“For no mere mortal can resist the evil of the thriller.” A collection of horror shorts featuring demons, zombies, and perhaps the most devious of all: human beings.

Director Rachel Seed’s mother, famed journalist and photographer Sheila Turner-Seed, passed away when the director was just 18 months old. Seed has spent over a decade re-examining her mom’s extensive archive of filmed interviews with some of the most acclaimed photographers of her time, as well as old photographs, and home movies. The result is an amazing composite recollection of her mother’s dynamic life and analysis of the influences that has made on her own life choices. Seed’s elusive film is a haunting portrait—nimble in execution and startling in its poignancy—that introduces her mother to a new generation.

In June of 1960, inspired by other sit-ins protesting segregation across the country, a group of nonviolent student activists from Howard University set their sights on Glen Echo Amusement Park in Bethesda, Maryland. These Black students were joined by white protesters from the neighboring progressive white families in what turned into weeks of collaboration and picketing. This documentary tells the little-known stories of Hank, Dion, Esther, Tina, Helene, and Nancy – real people whose actions that summer helped to affect major progress for civil rights.

Find inspiration in this collection of family-friendly documentaries, following subjects ranging from a youth women’s basketball league that continually churns out WNBA players to a singularly fabulous Chinese American drill team to a formerly homeless immigrant who becomes a world champion acrobatic pizza tosser.

The animals are acting strangely. When a very pregnant Itto is separated from her husband and his family during a mysterious paranormal event, she must navigate the starkly gorgeous Moroccan countryside alone to reunite with them. Along the way, she witnesses a series of more and more bizarre behavior from the animals around her: birds, dogs, ants, and finally, humans. At once intimate and surreal, this enigmatic apocalyptic story taps into themes of religion, class, and our very humanity.

These animated films tackle a variety of themes including the apocalypse and identity. Among them are charming narrative shorts and thought-provoking experimental meditations.

A star is reborn. With an outsize stage presence that eclipsed even the greatest R&B artists, trans soul singer Jackie Shane shattered barriers with raw talent, courage and an unbreakable commitment to truth. Through never-before-heard phone conversations, dazzling animation and an incredible soundtrack, the full scope of her extraordinary life and career is finally revealed in this remarkable portrait. The full scope of her extraordinary life and career is an epic journey, marked by family secrets, loss and love. From standing down the mob to telling off Ed Sullivan, Jackie lived as her most authentic self through talent, courage and an unbreakable commitment to truth. But on the eve of her return to the stage, fate had other plans. In Any Other Way, Jackie finally gets her second act. Or in her own words: “Oh, Honey! When it comes to Jackie, look out!”

It might stem from necessity to express oneself or desire to leave a legacy, but let’s face it, art-making is work. Each of these shorts profiles an artist who is completely devoted to their craft and puts in the time.

Starting in 2019, BaltiShorts has become a staple in the MdFF program, highlighting movies made by DMV creators or films about the greater Baltimore community. This year’s BaltiShorts program features docs, narratives, experimental work and animation spotlighting quintessential Mid-Atlantic stories and sensibilities.

Screening on 35mm! The Rt. Reverend Isaiah T. Jenkins is a charismatic preacher who commands the respect and reverence of his congregation in Tatesville, a small Black town in Georgia. Martha Jane, one of his devout congregants, is determined to have her daughter Isabelle marry the reverend. Unbeknownst to Martha Jane and the rest of the town, the reverend is actually an imposter and a fugitive who has been drinking, gambling and stealing the church’s collection plate for himself. For this event, we will be projecting a rare 35mm film print, lovingly restored from surviving elements by the George Eastman Museum. To replicate the 1920’s moviegoing experience, jazz pianist Aaron Hill will be improvising a fresh score to accompany the film. Deidre A. Thompson, resident film librarian at MICA, will provide a brief introduction.

A deeply psychological tale, Booger marks the return to MdFF of alum Mary Dauterman (Bette, 2022) with her debut feature. After her dead friend’s cat runs away, Ana (brilliantly portrayed by fellow MdFF alum Grace Glowicki) grows desperate to find him, ignoring the fact that her own life and body are totally falling apart. Booger is a full on adventure in the realm of body horror comedy from this up and coming director.

Chip, an IT specialist, is bored and miserable. But after a routine prostate exam, he discovers a new zest for life and a hole that can never be filled. Brilliantly played as a maybe-not-so-straight crime thriller / absurd villain origin story, BUTT BOY delivers everything that MdFF audiences have come to expect from a John Waters selection: nudity, drugs, violence, vomit, gore, and of course, “the brown word.”

Twenty-nine year old Misha (perfectly portrayed by up and coming actress Mitzi Akaha) doesn’t want a promotion. In fact, she’d like nothing more than to continue the carefree life she’s cultivated for herself living in her Hawaiian hometown, and she doesn’t understand why this bothers her family and friends so much. The only person who doesn’t seem bothered by her lack of ambition is 19-year-old Jake (Laird Akeo) – but this may be because he mistakes her for a fellow high school senior. As their relationship develops, Misha comes face to face with the reality she has long been running from.

Beginning and ending, coming and going, difficult predicaments and ghosts of that past echo through these extraordinary narratives focused on strong characters and their challenges.

Our Closing Night Shorts program spotlights a few of our favorite things from this season’s crop of short films, recognizing the innovation and artistic vision of the emerging and established filmmakers alike who have long been the raison d’être of the Maryland Film Festival. As we close out our 25th Anniversary Festival, we celebrate these voices and stories that carry us into the future of the moving image and of visual storytelling. Includes: Admission to Closing Night Wrap Party * Not available for standalone purchase, must have ticket to CLOSING NIGHT Shorts screening

MdFF alum Hannah Pearl Utt (Before You Know It, 2019) is back with another crowd pleaser. After a failed attempt at a solo music career, pretty and privileged Cora (Meg Stalter) puts her life of random hookups on hold and returns home to Portland to try and save what is left of her open relationship. Once there, she slowly realizes, her romantic relationship is not the only thing that needs saving.

Does perusing queer artifacts tantalize you in more ways than one? Desire Lines is a celebration of underrepresented trans masc stories transcending the barriers of time. Follow an Iranian American trans man as he time-travels through an LGBTQ+ archive on an erotic quest to unravel his own desires. The film spotlights trans men who share their thoughts on everything from the philosophy of Derrida to fellatio, while also exploring the limitations and social baggage of the trans masc label. Director Jules Rosskam queers traditional documentary filmmaking, injecting fantasy and heart. Desire Lines mirrors the way our present informs our understanding of the past and vice versa.

Screening on 16mm! Released the very year that MdFF was being created, shot on Super-16mm film and supported by MdFF’s Producer’s Club, Detention is the 1998 feature debut of Baltimore’s own Darryl Wharton-Rigby, an accomplished TV writer and professor at Temple University’s Japan campus. Based on Wharton-Rigby’s own recollections of the Baltimore public school system, the film follows five exceptional students and one dedicated teacher as they experience an afternoon of detention. That particular event turns out to be a pivotal life changing experience for everyone involved.