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.

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.

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

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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.

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!”

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

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.

Hey film fans, the MdFF is back, back, back again, May 8-12, with another great lineup. Here are some reviews to whet your appetite.

Well Groomed
4 stars

I have a theory that, assuming their basic human needs are met, everyone is obsessed with something. Maybe it’s scrapbooking. Maybe it’s yoga. Maybe it’s the whacky bedhopping antics of the cast of Vanderpump Rules. The colorful women featured in Rebecca Stern’s delightful new documentary, Well Groomed, are obsessed with dog grooming. But not just any old dog grooming, something called “Creative Grooming,” where poodles are brightly dyed and shaved into kitschy and elaborate works of art. (To give you a sense, some of the grooming concepts featured in the film include Pokemon, mermaids, dinosaurs, and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.) The film focuses on four women in particular—two old pros, an up-and-coming striver, and a novice. Most of them have legit dog grooming businesses on the side. One, Angela Kumpe, gives workshops on grooming and sells non-toxic dye and stick-on gems so you, too, can “furjazzle” your pup. For these women, creative grooming is their world—an artistic outlet, a source of pride, a way to make friends, and, perhaps most importantly, a competition. Well Groomed has the structure of a Big Game movie. In this case, the Big Game is the Hershey dog grooming competition, referred to as “the Super Bowl of creative grooming.”

But even though these women are competing fiercely against each other, they love and support each other, too. After all, who else can possibly understand the source of their passion? The film gives brief voice to the naysayers—those who think it’s cruel or exploitative to paint and primp these dogs. The women insist the dogs love it—and all the wagging tails, kisses, and proud struts would suggest so. (It’s notable that even at the oh-so-snooty Westminster Dog Show, poodles—with their endlessly sculptable fur— are always subjected to elaborate grooming.) One of the groomers suggests people should take a live-and-let-live approach to her hobby and compares it to being a nudist—nudism is not for her, she notes, but she would never judge someone else who was into it. That being said, the dogs are ridiculous, especially when they’re just being dogs, and Stern has some fun showing hot pink and purple poodles in nature—standing on a craggy rock overlooking a river, romping in a barn, or tussling with other dogs in the dog park. The film has lots of deadpan jokes—“Ironically, I’m allergic to dogs,” sighs the daughter of one of our heroines—but it will also make you cheer and cry. All of this is aided tremendous by a whimsical and joyful score by Baltimore’s own Dan Deacon. Well Groomed makes you care deeply about a pastime you’ve probably never heard of and people you’ve never met. And that, folks, is what great film is all about.

Pahokee
3 stars

One of the reasons there are so many films and TV shows about high school is because the rituals have built in drama: There’s homecoming and the big game and prom, not to mention dealing with your parents and the pressure of getting into college. And no matter where you live, these rituals are more or less the same, although in some communities, they might take on more urgency than in others. In the documentary, Pahokee, set in the rural farming town of Pahokee, FL, these events take place against a backdrop of poverty and familial sacrifice. Directors Patrick Breson and Ivete Lucas essentially park their cameras in the hallways, cafeterias, playing fields, places of work, and shack-like home of their subjects, and let us watch as the year unfolds. They focus on four kids, Na’Kerria Nelson, who’s campaigning hard for homecoming queen and who just wants to get the heck out of Pahokee; Jocabed Martinez, a dutiful daughter, the school’s salutatorian, who works at her family’s taco joint and gets emotional when she reflects on all her parents have done for her; BJ Crawford, an offensive lineman on the high school’s excellent football team who wants to go to a Division I college; and Junior Walker, a talented drum major and skateboarder who is raising his one-year-old daughter on his own. In Pahokee, as is the case in many small towns, the football team is the center of community life, with the unique ability to raise the spirits of the entire town after a victory. It’s particularly fun to watch the Pahokee team play, partly because they are so good, but partly because the cheerleaders, step dancers, and marching band that support them are so wildly talented. The film is quite entertaining, and often more hopeful than sad, although at times the extreme cinema verite style can be a bit frustrating. I had questions that were never addressed: Why is BJ raising his daughter? What’s the deal with the pretty girl in the wheelchair who gets a prom invite from that handsome jock? What happened in the aftermath of an Easter Egg hunt disrupted by gunfire? (That scene, by the way, shows the fortitude of Breson and Lucas; they don’t run from the bullets but keep their cameras focused on scrambling young men and mothers frantically falling on their their children as they urge them to “get down.”) All in all, the film is an excellent portrait of a town fueled by collective dreams of living elsewhere.

The Mountain
2.5 stars

Picture an early Yorgos Lanthimos film slowed down to about half speed and you have at least a basic sense of Rick Alverson’s The Mountain. It’s a strange, idiosyncratic film, not for all tastes (certainly not for mine) but its own brand of pretentious arthouse creepiness might work on you. I will say that its visuals—painstakingly composed, mostly monochromatic images shot in desaturated whites and greys—are undeniably arresting. The film takes place in the early 1960s. Our hero is a stolid and largely taciturn young man named Andy (Tye Sheridan) who works as a Zamboni driver at the ice rink owned by his father (Udo Kier). His mother, we find out, is out of the picture, a captive patient at a mental institution.

Through a series of events I won’t spoil here, Andy ends up becoming the photographer for the courtly Dr. Wallace Fiennes (Jeff Goldblum, basically giving us Jeff Goldblum slowed down to half speed) who travels from hospital to hospital performing lobotomies. The scenes at the mental hospitals are straight from the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest playbook—lots of patients in white staring into space, howling like monkeys, or banging their heads against a wall. Of course, as we watch this play out, we worry for Andy: Will he, too, fall under Fiennes’ eager knife? This would be an absolutely chilling prospect if Andy had any sort of personality that could be lobotomized, or if the film even took a stance one way or the other on the controversial (and now outlawed) procedure. (All the characters walk around in such a trance, it’s hard to distinguish between the befores and afters.) The film really lost me by its third act when Denis Lavant (!) showed up as the father of a would-be female patient, who also becomes something of a romantic interest for Andy. By the time Lavant goes on a semi-nonsensical monologue in French about hermaphrodites (another persistent, if mystifying, recurring image in the film), I had pretty much checked out. Maybe you’ll have more patience than I did.

Cold Case Hammarskjöld
3.5 stars

Cold Case Hammarskjöld manages to perform two sleights of hand. The first is keeping me interested in a nearly 60 year old mystery about the death of the Swedish UN General Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld, whose plane crashed under suspicious circumstances in Zambia. I literally had a Venti coffee perched on my desk as I launched into the screener, but it turned out to be completely unnecessary. Director Mads Brügger—picture a cross between Louis CK and Moby—adopts a jaunty, stylized, hyper-meta tone to keep audiences engaged as he searches for the truth. But even he admits that the documentary is a bit of a lark, an opportunity for cosplay (he dresses in the white safari-style garb of his suspected supervillain), travel, and adventure. But the second half of the film takes a rather startling turn, and suddenly we’re dealing with a racist global conspiracy almost too sickening to contemplate. The film delivers a gut punch that I never saw coming.

Mike Wallace is Here
3 stars

Avi Belkin’s documentary on the notoriously pugnacious 60 Minutes interviewer starts on a curious note: It runs footage of Wallace interviewing former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. In the clip, O’Reilly essentially credits—or blames, if you prefer—Wallace with creating the kind of confrontational news interrogation that Fox specializes in. “I’m your son,” he says ominously. From there, the film chronicles Wallace’s fascinating broadcast life and uniquely brash style in a clever way, alternating between Wallace interviewing subjects—Arthur Miller, Barbra Streisand, famously the Ayatollah Khomeini—and being interviewed himself. (Once 60 Minutes became a huge hit, he was a subject of endless fascination.) While giving interviews, Wallace was direct, on-the-ball, pointed. But when the tables were turned, he hemmed and hawed, often dodging the very kinds of questions he asked himself. What emerges is a compelling portrait of a game-changing journalist, who battled personal demons (including the death of his eldest son and almost crippling depression), but never had a political agenda to promote and never shied away from the truth.

Ray & Liz
3 stars

Quiet lives of desperation are depicted with unflinching honesty in British photographer Richard Billingham’s semi-autobiographical debut film. Jumping a bit through time, he first shows us the elderly Ray (a stand-in for his own father), living in a one-room flat, wasting away in bed all day, visited only by the occasional roach and a neighbor who supplies him with jugs of alcohol. Flashing back to the early 80s, we see Ray and his chain-smoking wife Liz raising two sons in a joyless, grimy home. Little Jason, at first just a neglected toddler; later a curious and empathic little boy who loves animals, is all but ignored by his parents, who do little more than sleep, drink, and smoke. His older brother counts the days until he can leave home. The settings are vivid—dingy lace curtains, peeling wallpaper, a chest of dusty curios—and Billingham frames each ugly-beautiful scene with a keen and empathic eye. For fans of slow cinema, still photography, and social realism, Ray & Liz is as depressing as it is ultimately rewarding.

Knives and Skin
3 stars

A teenage drum majorette is missing and presumed dead, sending shockwaves through a small town. With its gallows humor, nods to surrealism, and haunting synth score, Jennifer Reeder’s Knives and Skin draws inevitable comparisons to Twin Peaks, an obvious influence. But in some ways, this film is the antithesis of—or perhaps even a direct response to—the “dead girl in the woods” genre, as the teenage female characters here take center stage and have agency over their own lives. One sells her mother’s panties to a horny teacher; another is coming into her own as a lesbian; a third wears elaborate face paint and headpieces to school. (The fact that the two of the main three protagonists are black is simply a nice, not-fussed-over detail). The adults in the town are mostly messes, albeit some more well intentioned than others. The mother of the missing girl, the school’s choral coach, walks around in a daze and, in one disturbing scene, seduces the young man who was the last person to see her daughter. A “cool guy” teacher lures one of his pupils to his apartment. Another mother spends most of her day in bed. At times, I think the film leans too hard into the “quiet lives of desperation in suburbia” trope and the songs the chorus sings—dirge-like version of 80s New Wave hits—while undeniably cool, don’t make much thematic sense. Still, this is a feminist and refreshing take on a high school drama. Laura Palmer would approve.

Ham on Rye
3 stars

The Twilight Zone meets Dazed and Confused in this funny, unsettling film from newcomer Tylor Taormina. As the film starts, a bunch of teenagers, many dressed up as though for prom, make their way to the neighborhood sandwich joint, Monty’s. For most, the pilgrimage is filled with giddy, jangly, hormonal teenage nerves and typical high school banter, but there is a creeping dread that washes over the proceedings as well. One girl, Haley (Haley Bodell), expresses concern about where they are going. Another boy freezes up completely and has a panic attack. The camera drifts from one group to the next—a boy on crutches, a boy in a too-big suit, three girls making a point to arrive fashionably late. But why is this event happening in broad daylight? And why does the burger flipper at Monty’s look so worried? Ham on Rye’s best quality is the absolute naturalism of the kids—we really feel like we’re drifting in and out of their random, often amusing conversations. (One boy proposes a theory that “porking” is the ultimate human activity; his friend counters that emergency room doctors serve a greater purpose.) What the film is actually driving at is a little less clear, although I think Taormina is saying something the sheep-like way we adhere to systems and about teenage conformity, in particular. When you’re 16, you follow the crowd, no matter where it takes you. But FOMO, it seems, has consequences.

For showtimes and information on other films playing the fest go here!

Visual Art

Voices: Joyce J. Scott, Oletha DeVane, Christopher Bedford
Don’t miss your chance to hear from two of the guiding voices of the Baltimore art scene, jewelry maker and sculptor Joyce J. Scott (who was recently named the 2019 Smithsonian Visionary Artist) and multimedia artist Oletha DeVane. In this conversation moderated by BMA director Christopher Bedford, the pair will discuss their works, their inspirations, and the city they both call home. 7-8 p.m. April 10. Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St.

TAPROOT
Two artists with varying backgrounds but shared experiences meet in this exhibition examining colonialism, consumption, and how they work their ways into the other parts of life. Working from their distinct perspectives “one of assimilation and one of frequent migration between continents,” Catherine Khammouane and Samiha Alam will present sculptural pieces that express their view that “what is manmade is natural.” Artist talk 5-7 p.m. April 6; on view through May 4. Waller Gallery, 2420 N. Calvert St.

Pile of Craft
Head to Space 2640 to peruse more than 50 vendors’ wares at this 13th annual craft fest hosted by Charm City Craft Mafia. Past favorites such as Annie Howe Papercuts and Tiny Dog Press will be on hand, and several new vendors will be hawking everything from rosé jelly to 3d paper and watercolor plants for those whose thumbs aren’t quite green. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. April 27. Space 2640, 2640 Saint Paul St.

Music

Abdu Ali Album Release Show
Abdu Ali has one of the most powerful voices in Baltimore music right now, and this launch of their debut album, FIYAH!!!, is going to be one heck of a party. Catch Ali’s blend of punk, rap, and Baltimore Club from the Ottobar’s intimate stage before this New York Times-lauded artist really blows up. Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m. April 26. Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St.

Theater

Come From Away
When planes were unexpectedly forced to land following 9/11, some 7,000 people found themselves stranded in the small town of Gander in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. What began with tragedy grew into a week of friendship and humanity among travelers in unfamiliar territory and the town that took them in. This award-winning musical based on their true story is not to be missed. April 23-28. The Hippodrome Theatre, 12 N. Eutaw St.

Pink Milk
Single Carrot is leaving its Remington home behind soon, but first they have another story to tell. This Technicolor reimagining of codebreaker Alan Turing’s life story from Chicago-based playwright Ariel Zetina explores Turing beyond his history-making work. Zetina is also working with Single Carrot to update the text and score for the first time since writing the piece in 2013. Gala opening April 27, runs through May 16. Single Carrot Theatre, 2600 N. Howard St.

Film

Making Cinema Matter: Masterclass with Sandi Tan
Singaporean filmmaker, zine publisher, and writer Sandi Tan returns to her cult roots for this workshop and screening of 2018’s Shirkers, which premiered and earned the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award at Sundance in 2018. Tan and her cohorts made what could have been a cult hit in 1992, when they were just teens, but their film was stolen by an American collaborator. Shirkers follows Tan back to Singapore to revisit the film, the American who stole it, and what both of them did for her dreams. Free screening at 7 p.m. April 5, masterclass April 6, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The SNF Parkway, 5 W. North Ave.

Literature

CityLit Festival
CityLit is known for bringing great authors and events to bibliophiles of all stripes at their annual fest, and this year is no different. During this day-long celebration of all things literature, visitors can attend more than a dozen session and check out the Literary Marketplace to pick up a few more additions to their nightstand stacks. Stick around for keynote speaker Dani Shapiro, whose memoir, Inheritance, delves into what happens when family secrets find their way to the surface. 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. April 27. University of Baltimore William H. Thumel Sr. Business Center, 11 W. Mount Royal Ave.

Hilton Carter’s Wild at Home Book Signing
Local plant expert Hilton Carter’s Baltimore home is filled with more than 300 ferns, cacti, and other green friends. His lush designs on have earned him national attention, but he’s sticking close to home for this celebration of his first book, Wild at Home. Grab some friends and head to Trohv on Earth Day for a book signing, Q&A, and cocktails with the Instagram plant guru himself. 7-9:30 p.m. April 22. Trohv, 921 W. 36th St.

Visual Art

MICA ArtWalk
Maryland Institute College of Art undergrad class of 2018 will showcase their work in the three-hour ArtWalk extravaganza on May 11. Expect to see art in all genres and mediums: painting, sculpture, illustration, ceramics, graphic design, film, animation screenings, and more. New this year, the event is free to the public, complete with food trucks to give the event a festival feel. “The entire campus becomes one huge art gallery,” says Erin Baynham, social media manager at MICA. This is a great way to see what these talented kids are up to, with the added bonus of meeting them face to face and buying work to take home. 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 11 throughout the MICA campus. Work will remain on view through May 14. 

Music

The Björk Songbook
The Evolution Contemporary Series will conclude its season on May 8 with a concert of songs by Björk, taken from her newly released 34 Scores for Piano/Organ/Harpsichord & Celeste. Baltimore artists including Outcalls, Joy Postell, and The Witches will play renditions of songs by the legendary Icelandic pop star. Judah Adashi, founder of the series, is known for breathing new life into symphonic music, and this concert is sure to be no exception. 8 p.m May 8 at An die Musik, 409 N. Charles St.

Through the Eyes of a Child
The Through the Eyes of a Child performance is inspired by the work of Clara Han, associate professor of anthropology and co-director of the Program on Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship at Johns Hopkins University, who is exploring in a new book how violence is passed down through generations of families. The concert will be presented as part of Music of Reality, a series that brings musicians and scientists/researchers together and intersperses lectures with music. Music will include pieces by Leonard Bernstein as well as contemporary composers. 7 p.m. May 4 at 1025 S. Potomac St.

Theater

Life or Theatre?
With Baltimore Annex Theater’s production of Life or Theatre?, Charlotte Salomon may very well become a household name alongside Anne Frank. The play is written and directed by Carly J. Bales (founding producing artistic director of EMP Collective) and based on the life and art of Salomon, a German-Jewish woman in Nazi-era Berlin who completed nearly 1,300 autobiographical paintings (the largest singular body of work by a Jew during the Holocaust), gave them to a friend, and was murdered shortly thereafter in Auschwitz. The play combines her intimate prose and expressionist painting with music to bring to life her story, 100 years after her birth. This is Bales’ first full-length play. Thursdays through Sundays May 24 to June 17 at Annex Theater, 219 Park Ave.

Follow No Strangers To The Fun Places
The Acme Corporation will dissect the process of art making (specifically theater) in their new play Follow No Strangers To The Fun Places, by Lola B. Pierson (creator of Baltimore’s Ten Minute Play Festival). It’s loosely based on Italo Calvino’s novel If on a winter’s night a traveler, though we’ve been told not to get too excited about that point, as the play bears little resemblance to the book. May 3 to 19 at The Great Hall at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1900 St. Paul St.

SOUL The Stax Musical
Go back to the birth of soul music at Baltimore Center Stage’s production of SOUL The Stax Musical, which revives the songs of Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, and other classic R&B stars during its world premiere. The musical tells the story of the Memphis-based Stax Records and music’s power to unite us, then and now. May 3 through June 10 at Baltimore Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert St.

Dance

Moving Walls: A Performance of Body & Sculpture
Baltimore Independent Dance Artists examines human experience in relation to architecture in its new, experimental show at The Peale Center. Dance combines with a large sculptural installation and animation for the experience, though the set alone, created by Noa Heyne, is worth a visit to the museum. 8 p.m. May 3 and 5 at The Peale Center, 225 Holliday St.

Film

Maryland Film Fest
There is much to be excited about when it comes to this year’s Maryland Film Fest in Station North. There’s Matt Porterfield’s latest, Sollers Point, starring McCaul Lombardi; 10 blocks of shorts; a screening of the film I, Olga Hepnarova, selected and introduced by John Waters; an after party in the Ynot Lot and Windup Space; and much in between. Get ready to laugh, cry, and contemplate life every which way with more than 40 feature films across all genres and cultures. Learn more about it here and here and here. May 2-6 at the Parkway Theatre and MICA.

Miscellanea

Baltimore Portrait: Artists in Conversation
As part of the VOICES speaker series at The Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore artists Amy Sherald and Stephen Towns will be in conversation with Baltimore Museum of Art director Christopher Bedford this month. Both have become Baltimore celebrities recently after receiving national attention for their work—Sherald with the unveiling of her official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Towns with his first museum exhibition (currently on view at the BMA). 7 to 8:30 p.m. May 30 at The Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St.