MICA’s Brown Center was lit up with an eclectic series of marvelous short films for the 2013 Maryland Film Festival opening night gala. Programming maestros Eric Hatch and Scott Braid continue to bring the good stuff to Baltimore as the depth & breadth of the now 15-year old event expands to five days and even more international-to-local films. Festival director Jed Dietz continues to provide a clearand curated vision for the fest, with its emphasis on groundbreaking work, cinematic cred, and the inclusion of so many visiting filmmakers.
The opening night shorts program is a signature feature of the fest, and it’s a great way to launch the weekend long orgy of movies. I was delighted to see Quvenzhane Wallis in director Frances Bodomo’s BONESHAKER. Boneshaker is this young actress’s first work after her breathtaking & nominated leading role in Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Grainger David’s THE CHAIR is a confounding apocalyptic mystery. You could say it puts the viewer in the hot seat. Tiger-parenting is turned on its head in the dark/ funny THE CUB, directed by Riley Stearns. It’s only fair that if there can be Tiger parents, there can be wolf children…
FLUTTER, a doc by Dara Bratt, offers a sure cure to boomer-itis — travel the world and collect thousands of exotic butterfly species, then take them home and pin them in display cases. But Flutter’s obsessive central character, John, isn’t showing us a hobby. He’s showing us a deeply felt celebration of beauty and life.
Chetin Chabuk’s doc JUJITSUING REALITY is the story of screenwriter Scott Lew. Lew continues to produce funny movies despite having advanced ALS, a disease that makes speech, and all but the slightest movements, impossible for him. As amazing as this writer’s determination is, the loved ones that surround and support him are even more amazing. The movie is not depressing.
Finally, Lauren Wolkstein’s whacked SOCIAL BUTTERFLY is a rich, sensuous, head-trippy American-in-the-French-countryside consummate short film. Ms. Wolkstein was in France to work out a feature film script, but made this short, she says, by way of procrastination. Fantastic way to procrastinate!
Also cool are the various panels and parties at the festival tent village across from the Charles Theater. I’ll be on the Baltimore Screenwriter’s Competition panel on Saturday at noon, and we’ll be announcing the 2013 winners. The competition is sponsored by the Baltimore Film Office, and Morgan State and Johns Hopkins universities.\
Check out the festival site http://www.md-filmfest.com/festival/film-schedule for details on all the features, docs, and short film programs. Take my advice and run don’t walk to the 2013 Maryland Film Festival.
