The New/Next Film Festival has made its first lineup announcements and launched all-access pass sales for its August festival in Baltimore.
The festival, presented by local public radio station 88.1 WYPR, takes place Aug. 18-20 at the historic five-screen Charles Theatre.
The inaugural festival was conceived and curated by veteran programmer Eric Allen Hatch to “fill the void left by Maryland Film Festival’s announcement that they would not have a 2023 event.” He also created the First Thursdays Film Series at the Baltimore Museum of Art and co-founded the Red Room — the organization behind the High Zero experimental music festival.
The Charles Theatre was home to the Maryland Film Festival for more than a decade, starting in 1999 for that festival’s inaugural year, before the event expanded to other venues.
Among the titles announced so far is Sebastián Silva’s Sundance-premiered dark comedy“Rotting in the Sun.” It’s described as “a darkly funny and refreshingly audacious meta-comedy that skewers the business of filmmaking and our self-obsessed culture. While unwinding at a Mexican gay beach town, depressed director Sebastián Silva meets gregarious Instagram influencer Jordan Firstman (both playing versions of themselves), and Sebastián reluctantly agrees to collaborate on an upcoming project. But when Jordan arrives back in Mexico City, Sebastián is nowhere to be found, and Jordan embarks on a wildly unpredictable, quasi-detective journey.”
The second film is by filmmaker (and recent Baltimore transplant) Sam Pollard. “Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes” (SXSW 2023) is described as a look at the life, career, and activism of the iconic musician “through a remarkable series of creative peaks, struggles, and personal reinventions—from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights years, surveying the heady days of post-war modern jazz to hip-hop and beyond.”
The third film announced is Baltimorean Meredith Moore’s short documentary “Margie Soudek’s Salt and Pepper Shakers” (Sundance 2023). In it, “an artist and visual-effects instructor connects with her aging grandmother, Margie, through collecting, art-making, and obsessing as a way to enhance reality.” It’s produced by MEMORY (“Rat Film;” “Crestone;” “All Light,” “Everywhere”) and scored by Dan Deacon.
Lineup announcements will continue through July, and all emerging films screened will be Baltimore premieres. “The festival will also present several repertory films, including one feature (to be named in a subsequent press release) selected and introduced by Baltimore-based musical duo Beach House (Victoria Legrandand Alex Scally),” according to the press release.
The all-access pass provides access to all the festival’s screenings, an advance window for film and seat selection ahead of the public, and attendance to all New/Next special events, including Opening and Closing night parties and concerts. The Opening Night Party will include performances by stars of Baltimore’s club and hip-hop scenes, TT the Artist and Dapper Dan Midas.
“I’m thrilled to be back at The Charles Theatre, bringing some of the most exciting cinema I’ve seen in recent years to our audiences,” said Hatch, who was MdFF’s director of programming from 2010-2018. “I very much see New/Next as a continuation of the work I’ve done in Baltimore for other institutions.”
