A packed audience greeted the arrival of Baltimore’s latest cultural attraction, a new film series that doesn't yet have an official title or regular schedule.
The
Maryland Film Festival and National Public Radio affiliate WYPR 88.1 FM are partnering in the series, which kicked off earlier this month.
Organizers plan to hold the second filming in the series in September. After that, the film will be screened between one to three months apart. The site and ticket arrangement are still in the works, says Jed Dietz, director of the Maryland Film Festival.
The series’ first screening, “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” a Sundance favorite, was held June 5 at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Attendance was by word-of-mouth. On July 13, an interview with Lucy Alibar, the film’s screenwriter, will air on WYPR.
Dietz says that each screening will include an interview with someone involved in the film, whether screenwriter, director or actor. The interview will be recorded and then broadcast as part of the station’s “Maryland Morning” program, airing every weekday from 9 to 10 a.m.
Katherine Gorman, producer of WYPR’s “Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast,” says the series will focus on contemporary themes, hopefully with a Maryland connection, but availability of films is dependent on distributors.
The film series format follows that of the “Maryland Morning” show, which had interviews with filmmakers with a connection to the state, either filming here or from Maryland.
“We like that connection to Maryland. We’re trying to branch out, to have a national reach,” she says.
Sources: Jed Dietz, Maryland Film Festival; Katherine Gorman, WYPR-88.1 FM
Writer: Barbara Pash