Joachim Trier | Maryland Film Festival Blog

For today’s programming picks, I wanted to highlight three exceptional titles that are only screening once during MFF 2012. If you’re intrigued by these films, be sure to flag their single screenings as must-sees on your schedule!

THE BLACK BALLOON

THE BLACK BALLOON
If I could sit and watch one program during the festival (instead of running around like a chicken with its head cut off), it would probably be this one. This comedic and touching journey of a balloon through present-day New York City comes to us courtesy of the inimitable Safdie brothers (of MFF 2010’s DADDY LONGLEGS). The Safdies have paired their latest short with classic titles The Red Balloon, The Balloonatic, and The Pincushion Man (aka Balloon Land) for a charming feature-length program of balloon-themed shorts. This is something really different, and I’m so glad it came together. THE BLACK BALLOON plays Sunday 5/6 at 4:30pm at the Charles Theater.

PORFIRIO

PORFIRIO
A paralyzed Bogota man, upset that his government benefits aren’t forthcoming, methodically plots a drastic action. Amazingly, not only is this dramatic film based on a true story, but also the real-life protagonist plays himself (as do many of his friends and relatives). I don’t like throwing around the phrase “brave performance” lightly, but this one more than qualifies. This film, alongside Yorgos Lanthimos-starring ATTENBERG, deserves a DOGTOOTH alert, as that film’s cinematographer also shot this one. I’d also recommend it to anyone who responded to past MFF international titles as different as Argentina’s LIVERPOOL and Thailand’s MUNDANE HISTORY, films that manage to be quiet, patient, subversive, and beautiful all at once. PORFIRIO plays Saturday 5/5 at 5:00pm.

OSLO, AUGUST 31st

OSLO, AUGUST 31^st
I loved REPRISE, the debut film by Joachim Trier, a barbed drama about a pair of aspiring authors harboring misogynistic hang-ups. Based upon the same novel as Louis Malle’s classic THE FIRE WITHIN, OSLO follows a recovering addict on his first day-leave from a rehab facility. Astonishing lead Anders Danielsen Lie’s deeply expressive face fills the screen with feeling, equal parts bemused and pained by the new ways family and old friends react to him. Nelson Kim sums it up beautifully for ace film blog Hammer to Nail: “Though the film is all about disappointment and failure, as a work of art, it’s a triumphant success. Trier has the rare gift of creating cinematic scenes and sequences that are like perfectly achieved pop songs; certain passages in OSLO…are condensations of style and story and emotion that linger in your consciousness like rooms you’ve lived in and people you once loved.” OSLO, AUGUST 31st plays Saturday 5/5 at 10:00pm at the Charles Theater.

– Eric Hatch, Director of Programming

Following up on last week’s first line-up announcement, the Maryland Film Festival proudly announces twelve more features for MFF 2012 (May 3-6 in downtown Baltimore).

Among these titles are LUV, the Baltimore-shot drama which premiered at Sundance 2012 and boasts an all-star cast that includes Common, Charles S. Dutton, Danny Glover, and Michael Kenneth Williams; GAYBY, fresh from its premiere at SXSW 2012, a warm-hearted comedy about two best friends, a gay man and straight woman, who decide to have a child together; and THE COMEDY, a dark and challenging mix of comedy and drama starring Tim Heidecker.

As with every year, the MFF 2012 full line-up will include 40+ new feature films and 75+ new shorts from around the world, as well as a vintage 3-D film, a silent film with live music by Alloy Orchestra, and a favorite film selected by legendary filmmaker and MFF board member John Waters.

All U.S.-made feature films will be presented by their filmmakers.

Without further ado, the second batch of features announced for MFF 2012 are:

ATTENBERG (Athina Rachel Tsangari)
A young woman with a bizarre way of looking at friendship, love, and life spends long hours with her father, their small town’s chief architect now on his deathbed. DOGTOOTH fans take note: ATTENBERG is directed by that film’s associate producer, co-stars that film’s director Yorgos Lanthimos, and has an offbeat sensibility that, while all its own, can only have DOGTOOTH as its closest point of comparison.

THE COMEDY (Rick Alverson)
Tim Heidecker stars in this abrasive, challenging, and yes, hilarious film, arguably closer in tone to FROWNLAND or THE IDIOTS than it is TIM AND ERIC’S BILLION-DOLLAR MOVIE. A group of jaded, ultra-privileged Brooklynites with sharp comedic tongues and little respect for social norms seeks out confrontational situations, with sometimes shocking results.

EMPIRE BUILDER (Kris Swanberg)
A young mother (Kate Lyn Sheil, also of MFF 2012 titles SUN DON’T SHINE and THE COMEDY) seeks a rural retreat from the doldrums of married life. The second feature film from Kris Swanberg (MFF 2009’s It was great, but I was ready to come home).

FOUND MEMORIES (Júlia Murat)
In this stunningly shot drama from Brazil, a young female photographer sets out on a hike and stumbles upon a mysterious village populated entirely by elders. Her well-intentioned presence there disrupts the flow of their daily rituals, causing them to contemplate their mortality and look at life differently.

GAYBY (Jonathan Lisecki)
Warm-hearted, often explosive humor and vibrant characters drive this crossover comedy about best friends—a gay man and a straight woman—who in their 30s decide to make good on their promise they made back in college to have a child together.

KID-THING (David and Nathan Zellner)
This beautifully shot feature from the directors of GOLIATH (MFF 2008) shows us a slice of Texas populated by listless moments, odd behavior, and piles of pop-culture debris – all seen through the eyes of a mischievous 10-year-old girl who, through solitude, has developed a unique outlook on life.

LUV (Sheldon Candis)
An all-star cast that includes Common, Charles S. Dutton, Michael Kenneth Williams, Dennis Haysbert, and Danny Glover drives this Baltimore-set drama about a man who, just released from prison and trying to start a new life for himself, takes an interest in teaching his 11-year-old nephew how to be a man.

OSLO, AUGUST 31st (Joachim Trier)
From the director of the spectacular REPRISE (2006) comes this poetic and deeply moving account about a recovering addict on his first day leave from a recovery program. As he reconnects with old friends and family and fantasizes about a clean life on the outside, will he fall prey to his old demons? Reverently based on the same novel that inspired the Louis Malle classic THE FIRE WITHIN.

THE PATRON SAINTS (Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky)
This extraordinary documentary gives us a poignant look into the daily lives of residents of a home for the aged and disabled. Incapable or unwilling to self-censor, they say whatever is on their minds, giving us unforgettable access to a phase of human life we may have never before looked at head-on.

PILGRIM SONG (Martha Stephens)
In this atmospheric, sensory-rich mix of comedy and drama, a downsized middle-school teacher in a struggling relationship sets off alone for a hike on the Sheltowee Trace Trail, meeting a cast of characters worthy of Kaurismaki or Jarmusch along the way.

THE SOURCE (Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos)
This is the ultimate documentary about The Source Family, a spiritual group that formed in L.A. during the height of the psychedelic era. Central to their story is their Sunset Strip restaurant The Source, their albums and performances as Yahowa 13, and, above all, Father Yod, a former Marine and jujitsu expert who reinvented himself first as a vegetarian restaurateur and then as a spiritual guru.

WILD IN THE STREETS (Peter Baxter)
Since medieval times, the UK town of Ashbourne has played an annual, multi-day game that divides the town into two groups, the Up’ards and Down’ards, each hellbent on carrying a beautiful handmade four-pound ball to one of two goals three miles apart. This riveting documentary captures the tradition in all its sweat and glory.