As if a weekend full of nonstop films isn't reason enough to attend a film festival, then surely a non-profit festival held to raise breast cancer awareness and promote women's cinema can inspire a visit. That is just what the Baltimore Women's Film Festival aims to do.
The annually held festival features a wide variety of films created by or for women. And if one needs another reason to venture to the Inner Harbor, consider the fact that 50 percent of all ticket sales are donated to the outreach/survivorship program for Hopkins's breast cancer patients and breast cancer research.
The weekend's films range from documentaries to dramatic features to animated shorts and are sure to appeal to a variety of different viewers - certainly not just women. Directors and producers of certain films will be in attendance and after-parties and special events are sprinkled throughout the film-filled weekend.
Even a Free Fall Baltimore event is part of the festival, with the free screening of She Should Have Gone to the Moon, a documentary about pilot Jerri Truhill.
The dramatic shorts program that runs on Friday, Oct. 23, features a particulary chilling short titled Mother, Mine. Susan Everett's 16 minute British film follows a foster child searching to make contact with her biological mom. Thick with emotions of longing and what-ifs, the ending is a suprising as one from a feature film.
The comedic shorts to be shown the following afternoon will certainly lighten the mood. For Broadway buffs and musical fanatics, Sweet Pickle will strike a particularly sweet note. Writer and star of the film Ruth Lawrence plays the befuddled and singing protagonist. Even when the film is bereft of song, the spoken lines are still voiced in rhyme, maintaining an eccentric sort of magic through its entire nine minutes.
What Happened on the 4th Date introduces Freudian themes into the world of dating. And while terms like "id" and "super ego" are thrown around as they are in Intro to Psych, 4th Date is far more entertaining than sitting in a classroom.
At first it appears as if the film will portray a difficult view of the trials of dating, until Lester is introduced. Lester is main character Jonathon's libido who lives in a separate body that is quite similar to the caveman from the Geico commercials. And you thought your love life was difficult.
Guardian Love is a delightful short film that will satisfy the need to see a "chick flick" on the weekend. In an alternate universe where we have our own guardian angels who see to our safety and success in life, the short depicts two angels - one who wants to do her job perfectly and another who has become bored - who meet and the events that preceed.
Documentaries about autism (Autism: Made in the USA) and sexuality (Straitlaced- How Gender's Got All Tied Up) are just some of the full-length films to be screened alongside the groups of shorts. Another set of shorts to be screened on Saturday are the films about madness, sanity and the creative process.
Sunday's animated shorts include a variety of different animated styles, each with their own message to convey.
A group of films set in Baltimore, to be shown on Sunday, Oct. 25, artistically illuminate another side of the city. 138 Arlington, set in 1970, takes place inside the sterile walls of a psychiatric hospital. It depicts the horrors of what takes place along with the desire of those inside to reach out to others to build some kind of relationship. It is cold, like its November setting, but also pleasantly warm as one watches a friendship form.
Documentary shorts, shorts about love and the feature film Two Fireflies finish up the weekend.
To be shown during the shorts about love, the six-minute Tryst is about exactly what the title says - but even after the main character utters the classic "why don't we skip dessert?" line, nothing is as it appears.
Dear Angela, which will be featured under documentary shorts, is a poignant tale of a single mother who acts as a penpal for female inmates. The film deftly portrays the isolation of those inside prison walls from an outside perspective. Since 2001, over 300 inmates have been matched up with penpals and this short illuminates just one of those many relationships.
Among the various filmmakers and directors to attend the event will be Gary Null, one of the directors of Autism: Made in the USA. The film festival provides unique opportunities to hear from producers and directors themselves and thus get a different perspective on some of the films shown.
An after-party on Saturday night will provide a nice interlude amidst the weekend's activities. A reduced price is offered for those with ticket stubs and movie posters will be raffled off as the evening's festivities progress.
The Film Festival promises a weekend of education, entertainment and more in support of the breast cancer awareness month and the efforts made by Hopkins in the fight against it.
The Baltimore Women's Film Festival will take place next week, Oct. 23-25 at Landmark Harbor's East Cinema near the Inner Harbor. More information and a schedule of the weekend's events can be found at www.bwfilmfestival.com.
