The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival is known for its close relationship with John Waters, who is on the festival's board of directors and selects a favorite film to host within each year of the festival. Each U.S. feature screened within the festival is hosted by one or more of its filmmakers. The many internationally known filmmakers who have presented their work within Maryland Film Festival include Barry Levinson, David Simon, Kathryn Bigelow, Melvin Van Peebles, Lena Dunham, Lisandro Alonso, Bobcat Goldthwait,

Amy Seimetz Amy Lynne Seimetz is an American actress and filmmaker. She has appeared in several productions, including AMC's '' The Killing'', HBO's ''Family Tree'', and films like '' Upstream Color'', '' Alien: Covenant'', ''Pet Sematary'', and ''No Sudden ...

, David Lowery, Joe Swanberg, Greta Gerwig,

Barry Jenkins Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film '' Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Ind ...

Todd Solondz Todd Solondz (; born October 15, 1959) is an American filmmaker and playwright known for his style of dark, socially conscious satire. Solondz's work has received critical acclaim for its commentary on the "dark underbelly of middle class Americ ...

, Anna Biller, and

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film '' Caged Heat'', befo ...

. In addition to forty or more new features and fifty or more new short films, each Maryland Film Festival includes one favorite film selected and hosted by legendary filmmaker and MFF board member John Waters. The films presented by John Waters within Maryland Film Festival have ranged from

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blacklisted ...

's '' Boom!'' to Gaspar Noé's '' I Stand Alone''. Major names in contemporary music have presented favorite films within the festival, including Beach House, Dan Deacon,

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ens ...

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

, Ian MacKaye, Will Oldham,

Jonathan Richman Jonathan Michael Richman (born May 16, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic an ...

, Bill Callahan, and members of

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (musician), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (musician), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin ( ...

. Additionally, personalities ranging from

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...

to Cal Ripken Jr. have appeared at the festival alongside documentaries about their lives and work. Each festival also includes a silent film with a live score by

Alloy Orchestra The Alloy Orchestra was a musical ensemble based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, that performed its own accompaniments to silent films of the classic movie era. Performing on an unusual collection of found objects ( horseshoes, plu ...

. The festival also programs film events in and around Baltimore year-round, including the film component of Baltimore's annual summer Artscape festival and many events for its membership support group Friends of the Festival. The 18th annual festival took place May 4–8, 2016 using 5 screens in and around the Station North Arts and Entertainment District as well as the auditoriums of the Baltimore Museum of Art and

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

. The 19th annual festival took place May 4–7, 2017 using the 3 screens of the newly restored and expanded Parkway Theatre as well as three additional screens on the nearby Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) campus.

Festival history

The first Maryland Film Festival screening took place Thursday, April 22, 1999, with an Opening Night presentation of Barry Levinson's documentary ''Diner Guys'' (about the real-life inspirations for his first feature film, ''

Diner A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a co ...

'') at the historic

Senator Theatre The Senator Theatre is a historic Art Deco movie theater on York Road in the Govans section of Baltimore, Maryland. It is the oldest operating movie theater in central Maryland and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a d ...

. Full programming began April 23, 1999, using all five screens of the historic

Charles Theatre The Charles Theatre, often referred to as simply The Charles, is the oldest movie theatre in Baltimore. The theatre is a Beaux-Arts building designed as a streetcar barn in 1892 by Jackson C. Gott, located in what is now the Station North ar ...

. These screenings were the first public use of the newly renovated Charles, which had expanded from one to five screens. In 2002, the festival dedicated its Opening Night to a collection of short films, and has done so each year since 2004. In 2009, the festival expanded its offerings of international films, with the stated goal of expanding the scope of international films brought to Baltimore, and in future years bringing a filmmaker to host each foreign feature film screening as the festival does with all U.S.-made feature films. In 2013, the festival announced its expansion to 5 days, shifting its Opening Night to Wednesday, May 8, 2013. Previous festivals had been 4 days, with opening nights taking place on Thursdays. The festival continued as a 5-day festival in each subsequent edition. The festival's feature-film programming has emphasized

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

s represented by their filmmakers, as well as international works handled by such art-house and specialty

film distributor A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company may be the same with, or different from, the production company. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film. The distributor may set the ...

s as

The Cinema Guild The Cinema Guild Inc. is a film distribution company. It was established by Philip and Mary-Ann Hobel, producers known for their work in documentaries and features, including the film '' Tender Mercies''. Since 1968, the Cinema Guild has been ...

Oscilloscope Laboratories Oscilloscope Laboratories is an independent film company and distributor founded by Adam Yauch and former TH!NKFilm executive David Fenkel. It also has a recording studio and film production facilities. Fenkel returned to the company on May 4, 20 ...

, Factory 25, Milestone Films, Strand Releasing, and

Kino Kino may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters * KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S. * Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station * KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel Fictional entiti ...

. The festival has offered the world premieres of such American independent features as Eugene Kotlyarenko's ''0s & 1s'' (2010), Josephine Decker's '' Butter on the Latch'' (2013),

Stephen Cone Stephen Cone (born August 10, 1980) is an American filmmaker who has received early career retrospectives on the Criterion Channel, MUBI and at the Museum of the Moving Image, Berlin's Unknown Pleasures Festival and Manchester's Bigger Than Life ...

's ''

Henry Gamble's Birthday Party ''Henry Gamble's Birthday Party'' is a 2015 drama film written and directed by Stephen Cone. Plot Henry Gamble is a closeted teenager and active member of a church youth group. He and his friend Gabe masturbate together while discussing a girl wh ...

'' (2015), Josh Crockett's ''Dr. Brinks & Dr. Brinks'' (2017) and

's ''

Princess Cyd ''Princess Cyd'' is a 2017 drama film written and directed by Stephen Cone and starring Rebecca Spence, Jessie Pinnick, and Malic White. Plot Cyd Loughlin, a headstrong 16-year-old, is sent away from her home in Columbia, South Carolina to spend ...

'' (2017). The 2017 edition featured the U.S. premieres of Hugh Gibson's '' The Stairs'' and

Ashley McKenzie Ashley McKenzie (born 17 July 1989) is an English judoka competing at the men's 60 kg division. He was a member of the Great Britain Olympic Judo Team at London 2012 but was defeated in the second round by Hiroaki Hiraoka of Japan. He al ...

's ''

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

''. The festival launched a year-round, 3-screen venue anchored by a historic, restored 1915 auditorium, The Parkway Theatre, in May 2017. Longtime director of programming Eric Allen Hatch, who began working for MdFF in 2007, departed as lead programmer of Maryland Film Festival and The Parkway in February, 2018, citing creative differences detailed in a '' Filmmaker'' article concerning the need for greater risk-taking and attention to diversity in independent-film festivals and alternative venues.

The Parkway Theatre

In December 2013, the festival announced its plans to restore The Parkway Theatre, located at North Avenue and North Charles Street in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, for use as its year-round venue. The Parkway was built for film exhibition in 1915, and became one of Baltimore's first art-house movie theaters in the 1950s, operating under the name Five West, but had not been in regular use as a movie theater since the late 1970s. Maryland Film Festival's restoration preserved the original auditorium, and built two smaller screens in an adjacent space. The Parkway restoration project was completed in the Spring of 2017 and the theater opened on May 3, 2017, with the opening night of the 19th Annual Maryland Film FestivalMichael Dresser
"Five city projects receive historic tax credits"
''The Baltimore Sun'', December 23, 2013 The band Beach House shot the music video for their song "Chariots" in the historic auditorium of the Parkway in April, 2017 prior to the theater's public opening. The first public screening in The Parkway was the Opening Night Shorts Program of the 2017 Maryland Film Festival on the evening of May 3, 2017, hosted by Josephine Decker and

Kris Swanberg Kris Swanberg (born Kristin Williams, November 11, 1980) is an American businesswoman, filmmaker, actress and former high school teacher living in Chicago, Illinois. She has been credited at various times as Kris Williams, Kris Swanberg and Kris ...

and the directors of each short film presented. The first short presented, and therefore the first film to play in The Parkway in decades, was

Jessica Kingdon Jessica Kingdon is a Chinese American director and producer. She was nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for directing the documentary ''Ascension''. Career Kingdon received her BA from Columbia University in 2009 ...

's ''Commodity City''. The other shorts presented that evening were

Terence Nance Terence Nance (born February 10, 1982) is an American filmmaker, writer, director, actor and musician from Dallas, Texas. He is best known for his directing debut '' An Oversimplification of Her Beauty'', and as the creator of the avant-garde TV ...

's ''They Charge For the Sun'', Jeannie Donohoe's ''Game'', Matthew Salton's ''Richard Twice'', and

Nathan Truesdell Nathan Truesdell is an Academy Award nominated independent filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the documentary films ''Balloonfest'', ''Ascension'', and ''The Water Slide''. Life and career Truesdell comes from Clark, Missouri where he ...

's ''Balloonfest''. The first feature film screened in the Parkway was Barry Levinson's television film '' The Wizard of Lies'' on the afternoon of Thursday, May 4, 2017. The first theatrical film screened in the Parkway was Theo Anthony's ''Rat Film'' the same evening. The first 35mm film screened in the Parkway was

Agnès Varda Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter, photographer, and artist. Her pioneering work was central to the development of the widely influential French New Wave film ...

's '' Vagabond'', guest-curated and hosted by the band Beach House, on the evening of Saturday, May 6, 2017. These screenings all took place within Maryland Film Festival 2017. The Parkway opened for year-round business on the evening of Friday, May 12. The first feature film screened in the Parkway in a non-festival setting was John Waters' '' Female Trouble''. Other films screened that evening included

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

's '' Mulholland Drive'', Jenny Gage's ''All This Panic'', and Kristopher Avedisian's '' Donald Cried''. The last two titles were the first films to have week-long theatrical runs at the restored Parkway. The first live music performance in the restored Parkway was

's live score for the German silent film Variety within Maryland Film Festival 2017 on Sunday, May 7. Outside the festival setting, members of the band

curated live music performances in tribute to the late experimental musician

Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both ...

on the evenings of Friday, September 29 and Saturday September 30, 2017. The performers included Deakin and

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

of Animal Collective, Dan Deacon with Jessie Hughes and M. C. (Martin) Schmidt of Matmos, Asa Osborne of

Lungfish Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...

and Zomes, Owen Gardner and Andrew Bernstein of Horse Lords, Steve Strohmeier, and Daniel Conrad. The first double feature at the Parkway, "Magic Mike Monday," took place October 2, 2017 with 35mm presentations of Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL.

Closing night films

John Waters picks

Within every Maryland Film Festival since its launch in 1999, filmmaker and Maryland Film Festival board member John Waters has selected one film to present to an audience. His selections have ranged from vintage cult and camp titles to contemporary ribald comedies and art-house dramas.

Guest-host presentations

In addition to forty or more new features and a favorite film presented by John Waters, each Maryland Film Festival has invited guest-hosts to present a favorite film. Guest hosts have generally been known best for work outside the world of film and have frequently been musicians, but have also included politicians, athletes, authors, journalists, activists, and visual artists. The guest-host program has also included some film directors hosting revival screenings of their earlier works.

Alloy Orchestra presentations

A recurring highlight within each Maryland Film Festival since 2003 has been a silent film presented with

performing their new, original scores for these vintage films. Alloy Orchestra has also presented films at Maryland Film Festival stand-alone events throughout the year; this list is limited to presentations within the annual festival weekend.

Vintage 3-D film presentations

Beginning in 2002 and extending through 2012, each Maryland Film Festival presented a vintage

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pic ...

in the two-projector 35mm format. Each screening was hosted by

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

film writer Chris Kaltenbach.

List of features played at the festival

Each Maryland Film Festival has presented forty or more feature films, with the screenings of each U.S. film hosted by one of its filmmakers.

Gunky's Basement Film series

Gunky’s Basement was a Maryland Film Festival series curated and hosted by musician Dan Deacon, video artist

Jimmy Joe Roche Jimmy Joe Roche is an American visual artist and underground filmmaker, based in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a long-time collaborator with Baltimore-based musician Dan Deacon. Career Roche's works have been screened in venues and museums all ove ...

, and MdFF programmer Eric Allen Hatch. Each title screened from a 35mm print and was promoted in part with original screenprinted posters created by Baltimore-based artists. Gunky’s Basement was a year-round extension of the Maryland Film Festival Guest-Host program, in which a person best known for work outside the world of film selects and hosts a favorite film. Prior to Gunky’s Basement, Dan Deacon was a guest host in Maryland Film Festival 2010, selecting '' Total Recall''. The series originally took place in The

. Beginning with the July 12, 2017 screening of '' The Shining'', all Gunky's Basement screenings took place in Maryland Film Festival's year-round venue, The Parkway Theatre. The series came to a close when film curator Eric Allen Hatch departed MdFF in February, 2018.

Night Zones with Jimmy Joe Roche

As an offshoot of Gunky's Basement, Maryland Film Festival and video artist

partnered for a series exploring Roche's love of horror films. As with Gunky's Basement, each title screened from a 35mm print, and was promoted in part with original screenprinted posters created by a Baltimore artist.

External links

Official page for Maryland Film Festival

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120121134714/http://blogs.indiewire.com/tully/a_great_day_in_baltimore_the_2011_maryland_film_festival "A Great Day in Baltimore" -- Filmmaker/Blogger Michael Tully discusses Maryland Film Festival 2011 for Indiewire]
''New Yorker'' discusses Maryland Film Festival 2013

"Weird and Wonderful" -- ''Artforum'' discusses Maryland Film Festival 2013Parkway Theater - Explore Baltimore Heritage

"Why I Am Hopeful": Programmer Eric Allen Hatch on the Future of Arthouse Programming in ''Filmmaker Magazine'', June 2018

References

{{Baltimore art districts Film festivals in Maryland Festivals in Baltimore Film festivals established in 1999 1999 establishments in Maryland