Maryland Film Festival Gives Sneak Peek of 2017 Program; Gritty Acclaimed Narrative Features and Docs; Homegrown Directors Showcased

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Saturday, 22 April 2017 07:34

FIRST 10 DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILMS ANNOUNCED TODAY FOR MdFF 2017

Eric Hatch, director of programming for MdFF, stated: "We're very proud to showcase some particularly strong documentary features this year, each of which examines vital issues of culture, community, and history, and two of which—Theo Anthony's Rat Film and Ramona S. Diaz's Motherland—come from Baltimore filmmakers whose work is making an international mark."

AUSTERLITZ
Director: Sergei Loznitsa
There are places in Europe that have remained as painful memories of the past - factories where humans were turned into ash. These places are now memorial sites that are open to the public and receive thousands of tourists every year. The film’s title refers to the eponymous novel written by W.G. Sebald, dedicated to the memory of Holocaust. This film is an observation of the visitors to a memorial site that has been founded on the territory of a former concentration camp. Why do they go there? What are they looking for?

THE BLOOD IS AT THE DOORSTEP
Director: Erik Ljung
After Dontre Hamilton, a black, unarmed man diagnosed with schizophrenia, was shot 14 times and killed by police in Milwaukee, his family embarks on a quest for answers, justice, and reform as the investigation unfolds.

THE DEPARTURE
Director: Lana Wilson
A former punk-turned-Buddhist-priest in Japan who has made a career out of counseling suicidal people finds himself at a crossroads, leading him to confront the same question his patients ask him: what makes life worth living?

FINDING JOSEPH I: THE HR FROM BAD BRAINS DOCUMENTARY 
Director:  James Lathos
Finding Joseph I is a documentary film chronicling the eccentric life of punk rock reggae singer, Paul "HR" Hudson from Bad Brains. The charismatic frontman's explosive live performances helped pioneer hardcore punk while delivering an enlightening message of positive mental attitude. HR's heavy devotion to the Rastafarian faith guided him in a spiritual direction leaving the band several times to explore his love for reggae music. Over the years, HR’s increasingly unpredictable and abnormal behavior has many convinced that he is suffering from mental illness. Finding Joseph I illustrates the true story behind the legendary lead singer’s life, career and struggles with never before seen archival footage, photography and exclusive interviews. 

MAINELAND
Director: Miao Wang (Beijing Taxi, MdFF 2010)
Chinese teenagers from the wealthy elite, with big American dreams, settle into a boarding school in small-town Maine. As their fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, their relationship to home takes on a poignant new aspect.

MOTHERLAND
Director: Ramona S. Diaz
A documentary look at the world’s busiest maternity ward, located in the Philippines, from the Baltimore-based director of Imelda and Don’t Stop Believin’. The director’s work always explores issues related to the Philippines and/or Filipinos. Premiered at Sundance 2017. Diaz, a Baltimore-based filmmaker, is an alumna of the Maryland Film Festival for several feature-length documentaries such as Imelda (MdFF 2004) and The Learning(MdFF 2011).

RAT FILM
Director: Theo Anthony
Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. RAT FILM is a feature-length documentary that uses the rat—as well as the humans that love them, live with them, and kill them--to explore the history of Baltimore. "There's never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it's always been a people problem". Theo Anthony, a Baltimore-based filmmaker, is an alumni of the Maryland Film Festival for the short films Chop My Money (MdFF 2015) and Peace in the Absence of War (MdFF 2016).

THE STAIRS – U.S. Premiere
Director: Hugh Gibson
The Stairs tells the story of Marty, Greg and Roxanne, each of whom survived decades of street-involvement. Using their experiences to ease the paths of others, each performs social work in their old neighborhood, while struggling to maintain their newly-found stability. Told over five years, The Stairs is a non-judgmental character study of life on society’s margins. Defying stereotypes through intimate portraits, its remarkable subjects are by turns surprising, funny, shocking and moving.

TELL THEM WE ARE RISING: THE STORY OF BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Director: Stanley Nelson
A haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries—and path of promise toward the American dream—Black colleges and universities have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. They have been unapologetically Black for 150 years. For the first time ever, their story is told. Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson, Tell Them We Are Risingexamines the impact HBCUs have had on American history, culture, and national identity.Tell Them We Are Rising will air nationally on the acclaimed PBS series, Independent Lens in early 2018. Nelson is also the director of The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (MdFF 2015).

WHOSE STREETS?
Directors: Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis
A documentary about the Ferguson Uprising. When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and then left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for residents of St. Louis County. Grief, long-standing tension, and renewed anger bring residents together to hold vigil and protest this latest tragedy. In the days that follow, artists, musicians, teachers and parents turn into freedom fighters, standing on the front lines to demand justice. As the national guard descends on Ferguson, a small suburb of St. Louis, with military grade weaponry, these young community members become the torchbearers of a new wave of resistance.