Maryland Film Festival

Overview

The Maryland Film Festival is Maryland's most important independent film festival. Founded in 1999 and held annually in May in Baltimore, the festival presents adventurous international and American cinema through the historic Parkway Theatre -- a beautifully restored 1915 movie palace that serves as the festival's permanent home and year-round cinema.

Baltimore's cultural identity -- gritty, creative, deeply rooted in its neighborhoods, and home to extraordinary institutions including the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Peabody Conservatory, and Johns Hopkins University alongside the working-class culture immortalized in John Waters's films -- creates a festival audience that is simultaneously sophisticated and unpretentious.

The festival's commitment to the Parkway Theatre as a year-round institution distinguishes it from festivals that exist only for a week, creating sustainable film culture infrastructure in Baltimore's Station North arts district.

Key Sections

• Feature Film Program -- adventurous international and American features
• Documentary Program -- nonfiction features
• Short Film Competition -- competitive programs
• Maryland Film Showcase -- films by Maryland filmmakers
• Special Events -- outdoor screenings and community events

What Filmmakers Should Know

Maryland Film Festival accepts open submissions. The festival's Baltimore context and its Parkway Theatre home create a film culture that is genuinely embedded in the city's creative community. For Maryland filmmakers, this is the most important state platform.

Major Awards

• Audience Award -- voted by Baltimore festival audiences

Festival History

Maryland Film Festival was founded in 1999 and developed the Parkway Theatre as a permanent home and year-round art house cinema.

See Also

For East Coast festivals, see Film Festival Strategy. For independent filmmaking, see Independent Filmmaking Strategies.