I AM DIVINE
Maryland Film Festival continues to announce titles for its fifteenth annual edition today, unveiling a dozen more feature films in their 2013 lineup. Within this second round of announced titles are two highly anticipated documentaries with Baltimore subjects, Jeffrey Schwarz’s loving and definitive portrait I Am Divine (photo above), and Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk’s Catonsville Nine documentary Hit & Stay; a wide range of international films including Augustine (France), Berberian Sound Studio (UK), Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico), and Watchtower (Turkey); Sundance 2013 breakthrough dramas A Teacher and This Is Martin Bonner; and the latest from David Gordon Green, Prince Avalanche.
MFF 2013 will take place May 8-12 in downtown Baltimore, and lineup announcements will continue next week. Together with the titles revealed in a first announcement Tuesday, today’s news brings the total of announced MFF 2013 titles thus far to twenty-four.
More lineup announcements are coming soon! For all the latest information, continue to visit this blog, and follow us on Facebook and on Twitter, @MdFilmFestival.
The latest announced titles for MFF 2013 are:
AUGUSTINE
Augustine (Alice Winocour) Set in Belle Epoque France, Alice Winocour’s provocative period piece chronicles the sexual awakening of a female patient in a mental hospital for women suffering from “hysteria.”
Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland) In the 1970s, a gifted but reclusive British sound engineer begins having ever-escalating strange experiences the mirror that Italian horror film on which he’s working.
Drinking Buddies (Joe Swanberg) Kate and Luke form a close bond working together at a Chicago craft brewery—but as the line between friendship and romance gets blurry, cracks begin to show, both in the workplace and their personal lives. Starring Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jake Johnson, and Ron Livingston.
HIT & STAY
Hit & Stay (Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk) This Baltimore-made documentary tells the story of the radical priests, nuns, and everyday people who comprised the Baltimore Four and the Catonsville Nine, risking prison to challenge U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.
I Am Divine (Jeffrey Schwarz) From the director of Vito comes the definitive documentary look at actor, singer, and drag icon Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as Divine; featuring extensive interviews with John Waters and many others who knew, loved, and worked with Divine.
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel) Functioning as both an immersive experiential documentary about modern commercial fishing and a feature-length experimental film, Leviathan offers an explosive and chaotic sensory experience like no other.
POST TENEBRAS LUX
Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas) The director of challenging art-house favorites Battle in Heaven and Silent Light returns with his most personal and transgressive film yet, a masterful meditation on natural wonder, sudden violence, and the human condition.
PRINCE AVALANCHE
Prince Avalanche (David Gordon Green) Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch star as highway workers with a bumpy history paired for a project in a remote location in this charming blend of comedy and drama from the director of George Washington and Pineapple Express.
SWIM LITTLE FISH SWIM
Swim Little Fish Swim (Lola Bessis and Ruben Amar) In this offbeat French/U.S. co-production with notes of deadpan comedy and romance, hardworking Mary’s frustration with her idealistic husband Leeward mounts when a vivacious young French woman enters their life.
A TEACHER
A Teacher (Hannah Fidell) Diana, a young suburban high-school teacher, seems to be leading a pleasant, if placid, life—but behind closed doors, she’s risking it all for an affair with one of her students.
This Is Martin Bonner (Chad Hartigan) Fifty-something Martin Bonner looks for a new beginning in Reno, working with released prisoners for a faith-based organization. This subtle and moving character study won the Sundance 2013 Best of Next Audience Award.
WATCHTOWER
Watchtower (Pelin Esmer) Plagued by tragedy and guilt, a man takes a job in a remote corner of Turkey—but the solitary new life he builds for himself is challenged by the arrival of a young woman, also running from her past.
MFF 2013’s HIT & STAY directed by Skizz Cyzyk and Joe Tropea returns to the Charles Theater for three screenings starting this Saturday 12/7. The film has been on the festival circuit since March and won the Audience Award at the Chicago Underground and Minneapolis Underground Film Festivals and the Best Documentary Feature Award at Sidewalk. Click here for Jenn Ladd‘s review of HIT & STAY in this week’s City Paper.
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