors are gunning to make this year’s festival even bigger and better. Along with more than 75 local artisan vendors, drool-worthy bites from area restaurants, and libations by Union Craft Brewing and R. Bar, the outdoor festival boasts a killer lineup of local acts that can’t be beat. Stake out a spot near the 27th Street stage to hear the likes of indie-pop stars Super City, soul sensation Brooks Long, singer-songwriter Bobbi Rush, pop-opera duo Outcalls, and be sure to stick around for an end-of-the-night Save Your Soul dance party with DJ Rob Macy.

Source

Culture Club: Joyce J. Scott at the BMA, Maryland Film Festival, and Baltimore Rock Opera Society Gets Groovy

Christine Jackson — Tue, 07 May 2019 10:57:00 +0000

Visual Art

Hitching Their Dreams to Untamed Stars: Joyce J. Scott & Elizabeth Talford Scott
Joyce J. Scott is a national treasure, but Baltimore gets the joy of claiming her as one of our own. With this new exhibition featuring both the work of Scott and her mother, Elizabeth Talford Scott, visitors to the Baltimore Museum of Art have the chance to experience the decades-long artistic conversation between mother and daughter through quilts, sculpture, and intricate needlework. May 15-Dec. 1. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr.

Mental Health Awareness Month Art Show
Mark the 70th Annual Mental Health Awareness Month by supporting both local artists and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation at this multi-week art show. Stop by opening night for live painting, poetry readings, glassblowing demonstrations, and live music, then peruse works by the likes of Annie Howe Papercuts, Suburban Avenger Studios, Gilah Press + Design, and more. Opening May 17 at 7 p.m. UNION Craft Brewing, 1700 W. 41st St.

Music

Letitia VanSant + Goodnight Moonshine feat. Molly Venter
Songstress Letitia VanSant’s personal and political lyrics have earned her both local and international acclaim. Don’t miss your chance to hear her powerful, Americana-inspired arrangements alongside lush, folksy tunes from Goodnight Moonshine. May 10 at 8 p.m. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

Theater

Welcome to Shakesville
Boogie on down to Zion Church for this latest spectacle from Baltimore Rock Opera Society. During the birth of the psychedelia, one girl, Betty, is on a quest to solve the mysterious disappearance of Jimmy Graves in the colorful and crazy world of Shakesville. Travel back to 1965 with this BROS crew during this nod to all things groovy. May 24-June 16. Zion Church of the City of Baltimore, 400 E. Lexington St.

A New Brain
In 1992, award-winning author William Finn suffered a brain seizure shortly after the opening of Falsettos (which he co-wrote with James Lapine) and was hospitalized. The experience inspired this latest Iron Crow Theatre production, the poignant and surprisingly funny story of children’s TV composer Gordon, who dreams of writing a Broadway hit but is blindsided by a life-threatening brain tumor. May 31-June 9. Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St.

Film

Maryland Film Festival
Christmas for cinephiles has come again. The Maryland Film Festival returns for four days and five nights of films, special guests, and great experiences for movie lovers of all stripes. Catch some new documentary screenings, join John Waters to watch a Nicolas Cage rampage, or just pick a time slot and see what’s new with some friends. May 8-12, Various Station North locations

Literature

Meet Matthew A. Cherry and Vashti Harrison
Gather the kids and head to The Children’s Bookstore for this visit and book signing with the author and illustrator of Hair Love. Born from a lack of representation in animated projects and the desire to promote hair love in kids, this sweet father-daughter tale of love and self-acceptance is sure to become a favorite among both children and parents.

Source

The List: May 2019

Kaitlyn Pacheco — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 08:30:00 +0000

Preakness Stakes
May 16-18. 5201 Park Heights Ave. Times and prices vary. When he was a senior in high school, Weston Hamilton decided, practically on a whim, to become a jockey after graduation. The son of Steve “Cowboy” Hamilton, a champion racer, Weston grew up trail riding and looking at pictures of his dad as a “jock,” and he wanted to try it for himself. Fast-forward two years: He’s the country’s leading apprentice and has garnered more than $3 million in purse earnings. Weston says he looks forward to competing during Preakness weekend because it reminds him of the “good ol’ days” of racing, with onlookers dressed to the nines and cheering from the sidelines. “You get butterflies when you see everyone watching you and your horse,” says Weston. “It’s like no other feeling in the world.”—KP

Courtesy of the Maryland Film Festival

Maryland Film Festival
May 8-12. Time varies. Station North Arts and Entertainment District. $8-450. Baltimore might not be as glamorous as Hollywood, but according to film critic Richard Brody, it becomes the “center of cinematic gravity” each year during this five-day film celebration. Whether you’re a casual moviegoer or a full-blown cinephile, take advantage of this opportunity to watch more than 100 shorts, features (including The Mountain, starring Jeff Goldblum), and documentaries, as well as attend Q&A sessions and workshops with acclaimed filmmakers at the historic Parkway Theatre in Station North.

"The Baltimore Flower Mart - 1915 by Griffith Bailey Coale (1890 - 1950) Oil on Canvas - Courtesy of Rehs Gallery

FlowerMart
May 3-4. 11 a.m. 699 Washington Pl.. Free. This time-honored Mt. Vernon tradition signals the start of the spring with tons of flowers, extravagant hats, and the festival’s signature lemon sticks. Spend the weekend browsing through wares by local arts and crafts vendors, area food trucks, and, of course, flower carts that will decorate the neighborhood during this weekend-long family-friendly affair.

Baltimore Tattoo Convention
May 3-5. Times vary. The Baltimore Convention Center. Free-$40. The Baltimore Convention Center has hosted some eclectic events over the years (think Comic-Con and Bronycon), and this annual convention that brings all walks of life together to celebrate the art of tattooing is no exception. With dozens of tattoo contests, local and regional vendors, seminars, and special guests such as past contestants from the TV show Ink Masters, we can almost guarantee that you’ll leave the downtown center with at least one new tat.

Kinetic Sculpture Race
May 4. 5 p.m. Location varies. Free-$75. Objects typically written off as junk—think used bicycles and gears—are front and center for this human-powered and slightly lunatic sculpture race. During this signature citywide event hosted by the American Visionary Art Museum, try your hand at “engineering” a rideable structure and race around the Inner Harbor for the chance to win outrageous prizes such as the “Grand Mediocre East Coast Champion Award” or cheer on your faves from the sidelines.

Courtesy of Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper

An Intimate Evening with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen
May 11. 8 p.m. 12 N Eutaw St. $93.50-137.50. Though they typically appear on opposite ends of the TV spectrum—with Anderson Cooper anchoring on CNN and Andy Cohen schmoozing with celebrities on his late-night show Watch What Happens Live—the two stars will team up to interview each other at this one-night-only event at the Hippodrome Theatre. From swapping celebrity gossip to hosting a Q&A session with the audience, experience Cooper and Cohen’s undeniable chemistry and hear embarrassing anecdotes that could only result from a longtime friendship.

Courtesy of Remfest

RemFest
May 11. 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Remington Ave. and 28th St. Free. Despite the smash-hit success of the first-ever RemFest, Remington-based businesses and neighbors are gunning to make this year’s festival even bigger and better. Along with more than 75 local artisan vendors, family-friendly activities, and libations by Union Craft Brewing and r.bar, the outdoor festival boasts a killer lineup of local acts including Soul Cannon, Super City, and rising banjo player Jacob Panic. Spend the day celebrating this evolving neighborhood and check out top spots like B. Willow and Charmington’s while you’re in the neighborhood.

Joyce J. Scott. "Blue Baby Book Redux," 2018. - Courtesy Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore

Hitching Their Dreams to Untamed Stars
May 15-Dec. 1. Time varies. 10 Art Museum Dr. Free. If you do nothing else this spring, visit the Baltimore Museum of Art to experience this awe-inspiring exhibition that celebrates the profound work of MacArthur-award winning local artist Joyce J. Scott and her mother, Elizabeth Talford Scott. The curated collection features Elizabeth’s experimental textile pieces, including a quilt that depicts the North Star as a matriarchal beacon of freedom, along with examples of Joyce’s art that responds to her mother’s textile tradition. The exhibition’s seven-month run encourages visitors to view the pair’s thought-provoking bodies of work again and again.

Courtesy of Cardi B

92Q Spring Bling Festival
May 24. 7:30p.m. 201 W Baltimore St. $110-310. Whether you love her or not, there’s no denying that stripper-turned-rapper Cardi B has taken the world by storm. This month, the Grammy Award-winning queen will grace the Royal Farms Arena to headline 92Q’s annual spring concert, and she’s sure to bring the house down with hits like “Money” and “Be Careful.” Get there early to hear sets by rising rappers including Yo Gotti, Moneybagg Yo, and Blac Youngsta.

Courtesy of Brew at the Zoo

Brew at the Zoo
May 25-26. Time varies. 1 Safari Pl. $24.99-75.99. We can’t think of a better way to kick off Memorial Day weekend than hanging out with the Maryland Zoo’s polar bears and penguins while sipping on local brews. In between unlimited samplings of beers from more than 80 breweries, bop along to live music by artists such as Ballyhoo! and Amish Outlaws and soak up the suds with eats from dozens of food vendors. Best of all? Every dollar raised during this annual fundraiser goes directly back to the zoo.

Source

Maryland Film Festival’s Jed Dietz to Retire

Max Weiss — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 11:02:00 +0000

When Jed Dietz’s wife, Julia McMillan, retired as a full-time pediatrician and hospital administrator in 2016, he took a wait and see approach to her level of happiness.

“I was curious how that would work out. She really loved what she was doing,” says Dietz, the founding director of the Maryland Film Festival. “[But] it worked out great!” he notes, sounding vaguely surprised. Dietz said McMillan had more freedom for family and hobbies but was still able to sit on the American Board of Pediatrics and mentor former residents who came to town.

This got him thinking.

Now, two years later, Dietz, who turned 70 last January, is following in his wife’s footsteps.

Sandra L. Gibson, a nationally recognized leader in arts management and administration, will take over as interim director on November 1. From there, the board will launch a search for a new executive director.

“It’s a mashup of feelings,” Dietz admits. “I’m excited. And I’m nervous. I think I’m going to miss everything. I say that with full confidence that this is the right thing to do at the right time.”

The MFF had already begun a strategic planning campaign for 2019. Now finding Dietz’s permanent replacement will be part of those plans. Dietz hopes to be as involved—or uninvolved—as the board wants him to be.

He says he’ll remain a MFF board member (although he’ll likely recuse himself from the executive director search) and also continue to run the Maryland Filmmakers Fellowship, which nurtures rising talent.

“I want to do whatever it takes to keep the [MFF] going,” Dietz says. “But I also want to get out of peoples’ way.”

Dietz founded the Maryland Film Festival in 1999 and oversaw its growth into one of the most respected and beloved small festivals in the country. In May of 2017, the MFF opened the full-time Parkway Theatre, which shows independent and revival films and hosts film-related discussions and events.

Dietz, a true cinephile, plans on remaining a fixture at the Parkway. He also says he looks forward to buying his all-access pass to the yearly festival, which takes place every May. (Something tells me he’ll be able to score a comp pass.)

Beyond that? He has vague plans. He actually wants to attend more film festivals, but this time just as a civilian. Then maybe summers in Martha’s Vineyard? Or renting a villa in Tuscany? All options are on the table. Well, except for one.

“I hate golf,” Dietz says.

Source

Weekend Lineup: Artscape 2018 Edition

Kaitlyn Pacheco — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:14:00 +0000

Five things to eat, drink, see, hear, and do with your Artscape weekend.

EAT

Local Food

Station North, Mt. Royal Ave. & Cathedral St. Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Prices vary.

While the hundreds of visual art exhibits, outdoor installations, and performances are the stars of America’s largest free art festival, Artscape’s entirely Maryland-made menu is prepared to shine just as bright. During the weekend-long summer art-party, celebrate our city as you sample eats from local gems like Ekiben, The Local Oyster, and Connie’s Chicken & Waffles, order on-the-go hors d’oeuvres from food trucks including Wild Thyme, The Green Bowl, and B’more Greek Grill, and dig into desserts from sweet shops like Otterbein’s Cookies, Miss Twist ice cream, and Go Melvo Snoballs.

DRINK

Wet City’s Second Anniversary

Wet City, 223 W. Chase St. Fri. 4 p.m.-2 a.m., Sat. 3 p.m.-2 a.m., Sun. 3 p.m.-10 p.m. Free. 443-873-6699.

In two short years, this Mt. Vernon beer bar has transformed from a brew-centric newbie into a cornerstone cocktail spot for not only its neighborhood but the entire city. To celebrate two years of hand-crafted concoctions and custom suds, take a break from the heat of Artscape and cool off with specialty slushies, including a watermelon pisco sour and a rum-based Pain Killer. When you’re ready to once again embrace the throngs, fill one of Wet City’s plastic growlers with their brand-new double-IPA for easy sipping in the streets.

SEE

Films

Parkway Theater, 5 W. North Ave. Fri. 3-9 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 1-6 p.m. Free.

This weekend’s less-than-ideal weather is the perfect excuse to explore the century-old Parkway Theatre and see a wide variety of free films on its historic big screen. On Friday, settle in for the Baltimore Youth Media Showcase, which will present productions from local youth arts and film education programs, and stay longer for the event’s feature film presentation of Friday, starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker (spot the original “Daaamn!” scene that led to the iconic meme). Throughout the rest of the weekend, experience a variety of shorts from this year’s Maryland Film Festival, complete with post-screening Q&A sessions with the filmmakers.

HEAR

Concerts

Locations vary, including Artscape Main Stage, Johns Hopkins University Station North Stage, and the Morgan State University Sound Off Live! Festival Stage. Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Free.

Over the past few years, Artscape’s mix of local and national music acts have become as much of a crowd-pleaser as the festival’s art fairs and exhibitions. At the Johns Hopkins stage near Station North, hear acts like soul-punk trio F City, hip-hop emcee Eze Jackson, and singer-songwriter Grayson Moon. Over at the Morgan State stage on Mount Royal Avenue, catch New Orleans-style band The Crawdaddies, indie-rockers Super City, and a Sunday night performance by indie-pop duo Outcalls. Biggest of all, the main stage on Cathedral Street will host headliners like iconic ’90s R&B group TLC, reggae legends Toots & The Maytals, and rising blues rocker ZZ Ward, as well as local favorites like pop singer Ellen Cherry and The Voice finalist Davon Fleming.

DO

Artscape After Hours

Locations and prices vary. Fri.-Sat. 9-11 p.m.

If three days of all-you-can-experience art just isn’t enough, keep the good times going after sundown with after-hours activities all along Charles Street. Let the moonlight fuel your moves at Dance Camp, with its block of family-friendly workshops, impressive performances, and professional competitions; enjoy a pop-up comedy club, complete with stand-up sets, improv lessons, and endless laughs from BIG Baltimore Improv Group; or join Artscape’s grooviest festival-goers at the nightly Silent Discos, hosted by the city’s most celebrated DJs like Landis Expandis and Trillnatured.

Source

We Review Some Notable Titles Playing the Maryland Film Festival

Max Weiss — Wed, 02 May 2018 09:32:00 +0000

The marvelous Maryland Film Festival is back tonight (through May 6). Here’s a great chat I had with festival director Jed Dietz and filmmaker Matt Porterfield. And below are capsule reviews of a few of the titles playing at the fest, including Porterfield’s Sollers Point.

SOLLERS POINT
3.5 stars

Sollers Point might be local auteur Matt Porterfield’s most commercial film to date, while still retaining his astonishingly lived-in sense of working class Baltimore. Our hero is 26-year-old Keith (McCaul Lombardi), sweet, but not too bright, and handsome in a coiled, dirt-bag kind of way. He’s just out of Jessup and, after 9 months of house-arrest, is trying to stay clean, but forces are conspiring against him. All around, he encounters his past: disappointed loved ones and relatives, pissed off ex-girlfriends, gang-bangers who want him back in the fold. And he’s a master at self-sabotage, too, always seeming to take the wrong path when life offers him a crossroads. Lombardi plays Keith as taciturn, wary, and wounded. You sense the futility in rooting for him, but you do all the same.

WE THE ANIMALS
3 stars

Jeremiah Zagar’s dreamy coming of age film, based on Justin Torres’ semi-autobiographical novel, casts a hypnotic spell. In upstate New York, three young brothers are so close, they almost breathe as one. They all look alike—loose-limbed and shirtless, with matching dark-haired crew cuts—and they run free through their ramshackle house and neighborhood. All three brothers are rowdy and spirited, but the youngest, 10-year-old Jonah (Evan Rosado), is the most sensitive. He’s an artist and a worrier and he’s slowly coming to terms with his queer identity. Life at home can be volatile, as the boys’ father (Raúl Castill), while loving, has a dark temper and is prone to bouts of self-pity; their mother (Sheila Vand) yearns to escape. Throughout, Jonah cautiously observes it all, concerned for his brothers and wondering what his own future holds.

MADELINE’S MADELINE
3.5 stars

It’s hard to properly describe Josephine Decker’s Madeline Madeline. If I were to merely recount the plot—a troubled but brilliant girl gets deeply involved with a cult-like experimental theater troupe, much to the consternation of her mother—it would sound almost conventional, but it’s anything but. Instead, Decker combines dream-like imagery, improvisation, and even some elements of horror to create a thoroughly singular cinematic experience. Molly Parker, as the charismatic but exploitative director of the troupe, and Miranda July, as the overly protective mother (they are presented as unwitting doppelgangers of each other) are both wonderful. But it’s newcomer Helena Howard, as Madeline, who gives an utterly mesmerizing, star-making performance.

WOBBLE PALACE
2.5 stars

“They say we’re a generation of narcissists,” says Jane (Dash Nekrasova), one half of the doomed couple explored in the amusing but cringe-y Wobble Palace. “But it’s not like we have anything else besides student debt and front facing cameras.”

Jane and her boyfriend, Eugene (Eugene Kotlyarenko), are trying one last-ditch experiment to possibly save their relationship—they’re splitting up the apartment they share for the weekend (Eugene gets Saturday and Jane gets Sunday).

The film starts from the perspective of Eugene, a self-styled weirdo who wears an elaborate man bun/combover hybrid that he calls the “floating toupee.” He immediately logs onto Tinder and tries, ineptly, to romance a series of women. Eugene calls himself a nice guy, and maybe he is, but his desperation to get laid comes off as creepy.

Next we see things through the eyes of Jane, who is only marginally more appealing than her oddball beau. At least she seems to have some moderate talent as an artist—she decorated the couple’s aggressively quirky apartment (think Astroturf and baby doll heads). But she frets the whole film about whether or not she’s “basic” and is rather cruel to Eugene.

Wobble Palace, which Kotlyarenko directed and co-wrote with Nekrasova, is very much of its moment, almost to a fault. At times the film feels rather explicitly anthropological, like a treatise—albeit a funny one—on millennial narcissism in the mid-2010s. (Look for already outdated phrases like “Bernie Bro,” “cuck,” and “basic bitch”!)

Still, young audiences will recognize themselves and their friends and be amused. It’s hard not to laugh at these characters, but a little harder to care about them.

SICKIES MAKING FILMS
3 stars

This stylish documentary, from local filmmaker Joe Tropea, chronicles the history of film censorship with a particularly close look at Maryland’s own censorship board, the longest-operating in the country. Of course, it was doubly ironic that Maryland, home of that infant terrible of cinema, John Waters, would have the most draconian such board, but it was kept alive by my many factors including one particularly colorful censor, Mary Avara, a true Baltimore character who made the national talk show rounds.

You’ll learn a lot watchng this film—for example, it was progressives who were the first to call for film censorship, in the name of protecting children and serving the greater good (eventually, that ground was ceded to conservatives, and in particular, the Catholic church). And you’ll see that Marylanders were largely embarrassed by the censorship board, which literally cut the naughty bits out of films all the way up until 1981. Tropea keeps things lively by deploying a combination of talking head interviews (including film historians, theater owners, politicians, and Waters himself), old film and TV footage, original illustrations, and the kind of kitschy tableaus of documents, pens, and clippings that would make Wes Anderson proud. In the end, the censorship board was shuttered due to indifference more than anything else.

“The lesson of the history of censorship is that it doesn’t work,” says former Maryland State Senator Howard Denis, who introduced the bill to abolish the censor board. “ . . . You really cannot censor art. Art will have a way of expressing itself.”

Source

The Launch: May 2018

Aaron Hope — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Kinetic Sculpture Race
May 5. American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. Sat. 10 a.m. Free. 410-244-1900. Just weeks after learning how to ride a bike at age 4, Eli Hess found himself wearing rubber gloves and goggles, peddling alongside his dad, David, as an official participant in the first Kinetic Sculpture Race. Since then, the Hesses, including David’s now 81-year-old father, George, and the rest of Team PLATYPUS have created and raced 13 human-powered sculptures, including a 25-foot-tall rocket and a cold-cut sub, in AVAM’s annual 14-mile trek around the city. This year, their team, which stands for Personal Longrange All-Terrain Yacht Proven Unsafe, will ride “the mothership,” through water, mud, and the uphill Linwood Avenue stretch on May 5 in the museum’s 20th anniversary race. “The water separates the adults from the boys,” George says with a laugh. “It’s the rough and tumble world of kinetic sculpture racing.”

Maryland Film Festival
May 2-6. Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave. Times vary. $11-425. 410-752-8083. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Baltimore’s cinematic celebration, which has hosted thousands of novice moviegoers, flick aficionados, and renowned filmmakers such as John Waters, David Lowery, and Greta Gerwig. This cinephile’s paradise returns with a five-day jubilee of movies—from shorts to full-length narrative features and documentaries—shown throughout the Station North Arts District. In between screenings, attend Q&A sessions with filmmakers, as well as workshops and panel discussions at Red Emma’s.

M3 Rock Festival
May 4-5. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 5 p.m. $60-850. 410-715-5550. Bust out your leather pants, studded jackets, and big hair—it’s time to party like it’s 1989. Now in its 10th year, this head-banging music festival is a celebration of all things metal, with iconic bands turning back the clock for all generations of devoted fans to rock out together. Spanning two days and two stages, catch headliners including Baltimore’s own Kix and crowd favorites Tom Keifer, Ace Frehley, and Night Ranger.

FlowerMart
May 4-5. Mount Vernon Square, 699 Washington Pl. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Free. 410-274-5353. Nothing says springtime in Baltimore quite like seeing the square around the Washington Monument filled with flowers, colorful hats, and classic lemon peppermint sticks. For the 107th year, Mount Vernon’s beloved celebration kicks off the spring season with arts and crafts vendors, live music and entertainment, and plenty
of festival eats. Stroll through the neighborhood to pick out the perfect plant or join in the maypole dance.

Wham City Comedy
May 9. Metro Gallery, 1700 N. Charles St. 8 p.m. $10. 410-244-0899. Baltimore’s favorite band of merry misfits is bringing its offbeat brand of comedy back to the Station North neighborhood that started it all.
On the final stop of their spring tour, catch Wham City Comedy’s viral, volatile performance art, as seen on Adult Swim and Comedy Central. Fingers crossed that they perform their hilarious eight-part live series, The Cry of Mann.

The Catonsville Nine, 50 Years Later
May 12-31. Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument St. Wed.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 12-5 p.m. Free. 410-685-3750. The Maryland Historical Society is commemorating the Catonsville Nine, a group of Catholic men and women who, 50 years ago this month, burned nearly 400 A-1 draft records to protest the Vietnam War. Featuring artwork by Tom Lewis, who was a member, and additional photographs and materials from the period, the exhibit examines the group’s motivations amid the political chaos and conflict of the late 1960s.

Preakness
May 19. Pimlico Race Course, 5201 Park Heights Ave. 8 a.m. $40-720. 410-542-9400. Every year, horse-racing (and day-drinking) fans from near and far come to cheer on the country’s finest thoroughbred horses as they compete for the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Before heading to your seat for this 143rd event, partake in pre-race festivities throughout the city, or hear chart-topping rappers
Post Malone and 21 Savage take over the raucous Infield Fest.

Brew At The Zoo
May 26-27. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, 1 Safari Pl. 1-7 p.m. $25-75. 410-396-7102. Tap into your wild side at The Maryland Zoo’s 17th annual fundraiser with beers from more than 80 breweries, including local suds from DuClaw Brewing and The Brewer’s Art. In between refilling your glass and gushing over the zoo’s newborn African penguins, listen to live music by local rockers Nelly’s Echo and The Kelly Bell Band and sample snacks from dozens of food vendors.

Maggie Rogers
May 30. Baltimore Soundstage, 124 Market Pl. 7 p.m. $30-35. 410-244-0057. Since skyrocketing to internet stardom after a video with Pharrell Williams (gushing over her now-hit song “Alaska”) went viral, this Maryland native has signed a record deal, toured the globe, and released her first EP, Now That the Light Is Fading. For one night only, the singer-songwriter brings her earthy rhythms and soulful sound to her home state for a must-see performance.

Source

My Top Ten with Jed Dietz

Jess Mayhugh — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 08:30:00 +0000

Jed Dietz inside the Parkway Theatre. - Christopher Myers

Source

Weekend Lineup: Nov. 17-19

Lydia Woolever — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 11:01:00 +0000

Five things to eat, drink, see, hear, and do with your Charm City weekend.

EAT

Nov. 18: OyFest IV

Union Craft Brewing, 1700 Union Ave. 12-5 p.m. $10-12. 410-467-0290.

This Saturday, indulge in the Chesapeake Bay’s great bivalve with seasonal shucks at Union Craft Brewing’s fourth annual OyFest. With The Local Oyster and True Chesapeake Oyster Company, enjoy brackish beauties served in a variety of ways—raw, grilled, chowdered—by Baltimore’s finest chefs, including Zack Mills of Wit & Wisdom, Bryan Voltaggio of Aggio, Lou Sumpter of Woodberry Kitchen, and Ben Lefenfeld of La Cuchara. And while champagne and a fine white wine might be the perfect pairing, we can attest to the complimentary nature of a Duckpin pale ale or brand-new Skipjack pilsner, and a hint of live music by garage-folk singer Skribe. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, join the oyster-eating contest slurp down 24 of them as fast as you can. Proceeds benefit the Chefs Cycle for Maryland No Kid Hungry.

DRINK

Nov. 18: Charm City Meadworks Taproom Grand Opening

Charm City Meadworks, 400 E. Biddle St. 1-7 p.m. Free. 443-961-1072.

Almost a year ago, the crew at Charm City Meadworks put on their bee costumes (literally), tied their barrels to a truck, and moved to Mount Vernon from South Baltimore for a fresh start for their fermented honey drinks. This Saturday, CCM is welcoming patrons to their brand-new taproom, a 6,500-square-foot industrial space equipped with bright stools, shared tables, and more than 15 homebrewed meads. Celebrate the meadery’s new home with seasonal favorites like Retire by the Fire (with hints of vanilla, cocoa nibs, and clove), simple classics like Original Dry (crisp and oaky with a slight acidic finish), collaboration kegs, and guest taps, plus delicious Korean tacos by Dooby’s.

SEE

Nov. 18: The Maryland Film Festival’s Behind the Screens Fundraiser

Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave. 6-11 p.m. $20-5000. 410-752-8083.

Nothing is more perfect than watching Netflix on a chilly evening, but this Saturday, learn while you relax with a sneak peek of a new original series and listen to a talk on the influence of streaming services on filmmaking, all to benefit the Maryland Film Festival. At the newly renovated Parkway Theatre, participate in a discussion with independent filmmaker Joe Swanberg and cast members of the hit series Easy, an eclectic comedy about Chicagoans stumbling through the intersecting worlds of love, sex, technology, and culture. Discover how Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu have changed the game, with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts to boot.

HEAR

Nov. 17: Baltimore 4 Puerto Rico

Metro Gallery, 1700 N. Charles St. 6 p.m. $10-20. 410-244-0899.

After hearing about Hurricane Maria’s trail of destruction in Puerto Rico, Baltimore locals, organizations, and industries have stepped up to help rebuild the island, including thousands of dollars donated and tens of thousands of supplies assembled for those in need. On Friday night, the city’s support continues with local bands jamming out with a benefit concert at Metro Gallery. Hear Baltimore’s rising artists play their hearts out for a good cause—from Soul Cannon’s experimental indie hip-hop, to electronic R&B duo Chiffon’s mesmerizing slow jams, to Super City’s guitar-driven pop-rock—and uplift Puerto Rico’s residents through the Hurricane Maria Community Recovery Fund.

DO

Nov. 19: Trot the Trail 5K

Herring Run Park, 3800 Belair Rd. 8 a.m. $54.

This Sunday, burn off some calories before you gorge on thick slices of turkey and heaping plates of pumpkin pie. Hosted by Charm City Run and Baltimore City Recreation and Parks as part of their annual $5 5K series, this race gives runners (and walkers) an opportunity to support the community through fitness and family fun for a cheap price (and all proceeds go towards city-wide park programming). Whether you’re an ace marathon racer or a novice jogger, wear your warmest gear and trot upwards of three miles the scenic Herring Run Trail. The weather might be nippy, but the scenic views of urban woodland and Lake Montebello’s beautiful reservoir should help you keep up the pace.

Source

Watch This Tape

Jess Mayhugh — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 08:30:00 +0000

For Scott Braid, the love of film began with his childhood video stores. Growing up in Perry Hall, the lifelong Baltimorean had a weekly ritual: scour the shelves, explore the horror section, and take chances on movies he’d never heard of.

Years later, in 2000, he got a job at the eclectic Video Americain in Roland Park that cemented his fascination with cinema. He worked there for 10 years and claims to have learned more at the store than during his time at film school.

Eventually, Video Americain started to struggle, ultimately closing in 2014, at which point Braid joined forces with fellow Maryland Film Festival staffer Eric Hatch to form the Baltimore Video Collective. Now, with five other members, BVC plans to bring nostalgia back to Baltimore with Beyond Video, their own nonprofit video rental. Thanks to a push from Kickstarter, the store is set to open on Howard Street this fall.

“Working in a video store taught me so much about both film culture and people,” says Braid. “They are places to share ideas, make friends, and learn.”

Beyond Video will feature everything from vintage and rare VHS tapes to Blu-rays and DVDs, ranging from rom-coms to cult classics with an overall goal of 10,000 titles. They also plan to include screenings, discussions, and workshops at this long-incubated project.

“We want it to be more than just a video store,” says Braid. “We want it to be a community gathering space and resource.”

With such a diverse collection, BVC hopes to provide the kind of personal experience that streaming services can’t.

“Like bookstores and record stores, video stores give people a browsing experience unlike anything online,” says Hatch. “There are films that were life-changing to me that I only encountered because video-store employees put them on the ‘house favorites’ wall. We want film-lovers old and new to have these experiences, and make these kinds of discoveries again.”

Source

Everyman Theatre and Maryland Film Festival Partner On Screening Series

Gabriella Souza — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 10:31:00 +0000

You don’t have to be a hardcore movie buff or drama nerd to see that film and theater are related. We’ve all likely seen film adaptations of plays we loved, or perhaps we’ve been reminded of a favorite character or noticed a similar theme when thinking about stage or screen productions.

It’s in that spirit of connecting across genres that Everyman Theatre and the Maryland Film Festival are partnering to bring about a six-part screening series at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway. “Everyman at the Parkway” will bring influential films to the Parkway that relate to Everyman’s 2017/18 season.

“All arts audiences are passionate audiences, and we are delighted by this opportunity to merge two mediums, bringing film- and theatre-lovers together to celebrate and discuss the many ways of bringing great stories to life,” said Everyman’s founding artistic director Vincent Lancisi.

Whether artistically, structurally or thematically, each film/play coupling aims to inspire conversation about the material exhibited on stage and on screen. Every film will be introduced and accompanied by a post-screening audience discussion, hosted by the Everyman artist who selected the pairing.

First up on September 26 is David Cronenberg’s M. Butterfly, a 1993 film adaptation of the stage play that stars Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons and written by David Henry Hwang, based on his Tony Award winning play of the same name. The pairing is inspired by Everyman Theatre’s fall production of M. Butterfly, directed by Lancisi (in performance Sept. 6-Oct. 8).

Upcoming screenings will also include Ava DuVernay’s 2012 feature Middle of Nowhere, presented by Everyman Resident Company actor Dawn Ursula as a companion to Everyman’s Intimate Apparel on October 24 and, on December 12, Benoît Jacquot’s 2012 French drama Farewell My Queen, hosted by set designer Daniel Ettinger, to pair with Everyman’s The Revolutionists.

“We are thrilled to partner with Everyman Theatre to continue to explore the translation of one medium to another—film,” said Jed Dietz, founding director of the Maryland Film Festival. “We’re building many community partnerships, and we have been big fans of Everyman’s work, so it’s especially exciting to be part of this Everyman season.”

Source

Baltimore Pride Festivities Move from Mt. Vernon to Station North

Lauren Cohen — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 12:51:00 +0000

Forty years ago, members of the local LGBTQ community gathered to establish the Gay Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore (GLCCB) in the basement of a building on Maryland Avenue in Station North.

The center is making it a priority to honor those roots this year, by moving the 42nd annual Baltimore Pride celebration—which returns June 17-18—from its iconic venue in Mt. Vernon to the Station North arts district.

“It’s a big circle back to where everything started for us,” says Mimi Demissew, current executive director of the GLCCB, which moved from Mt. Vernon to Lower Charles Village last year. “There is such a long, rich LGBTQ history represented in Baltimore that I don’t think many people realize.”

As in previous years, Pride weekend will kick off with a parade and block party on Saturday, followed by a festival with vendors and live entertainment in Druid Hill Park on Sunday.

Demissew says that organizers remained mindful of Pride’s ties to Mt. Vernon by designing a symbolic parade route—which will step off from Chase Street and descend into the center’s new home. Afterward, a block party will take place in a footprint similar to Artscape, from North Avenue to 23rd Street.

Though there are some locals who stand by the idea that Pride is meant to stay in Mt. Vernon (where it has been held for the majority of the past four decades), Station North community leaders are enthusiastic about the change of venue.

“There are a lot of people saying that the ‘gayborhood’ is shifting,” says Ian Parrish, a local developer who recently reopened The Baltimore Eagle on North Charles Street. “But I really think that the neighborhood is nothing without its people. It’s not that Mt. Vernon is losing anything, there’s just a lot of new energy and revitalization in Station North. It adds to the entire community as a whole, rather than detracting from it.”

Bolstering the community even more, the Maryland Film Festival (MFF), which recently unveiled the refurbished Parkway Theatre on North Avenue, is featuring a curated selection of LGBTQ films on all three screens June 16-22.

“We’ve essentially been in Station North all along,” says Eric Hatch, director of programming for MFF, which has partnered with the Charles Theatre and the Windup Space for many years. “It feels like home, and it’s a perfect fit for Pride.”

Films highlighting LGBTQ content will range from international works and shorts to revivals including Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman and Sean Baker’s Tangerine.

“One of the most exciting things about any art form is encountering other perspectives and embracing diversity—and historically film has not done a good job of that,” Hatch says. “Film festivals have always been an opportunity to correct that, to portray more content that positively represents women, people of color, and certainly more from the LGBTQ perspective.”

Inclusivity is something that the GLCCB is stressing more than ever this year. The organization asked for community feedback to brainstorm the festival’s theme, and landed on “Pride: Unleashed.”

“We’re in the midst of this new reawakening,” Demissew explains. “The change in political climate has reinvigorated everyone across the country. We want to celebrate the community unabashedly—we’re not going to apologize for who we are and the rights we’re demanding.”

In keeping with the inclusive sentiment, the GLCCB will host specific programs for LGBTQ youth, seniors, transgender community members, and people of faith throughout Pride week.

Youth Pride will once again have its own designated area with food, activities, and live music at Saturday’s block party in Station North, and the center will introduce the inaugural Elder Pride in partnership with Chase Brexton Health at Sunday’s festival in Druid Hill Park.

Other highlights to look forward to include the annual High Heel Race on North Charles Street, and headliners including former Pussycat Doll Jessica Sutta, American Idol contestant (and Baltimore native) George Lovett, and New Orleans-based hip-hop star Big Freedia.

The Baltimore Eagle, located in the epicenter of all of the festivities, has many activities planned for Pride, including art installations, drag shows, and special rainbow drink deals.

Parrish, who faced drawn out struggles with the City Liquor Board to reopen the iconic gay club, is excited to officially celebrate the bar’s first Pride since debuting in Station North.

“Our fight for equal treatment by the city strengthened my belief that equality isn’t just an LGBT issue—it’s a cause every Baltimorean should take to heart,” he says. “We came out on top because we did it together, and that showed me that there’s no wrong in our hometown that a little pride can’t cure.”

Source

Weekend Lineup: May 5-7

Lydia Woolever — Fri, 05 May 2017 10:55:00 +0000

Five things to eat, drink, see, hear, and do with your Charm City weekend.

EAT

May 5-6: FlowerMart

Mount Vernon Place, 699 Washington Pl. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Free.

For the 106th year, the square around the Washington Monument will bloom with flowers, festivities, and hordes of festival food, like Maryland crab cakes and the Baltimore classic lemon peppermint stick. Rain or shine, dig into spring eats, join in the Maypole dance, follow the floral pet parade, and purchase some petunias to brighten up your home in this time-honored festival. April showers really do bring May flowers. Hopefully May showers will make for a pleasant June.

DRINK

May 7: Baltimore Whiskey Company Sunday Funday

Baltimore Whiskey Company, 2800 Sisson St. 3-9 p.m. Free.

This weekend, the BWC is hosting the ultimate Sunday Funday at their Remington space to kick start the drinking season of spring. Enjoy fresh cocktails from Sugarvale, Korean-inspired fare from their sister restaurant Dooby’s, and try your hand at lawn games. With music by DJ Jack Denning from All Mighty Senators and endless amounts of award-winning Shot Tower Gin, it’s sure to be good vibes all around.

SEE

May 3-7: Maryland Film Festival

Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave. Times vary. $10-400. 410-752-8083.

Cinephiles rejoice—the 19th annual Maryland Film Festival is back with a five-day silver screen soiree. The newly renovated Parkway Theatre campus in the Station North Arts & Entertainment district will boast 6-screens and 125 feature and short-length shows full of drama and stunning visuals. Don’t miss the post-film Q&A sessions with filmmakers, as well as workshops and expert panel discussions.

HEAR

May 3-7: Bumper Jacksons

Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. 8 p.m. $17-23.

This Saturday, the Creative Alliance is going to transform into a rowdy dance party, but not one you might expect. Instead, as D.C.’s beloved Bumper Jacksons return to Highlandtown for the fifth time to promote their new album, I’ve Never Met A Stranger, the band’s blend of jazz, swing, blues, and old-time country will make the eclectic art space less like a booty-shaking get-down and more like “an old-time barn dance in downtown New Orleans.”

DO

May 6: Kinetic Sculpture Race

American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. 10 a.m. Free. 410-244-1900.

The American Visionary Art Museum’s wonderfully wacky Kinetic Sculpture Race returns for the 19th time this month. Across 14 miles from Federal Hill to Canton and back, contestants compete on handmade, human-powered works of art that navigate over land, mud, and water to win awards such as “Worst Honorable Mention” and “Next to Last.” Whatever the weather, watch the awesomely awkward spectacle from sidewalks across the city.

Source

The Launch: May 2017

Jess Mayhugh — Tue, 02 May 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Kinetic Sculpture Race
May 6. American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. 10 a.m. Free. 410-244-1900. The American Visionary Art Museum’s wonderfully wacky Kinetic Sculpture Race returns for the 19th time this month. Across 14 miles from Federal Hill to Canton and back, contestants compete on handmade, human-powered works of art that navigate over land, mud, and water to win awards such as “Worst Honorable Mention” and “Next to Last.” Watch the awesomely awkward spectacle from sidewalks across the city.

Maryland Film Festival
May 3-7. Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave. Times vary. $10-400. 410-752-8083. It’s lights, camera, action as the Maryland Film Festival kicks off with an unveiling of the newly renovated Parkway Theatre in Station North. Renowned across the country, this five-day fete features more than 100 films from around the globe and right here in town.

FlowerMart 2017
May 5-6. Mount Vernon Square, 699 Washington Pl. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Free. 410-274-5353. For the 106th year, the square around the Washington Monument will bloom with flowers, festivities, and festival food, like the classic lemon stick. Join in the Maypole dance, follow the floral pet parade, and purchase some petunias to brighten up your home.

The XX
May 6. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 7 p.m. $40-55. 410-715-5550. In 2009, The xx seemingly came out of nowhere, their sultry minimalist pop snaking its way onto our playlists and earning endless buzz (including a spot on Rolling Stone’s roundup of best debut albums of all time). Eight years later, there’s still an air of mystery about the English trio. On their third album, I See You, the group’s cool, calm, atmospheric sound has unexpectedly evolved into something richer, brighter, even dance worthy––and it works. Listen to their new single, “On Hold,” and prepare to be enchanted at Merriweather at the start of the month.

Ryan Adams
May 12. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 7:30 p.m. $40-55. 410-715-5550. Ryan Adams may have won us over in decades past with albums like Heartbreaker and Love Is Hell, but if last year’s 1989 Taylor Swift cover album is any indication, the alt-rocker has still got it. Catch his heartfelt, angst-riddled sound this month at Merriweather with new songs from his latest, Prisoner, hopefully a few oldies (like “Hallelujah” and “New York, New York”), and opening act Jenny Lewis.

Center Stage

Jazz
May 19-June 25. Baltimore Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert St. Tue.-Wed. 8 p.m., Thu. 7 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 2 & 8 p.m., Sun. 2 & 7:30 p.m. $20-69. 410-332-0033. Set in 1920s Harlem, this world-premiere play—based on the novel by Pulitzer and Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison––embodies the essence of its musical title. The story skits and scats as it follows Joe and Violet, in love and living in their new city, New York. Naturally, their paths take on different rhythms––at times slow and steady, at others hot and fast and unexpected. Adapted by New York-based playwright Nambi Evelyn Kelley and directed by Center Stage’s inimitable artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, this dissection of the jazz experience––and the human experience––is a performance not to miss.

Preakness Stakes
May 20. Pimlico Race Course, 5201 Park Heights Ave. Doors open at 8 a.m. Rain or shine, racing fans will gather for the 142nd time to cheer on this second jewel of the Triple Crown. Partake in the tradition as part of the ever-raucous InfieldFest (which this year features country star Sam Hunt, rising country duo LoCash, and Waldorf’s own pop-punk favorites Good Charlotte) or during one of many events leading up to the big day. Above all, revel in the chance to see America’s next great horse racing champion.

Bon Iver
May 24. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 8 p.m. $46-76. 410-715-5550. It’s been nearly 10 years since Bon Iver strummed onto the scene and stirred our souls with the wistful ballads of his debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago. With each earthy melody, Iver, aka singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, created a brand new kind of indie folk, conjuring up images of pastoral love, dreary countrysides, and introspective men wearing flannel and beards. His full-length follow-up was equally ambitious, and now he returns to showcase his much-anticipated third album, 22, A Million. A breathtaking feat, it’s more experimental than his previous works, but even with the electronic influence, Iver finds a familiar, yet completely new, way to pull our heartstrings.

Brew at the Zoo
May 27-28. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, 1 Safari Pl. 1-7 p.m. $25-75. 410-396-7102. Grab a cold one and make some furry friends this Memorial Day weekend during the zoo’s 16th annual day-drink with the animals. Sample sips from more than 80 breweries (including homegrown favorites like Flying Dog and The Brewer’s Art), listen to live music (with local talent like The Kelly Bell Band), and enjoy all-day admission for peeks at the penguins or a visit with Willow, the new baby giraffe.

Source

Cinema Paradiso

Aaron Hope — Mon, 01 May 2017 08:30:00 +0000

By Max Weiss
Photography by Justin Tsucalas. Video by Meredith Herzing.

Arts & Culture

Cinema Paradiso

The Maryland Film Festival is no longer a hidden gem. But will it be ruined by success?

By Max Weiss. Photography by Justin Tsucalas. Video by Meredith Herzing.

Jed Dietz looks surprisingly relaxed. A House of Cards baseball cap perched on his head, the puckish and genial director of the Maryland Film Festival is leading a small tour of the under-renovation Parkway Theatre at North Avenue and Charles Street. It’s January, four months before the Parkway’s grand opening to coincide with the first day of the festival.

The Parkway represents a sea change for the Maryland Film Festival. Now, on top of hosting their annual movie festival and assorted member’s only screenings and panel discussions throughout the year, they’ll be running a full-time independent cinema.

The tour group—composed of a few donors, a handful of educators and nonprofit leaders, and curious film lovers—follows Dietz dutifully past piles of insulation and spools of construction tape into the Parkway’s main theater. It’s an impressive structure, with a domed roof, hand-painted murals, and the kind of ornate plasterwork that was popular in 1915, when the theater was built (it was one of the country’s first theaters built strictly for the display of film).

▶ eric hatch, jed dietz, and scott braid at the new parkway theatre

At this point, there are no seats, there is no stage, and, notably, there is no movie screen. Eventually, there will be a lobby, a small cafe that sells local wine, beer, and food, and two smaller theaters in two adjacent buildings—Dietz hands out blueprints to those who are interested. Still, one has to use a lot of imagination to envision the finished product.

Ed Peres, a former MFF board member who is intimately acquainted with the project, is thrilled with the progress. “No hard hats this time!” he enthuses. And project engineer Matt Novak, who is tagging along with the tour, explains that a lot can happen very quickly. “We make progress every day,” he promises. For his part, Dietz, looking like a proud papa, reiterates his confidence that the theater will be up and running by May.

“It’s going to be great!” he says, then he adds with a chuckle, “Did that just sound like Donald Trump?”

Maybe Dietz does sound a little overly gung ho, but then again, it would be foolhardy to underestimate him—or the Maryland Film Festival.

Here’s a thing you may not know: Every state in America has at least one film festival. Some, like Sundance, Telluride, and Austin, Texas’ SXSW, are brand names. Others have a very specific niche, like, say, San Francisco’s Frameline festival (devoted to LGBTQ film) or Rochester, New York’s High Falls Festival (devoted to women in film). Some only appeal to locals. Some only play documentaries or shorts.

Dietz, a transplant from Syracuse, New York, who ran a film incubation company called Film Development Partners, arrived in Baltimore in 1991 with his wife, Julia McMillan, who had just been hired to run the Pediatric Residency Program at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. He says at the time he was surprised Baltimore didn’t already have a major film festival. He officially launched the Maryland Film Festival in 1999.

One idea Dietz had was to make it a shorts-only festival, but then he decided that scope was too narrow (the festival does do an all-shorts program on its all-important opening night). A few things, however, would make the Maryland Film Festival tick: A representative of the film—usually the director or one of the stars—would have to be present for the screening to be scheduled; the festival would be laser-focused on independent cinema; and the festival would go out of its way to be a nurturing and welcoming place for emerging filmmakers.

There would be other things that distinguished the fest: It wouldn’t be a commercial festival, like Sundance, where pressure is intense and film distributors, trade journalists, and other industry types prowl screenings and parties to get exclusive interviews and make deals. And there wouldn’t be a competition. No audience prize. No jury prize. No prize whatsoever. The festival would strictly be film for film’s sake.

There was another thing the Maryland Film Festival wouldn’t be—and that’s a John Waters festival. Waters agreed to host a screening of one of his favorite films every year (they’ve included films as diverse as Joseph Losey’s Boom! and Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea) and he sits on the board, but he’s not directly involved in the festival’s programming or promotion.

“It’s not my baby,” Waters jokes. “It’s Jed’s baby. I’m just a fan. I go to it and I support it.”

▶ john waters leads a film discussion; Film festival badge; staff and volunteers getting silly on Closing Night

And yet, of course, Waters’ DNA is all over the fest—all over Baltimore for that matter. Baltimore has a particular appreciation for the experimental and the weird. As a result, our film festival audiences are just a little more adventurous than most.

“Maybe it’s because of the John Waters effect,” muses filmmaker Joe Swanberg, a festival regular. “Or an inherent quality in Baltimoreans. They’re the most open audience I’ve ever shown work to. You can’t offend that crowd.”

For his part, Waters says that Baltimoreans have “unorthodox” taste and, more importantly, “humorous taste.”

Over the years, the festival began to grow in reputation, not just among Maryland residents but also among the film cognoscenti.

In 2011, Richard Brody, the famously esoterically minded film critic for The New Yorker, wrote this: “May I be forgiven for thinking that, for the span of a few days, the center of cinematic gravity had shifted from wherever you’d usually look for it (Hollywood, New York, Paris) to Baltimore. . . .”

Brody, who makes a point of attending the festival every year, explains it further over the phone. “It made me feel like I was in the epicenter of contemporary filmmaking,” he says. “And that in and of itself was thrilling.”

▶ the parkway under construction.

Joe Swanberg describes the first time he showed a film at the festival, in 2006, as “heavenly.” He and the other filmmakers showing their work were flown in, put up at hotels, given all-access passes to all festival events, and treated to some other, Baltimore-specific perks.

“Cal Ripken donated his Camden Yards seats to us!” Swanberg says, almost disbelievingly.

It was Swanberg, one of the progenitors of the low-budget, naturalistic “mumblecore” movement, who helped launch the filmmakers’ conference that has become one of the hallmarks of the fest. On the second day of the MFF, filmmakers and invited guests are encouraged to freely share ideas and discuss the challenges they face making and distributing art with generally small budgets. The conversations tend to be freewheeling, intimate, informative. Bloody Mary’s are always involved. This conference is one of the many reasons why the festival is so beloved.

Swanberg points out some other festival high points: The festival’s Station North location makes it easy to navigate. The MFF is unusually convivial, in that unpretentious, Baltimore way. (“It felt like everyone was hanging out together all the time,” Swanberg says.) It’s ideally timed, after Sundance and SXSW but before Cannes. And again, there are those crowds.

▶ Ramona Diaz's Motherland

“They’re down to show up for weirder, smaller movies,” Swanberg says. “They’re not fixated on name talent or celebrities.” Internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ramona Diaz (Imelda), who lives in Mount Washington, has her own special relationship to the festival and its audiences.

▶ local filmmaker ramona diaz

She ran into Dietz at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 and he invited her to show a film at the MFF. The timing couldn’t have been any better.

She had just moved to Baltimore from Austin that year, and the festival was a way of getting to know her new city better. She jokes that, the first year, she was a “poseur,” faking it when fellow filmmakers asked her for recommendations of what to do around town. Now she’s an expert. “I know all the cool restaurants,” she jokes. What’s more, the festival has connected her to the city. “I’ll be walking down Charles Street or eating at a restaurant and people will stop me,” she says. “They want to talk about my work. They really know it.” She notes that the Baltimore audiences are particularly insightful and engaged. “They’re close watchers. It’s very satisfying and validating to watch one of my films with them.”

Other filmmakers echo her sentiments. “[The MFF] is like summer camp for filmmakers,” says Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip). “It’s the purest expression of what a film festival should be.” He adds, jokingly, that when he and other festival regulars talk about it, “We sound like members of a cult.”

Agrees David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon): “I’m always telling everyone I know that Maryland is the coolest festival around.” The response back when his friends show up? “Yes, it’s exactly as cool as you said it would be.”

To them, the MFF has the feeling of a secret treasure, an indie gem—like a favorite underground band or dive bar.

“It’s really small in the best way,” says filmmaker Kris Swanberg (Unexpected), who is Joe Swanberg’s wife. “It’s just the right size.”

But as the festival continues to grow, and with the Parkway’s imminent opening, is there any worry that the festival might get too successful or—God forbid—sell out?

▶The sunburst is a common motif found throughout the Parkway Theatre, most notably on its domed ceiling.

Those devoted to the fest are surprisingly unconcerned about this prospect.

“I believe in [the MFF],” says distributor Matt Grady, whose Factory 25 has released many films that he first discovered at the festival. “They’ll stick with their roots—the programming of quality films.”

Adds David Lowery, “Knowing Jed and Eric and Scott and knowing their tastes and what they want to do, I just don’t think that would ever happen. I’ve been there seven times. They keep getting better at doing the thing they want to do.”

The Eric and Scott that Lowery refers to are the festival's director of programming, Eric Hatch, and its associate director of programming, Scott Braid. Along with Dietz, they curate every film that plays at the festival.

▶The Parkway under construction.

“As long as one of us strongly loves a film, we will show it,” says Hatch. (A clue: Look to see who writes up the capsule description in the festival’s program guide. That’s usually the film’s champion.) Programming the festival is a full-time job. Submissions are accepted by mail or online—at this point, the volume is so great that they’ve recruited a committee to help screen them—and, during the year, Hatch, Braid, and Dietz attend festivals like Sundance and SXSW, looking for under-the-radar gems. The festival has garnered a reputation for having great taste, particularly when it comes to challenging or avant-garde works.

“The key to any film festival, obviously, is the programming,” says Richard Brody. “And I have discovered remarkable films there.”

“They’re one step ahead of everyone else,” says Joe Swanberg. That’s partly what makes the festival’s formula inimitable. “You couldn’t teach people to have their taste.”

Both Hatch and Braid will program the films at the Parkway, although there will be full-time support staff, as well. Which leads to the next question: Is the Maryland Film Festival biting off more than it can chew?

“It’s definitely a little bit of the Be Careful What You Wish For department,” cracks Hatch.

At the same time, the opening of the Parkway—technically, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Film Center, which, like the festival, will be run as a nonprofit—is the culmination of many years of preparation and a dream come true for the entire festival staff.

▶ Ornate scrolls add to the Italian Renaissance look.

There is, however, one venerable establishment in Baltimore that is less than enthused about the Parkway. That is The Charles Theatre, the independent cinema house that is located a mere block away from the new theater. Longtime fans of the festival know that the Charles used to partner closely with the MFF. It was, in fact, the festival’s signature theater and its parking lot served as the festival’s “tent village,” where tickets and T-shirts could be bought, panel discussions were held, and the closing night party took place. All that changed once the MFF started making its plans to open the Parkway.

The Charles severed its ties with the festival, leaving the MFF scrambling for new venues (they ended up spreading the festival all around Station North and Remington, from MICA’s Brown Center to the Single Carrot Theatre). The folks at the Charles say they had no choice.

“The development of the Parkway creates a real problem for the Charles,” admits Kathleen Lyon, who co-owns the theater with her father, James “Buzz” Cusack. “We have some serious concerns about how the two will coexist and remain viable.”

Lyon’s argument is basically that, even with the best intentions, the Parkway will drain customers from the Charles.

But Dietz and co. claim that their model is different. For example, they will program deeper-cut indie films and not “corporate curated art house films,” as Hatch puts it. The Parkway will play films that have a tiny distributor, or perhaps no distributor at all. And they plan to bring something of a Maryland Film Festival vibe to the theater, hosting Q&As and student filmmaker series, and doing lots of grassroots promotion in schools and online. (The Parkway is partnering with the film studies programs at MICA and Hopkins.)

Dietz argues that the Parkway will help create a kind of “film district” in the Station North area and that, if anything, the Parkway could actually help the Charles. “If they’re playing the latest Woody Allen film, we might do a Women in Woody Allen’s Films series,” he says.

Hatch offers another example: “If the Charles is playing Moonlight, we might play Medicine for Melancholy”—director Barry Jenkins’ first film.

Lyon, however, remains unconvinced.

“They’re opening up spitting distance from us with virtually the same programming model we have,” she says.

When asked to weigh in on the debate, John Waters is diplomatic. “I’m not going to make Sophie’s Choice,” he says. “Let’s hope Baltimore supports both.”

▶Workmen contemplate the domed roof of the Parkway.

We won’t know for sure, of course, until the theater opens. Until then, the Parkway has some more immediate concerns—getting the toilets installed, for example.

Two months after the tour of the Parkway, Dietz expresses his trademark optimism. “We’re on budget and on schedule, which is remarkable,” he says. “The biggest things—projection equipment, screens, seats—we’re very confident about. We’re in good shape—but that doesn’t mean we get to take our eye off the ball.”

Mostly, he says he can’t wait to share the Parkway with Baltimore on May 3, when the festival’s 19th season begins. “That’s what I’m most excited about.”

So no concerns at all?

“I have this recurrent nightmare going into every festival that, after all our hard work, nobody comes,” he admits. Then he gives a tiny chuckle. “And then they always show up!”

Source

It’s Maryland Film Festival Time!

Max Weiss — Tue, 03 May 2016 18:12:00 +0000

That cinephile’s paradise, the Maryland Film Festival, runs from May 4-8 this year. The festival starts, as always, with Opening Night Shorts! at the Brown Center, followed by Q&As with the directors and an opening night bash. The festival ends with Josh Locy’s Hunter Gatherer, featuring The Wire alum Andre Royo (and, of course, another party). In between, there will be plenty of screenings, film panels in the Tent Village (I’ll be part of the Film & Contemporary Criticism panel on Friday, at 3 p.m.), celebrity sightings, and opportunity for lively film talk with friends, both old and new.

Here are a few capsule reviews of some of the films playing at the festival:

Little Men
4 stars

Ira Sachs (Love is Strange) is a director of uncommon empathy and insight. His latest explores the perils of gentrification and the wisdom of the young. Sensitive, introverted Jake Jardine (Theo Taplitz) has just moved into his late grandfather’s Brooklyn home with his parents, struggling actor Brian (Greg Kinnear) and psychiatrist Kathy (Jennifer Ehle). Downstairs, their tenant Leonor (Paulina Garcia) runs a rent-controlled dress shop. Her 13-year-old son Tony (Michael Barbieri) is garrulous, athletic, and popular, exceedingly comfortable in his own skin. He immediately befriends Jake and they become inseparable. But this friendship is threatened when the Jardines demand market-value rent from Leonor. We watch, with mounting dread, as all the grown-ups in this scenario behave badly—Leonor, too stubborn to even listen to reason; Brian, fueled by guilt over not being the primary breadwinner at home, making unreasonable demands. The kids intuitively understand that people are more important than money and class. But will their parents see the light? (May 7 and 8)

Nuts!
3.5 stars

Penny Lane’s wildly inventive (and surprisingly topical) documentary combines hand-crafted animation, archival footage, and current-day interviews to tell the strange-but-true story of Dr. John Romulus Brinkley, a great American quack and con-artist of the 1920s and 30s. The Nuts! of the title refer to goat testicles that Dr. Brinkley would surgically attach to men, with the promise of giving them fertility and sexual prowess. Brinkley also became a pioneer of talk radio (he is described as the original Dr. Ruth), country radio (he used the music to hook listeners, then advertised his various snakes oils and products on the air), and infomercials. Eventually, he ran for governor of Kansas and won (but was defeated on a technicality—not that he really wanted to be governor anyway.) He was brought down, finally, by a pioneering member of the American Medical Association, who became obsessed with him, Inspector-Javert-style. Lane’s loose, playful, collage-like treatment of the story sets just the right tone—she’s spinning a tall tale that just happens to be (mostly) true. (May 6 and 8)

Boone
3 stars

As farm-to-table becomes a growing trend, and everybody and their brother seems to have a chicken farm or honey bee colony in their backyard, Boone takes a clear-eyed look at the reality of boutique farming. This is an immersive, experiential documentary by director/cinematographer Christopher LaMarca and editor/producer Katrina Taylor, with natural sound and no narration. Instead, we are placed right in the middle of the Boone dairy goat farm in Oregon with our three nameless young heroes—two men and a woman—as they go about their daily tasks. Every day they get up at the crack of dawn—“Once More I Beat the Sunrise” reads a hand-painted sign in the barn—and we watch as they feed, brand, and milk the goats (fun fact: the goats agreeably—and adorably—hop onto their milking stations without any assistance); tend to the small fruit and vegetable patch; bury two animals (one sick goat and one a beloved pet dog); help deliver a breach baby goat; and even slaughter a chicken for dinner. The sun-dappled cinematography gets up close—focusing on boots crunching leaves, an ax hitting a block a wood, hands stirring goat’s milk into cheese, the blinking eye of a goat. Were it not for the occasional sound of a TV in the background, we almost couldn’t tell what year it was. The work is hard, exhausting at times—the farmers are constantly digging holes and hauling heavy bags of feed; one of them throws out his back —yet gratifying. But all around them, small farms are closing, partly due to Oregon’s strict raw cheese regulations. Is their way of life sustainable? (May 7 and 8)

The Fits
3 stars

Stoic loner Toni (Royalty Hightower) is a tomboy, mostly looked after by her big brother Jermaine (Da’Sean Minor), who spends his afternoons at a local boxing gym. Toni does sit-ups and pull-ups and even spars with Jermaine, who patiently coaches her. But being that she’s 11, a few things are starting to change: She develops the tiniest crush on one of Jermaine’s buddies, acquires a sassy new best friend (Alexis Neblett), and begins to look at the older girls at school with a mixture of curiosity and awe. In particular, she is enamored by the girls on the school’s dance team, and longs to join in. But when the girls on the team start to exhibit signs of a mysterious, spasmodic ailment—the “fits” of the title—she is baffled. What are the fits? Are they a metaphor for the sexual awakening of adolescence? Or is writer-director Anna Rose Holmer suggesting that the conformity of adolescence is its own kind of conversion disorder? Holmer never makes it clear. (The film’s score, punctuated by atonal bursts from a clarinet, is almost the stuff of horror films.) Her film is slow-paced and methodical, filled with arresting long shots of kids dancing in the cavernous gym, wiling away the hours in the boxing ring, or hanging out on the chain-link-covered bridge near the school. We watch Toni as she quietly observes the world around her, making that uneasy transition from childhood to adolescence. (May 6 and 7)

Do Not Resist

3.5 stars

After witnessing the faceoff between protesters and police in Ferguson, MO—and later, here in Baltimore—you may’ve asked yourself, “When did the police get so militarized?” Craig Atkinson provides context in his chilling and essential documentary. Turns out, since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has been issuing armored vehicles and other militarized weapons to the police, sometimes in small towns that have virtually no crime. (“More Mayberry, Less Fallujah” reads one sign protesting the acquisition of a BEARCAT tank in Concord, NH.) The cops, who attend SWAT-team training camps and motivational sessions led by super-creepy weapons guru Dave Grossman (sample line: “What do you fight violence with? Superior violence!”) seem to enjoy their new toys. But while these militarized weapons are meant to combat terrorism, we don’t need to look any farther than recent events to see what happens when the cops turn them on their own citizenry. (May 7 and 8)

Source

The Launch: May 2016

Jess Mayhugh — Mon, 02 May 2016 08:30:00 +0000

141st Preakness Stakes
May 21. Pimlico Race Course, 5201 Park Heights Ave. Doors open at 8 a.m. Race begins at 6:18 p.m. As the second jewel in thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes is where champions either emerge or collapse. Over the race’s 141 years, many favorites have come to Pimlico Race Course, only to find their dreams dashed a mile and three-sixteenths later. But then there are moments like last year, when American Pharoah—on his way to becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years—went wire-to-wire on a sloppy, rain-soaked track to remind us why horse racing is The Sport of Kings. This year’s race will see another promising field compete for a place in racing history. But even if the Preakness doesn’t offer the drama of American Pharoah’s run, there will be plenty to enjoy, including 10 other races and the annual InfieldFest, headlined this year by DJ duo The Chainsmokers, hip-hop chart-topper Fetty Wap, and Towson’s own pop-punkers All Time Low.—Amy Mulvihill

Santigold
May 4. Baltimore Soundstage, 124 Market Pl. 8 p.m. $28-30. 410-244-0057. Santigold made her mark on the music scene in 2008 with a debut album of instant, indie-hip-hop hits like “L.E.S. Artistes” and “You’ll Find A Way.” Four years later, her much-anticipated second record was another success, with tracks like “Disparate Youth” and “GO!,” and now her third release is just as addictive. On 99 Cents, she still maintains her trademark balance between being contemplative and playful. You’ll be hooked to songs like “Can’t Get Enough Of Myself” and “Banshee” in no time.

Maryland Film Festival
May 4-8. Locations & times vary. $12-375. 410-752-8083. Now in its 18th year, the Maryland Film Festival returns with more than 100 films—from full-length features to documentaries and shorts—all shown in and around Station North. While the festival prides itself on bringing together filmmakers from across the globe, it still stays connected to its Maryland roots, highlighting local talent alongside internationally known directors. And, of course, there’s always the special feature selected by our own accomplished auteur John Waters.

FlowerMart
May 6-7. Mt. Vernon Place, 699 Washington Pl. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Free. 410-274-5353. Over the past 105 years, FlowerMart has blossomed from a one-day flower festival into a weekend event full of flora, food, art, and entertainment. Walk through the Mt. Vernon squares to buy spring flowers, suck on lemon-peppermint sticks, and admire the recent renovation of the Washington Monument. For the first time ever, FlowerMart also will donate a portion of its proceeds to two local nonprofits: House of Ruth Maryland and the Mt. Vernon Place Conservancy.—JKC

Kinetic Sculpture Race
May 7. American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. 10 a.m. Free. 410-244-1900. If you’ve been on the lookout for Chessie—a.k.a. the Loch Ness monster of the Chesapeake Bay—this just might be your month. As the 18th annual human-powered sculpture race takes its 14-mile route through the city, the streets will overflow with hordes of handmade creatures inspired by this year’s “myths and monsters” theme. Find a spot at AVAM, Patterson Park, or the Canton waterfront to watch participants compete in this eight-hour event for irreverent prizes, like the “Grand Mediocre Champion” and “Worst Honorable Mention.”

Sweetlife Festival
May 14. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 12 p.m. $100-150. The sustainability-focused festival is back with a full day of food and music in the Merriweather woods. This year’s lineup features an eclectic mix, including Canadian dream-pop artist Grimes, Drake-signed R&B singer PartyNextDoor, English rockers The 1975, and New Wave icon Blondie, as well as grub from regional eateries like Toki Underground and Woodberry Kitchen.

Kenny Chesney
May 19. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 7:30 p.m. $50-692. 410-715-5550. Some dismiss Kenny Chesney’s music with the term “bro-country,” but in the middle of a Baltimore spring, who doesn’t want a night of music inspired by island beaches and football tailgates? For more than two decades, Chesney has kept our attention with love songs, party anthems, and beer-tinged staples, like “Keg in the Closet” and “Summertime.” For one Thursday night, embrace his summertime sound in Columbia.

Courtney Barnett
May 25. Rams Head Live, 20 Market Pl. 8 p.m. $23-28. 410-244-1131. It was two years ago that this introspective Australian indie-rocker made waves with the release of her double EP, catching our attention halfway across the globe. (We’ll love “Avant Gardener” forever.) By the time she dropped her first full-length debut last spring, we were all ears, and happy to find that the Grammy-nominated singer and solid guitarist continues to stay true to her witty, observational style. See her perform downtown at the end of the month.

Matt Sesow: Shock and Awe
May 27-June 4, 2017. American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. Tues.-Sun. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free-$15.95. 410-244-1900. Opening Memorial Day weekend, this eclectic art exhibit presents works by Matt Sesow—a D.C.-based, self-taught artist—all painted with one hand, due to his left arm being severed by a plane as an 8-year-old in Nebraska. With vibrant color, raw detail, and a unique perspective, the exhibit features more than 150 original artworks, including paintings honoring the first 100 U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq War, alongside others inspired by fantastical birds and Sesow’s own life.

Brew at the Zoo
May 28-29. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, 1876 Mansion House Dr. 1-7 p.m. $25-69. 443-552-5276. Conventional wisdom says alcohol and wild animals don’t mix, but at Baltimore’s annual Brew at the Zoo, you can combine them with confidence. For one spring weekend, sample more than 80 local and national beers—including brews from Bmore favorites like The Brewer’s Art and Monument City—and listen to local music by the bluesy Kelly Bell Band and the funky, soulful Bosley. All proceeds benefit the zoo, ensuring that you can continue to visit your animal friends year-round, even after the buzz wears off.

Source

Parkway Theatre Prepares for Rebirth

Gabriella Souza — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 16:32:00 +0000

During its 100 years, the Parkway Theatre has witnessed all the grandeur of early cinema, as well as the crumbling consequences of urban decline.

But its centennial year will bring about a rebirth that will return the movie house to its former glory, and celebrate its role in the film world and in Baltimore.

“You will know when you walk in here that 100 years of movie history has taken place here,” says Jed Dietz, director of the Maryland Film Festival, which will own and operate the theater as part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Film Center.

We got a tour of the Parkway, where construction is set to begin in the coming months, shortly before its 100th birthday celebration last week. It’s expected to open once again for the 2017 Maryland Film Festival. (Read our piece about the $18 million project and the theater’s history.)

Though water may have damaged the magnificent domed ceiling and the air is filled with decades of pent-up dust, the theater’s true beauty still shines.

The renovated Parkway will likely have 500 seats, down from the 1,100 it originally contained. Dietz said contractors are still evaluating how much of the building’s plaster detailing they can save, “but they marvel at how structurally sound the place is,” he said.

When the Parkway opened in 1915, the film industry was imagined to become the pinnacle of high society. It closed as a movie house in 1977 and served in several iterations in the following years, including as a grocery store. The theater’s newest purpose, apart from the film festival, will be to showcase independent movies that “typically now don’t get shown in Baltimore,” Dietz said.

The Parkway contains hidden gems at every turn—for example, on the highest floor sit decades-old projectors. A film professor pleaded with Dietz (pictured above), “You can’t throw those out!” That professor, like all those involved in the Parkway’s renovation, understood the value in preserving the past’s treasures.

Source

Baltimore in Black and White

Max Weiss — Thu, 08 May 2014 17:17:39 +0000

The personal is political in this fascinating documentary by Emily Topper and Mary Posatko that looks at one family tragedy through the lens of white guilt, unconscious racism, and a period of great social upheaval in Baltimore. In 1972, Topper’s grandfather Henry Selhorst was murdered in the parking lot of Edmondson High School. He was there to join others in protesting the building of 1-70 (the so-called “Road to Nowhere”), which he feared would further divide an already segregated community. Henry was a civil rights believer, if not quite activist (attending this meeting was one of his rare moments off the arm chair). His children mostly followed his legacy and some even took his liberalism further—Topper’s mother, for example, considers herself a Marxist.

So what happened on that day? There is an agreed-upon family version of the murder: That three young black men killed Henry, in a racially motivated crime to earn street cred. There are other firmly held beliefs: That defense attorney Juanita Jackson Mitchell (of the famed Mitchell family) played the race card during the trial, that the jury was all black, that the young men got off on a technicality. But as Topper delves deeper and deeper into the case—becoming somewhat obsessed herself—she discovers that these beliefs are merely assumptions. Of Henry’s 13 children, only one attended the trial.

“[We] didn’t want to look Ku Klux Klanny,” one of Topper’s aunts explains.

There is one sibling who resents this fact: Uncle Tommy, the youngest, and the family’s dark sheep of sorts: conservative (“AM radio, not NPR” he says), gay, with a history of drug use. He is an intriguing and compelling figure, who rails against his family’s “fear” of the case and is more than happy to express his outrage.

Because Topper is interviewing family members and excavating family history, and because the film is as much about the mythology of the murder as the murder itself, Baltimore in Black and White sometimes evokes Sarah Polley’s brilliant Stories We Tell. In this case though, Topper and Posatko are looking to put this one family’s tragedy in a much larger social context. There are surprises along the way—none of which I’ll reveal here. (Okay, I have already have revealed one of the surprises. Early in the film, Topper’s seemingly endless unspooling of aunts and uncles is a source of great amusement.)

There may be no neat resolutions , but by the end, you’ll have gained a deeper understanding of Baltimore—then and now—and met a fascinating family that has been bent, but not broken, by their unhappy past.

Baltimore in Black and White plays at the Maryland Film Festival on May 9 and May 10.

Source