Film And Video

The first edition of Baltimore's Queer Film and Video Festival will feature some familiar names: "Leather Jacket Love Story," Rondo Mieczkowski's romantic drama about two mismatched men who find love in the Silver Lake suburb of Los Angeles, has been a favorite on the festival circuit recently, and Cheryl Dunye's "The Watermelon Woman" and "Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer's End," about the late author and activist, were both acclaimed when they were released...

The chance to chronicle a teacher's battle with multiple sclerosis while learning documentary movie-making and earning a slot in a new film competition — it all came together for 18 students at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute with their nonfiction short "Health, Interrupted," selected for the first Baltimore High School Film Festival (4-6 p.m. Thursday at the Charles). The 12-minute film shares its title with the candid blog that the teacher, Kate Hooks, 33, has written since 2004.

Baltimore's Queer Film and Video Festival was born of that mother of so many good ideas: self-interest.Chris Lines, a graduate film student at Towson University, had just finished his short film, "Acceptance," seeing to the details of post-production and entering festivals, when a chilling thought occurred to him. "I thought, 'What if it doesn't get in?'" Lines recalled recently. "I'll create a festival! Baltimore hasn't had one in a while - the last one was in 1995, as part of the Baltimore Film Forum.

Social worker Chris Muldowney and film professor Christopher Llewellyn Reed have found a way to translate their love of movies into, among other things, groceries, fire insurance, hearing aids, a mattress, a new window, the vet bill for a beloved cat and flowers for a 100th birthday. Their monthly donation-only film series in Baltimore has generated more than $35,000 since 2005 to help needy seniors who might otherwise wait two years for an official helping hand. Muldowney manages elder case workers for Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland, a private nonprofit that has, since 1849, helped needy families, children and seniors.

Here is the schedule for the remaining films for the Baltimore Film Forum's 26th annual Baltimore International Film Festival.* "The Forbidden Quest" (Netherlands, 1993), tonight at 7:30* "Rhythm Thief" (United States, 1994), tonight at 9:30* Festival closing night, Maryland winners from the 1995 Independent Film and Video Makers' Competition, Sunday, April 7:30 p.m.Tickets are $6, $5 for BFF members, BMA members, seniors and students. They can be bought from the Film Forum or at the BMA box office.

What's a mid-summer downpour when you've got people to meet, networking to do? Even a weather-related downtown traffic jam couldn't keep some 45 folks away from Harborview's South Harbor Tavern. They came for "Networking Happy Hour: The Sequel" -- a production of Women in Film and Video of Maryland, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to promoting women in the film, video and related industries. Those who braved the soggy streets were rewarded with good food, good company and good chances of meeting people in Maryland's film and video industry.

Western Maryland College will sponsor a state film and video business fair on Saturday.The first-ever event will be geared toward students interested in careers and educational opportunities in Maryland's film and video industry.The fair, "Maryland On Screen," is intended to inform high schooland college students that the industry is alive and well in the state."We've designed 'Maryland on Screen' as an annual event to provide a forum for students of all ages to see that the film and video industry is thriving in our state," said Jay Schlossberg-Cohen, director of the Maryland Film Commission, part of the state Department of Economic and Employment Development.

The Carroll County Fuel Fund will be participating with Baltimore Fuel Fund Inc. in sponsoring Fuel Fund Day at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 24 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore during an Orioles game against the Minnesota Twins.The Carroll County group is a committee of the Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc.Fuel Fund Day gives baseball fans a chance to see the Birds in one of their last games at the stadium and also to assist low-income families with energy-related needs.Tickets are $7.50 for upper reserved seats behind first base and must be reserved by Aug. 14.Checks for tickets can be made payable to the Human Services Programs Inc. and mailed to P.O. Box 489, Westminster, Md. 21157.

A dozen graduates of the film and video program at Towson State University are coming back to school tonight to show off their work."Generally speaking, we've been working hard without looking back a lot," says Peter Lev, a TSU film professor who has organized the TSU Retrospective Film & Video Festival, being held in the Fine Arts Center of the campus."

That wasn't Harrison Ford at the Key Bridge Monday night, but it was the next best thing: the tail-end of a plane sticking out of the Patapsco was put there in the service of "Random Hearts," a political thriller he's currently filming in the Washington, D.C., area. Director Sydney Pollack used the bridge to film an early sequence in the movie, in which an airplane crash sets off a series of events. The project will visit a cabin in Prince George's or Howard County for a week later on in the schedule.

Like many an aspiring auteur, Skizz Cyzyk found his college's filmmaking tools extremely helpful. So helpful, in fact, he extended his tenure at Towson University. "I actually went there eight years, so that I could have access to equipment," says Cyzyk, class of '92, who went on to found Baltimore's Microcinefest and is now programming manager of the Maryland Film Festival. It was experiences like his that inspired the Creative Alliance to establish the just-opened CAmm Cage and Media Lab. True, it doesn't look like much -- a 600-square-foot piece of cavernous studio space in a reconfigured East Baltimore movie theater.

Fullwood Foundation Cheery shades of red were everywhere at the "15th Annual Fullwood Foundation Benefit and Recognition Breakfast." The Martin's West ballroom was decked out in red, black and white -- as were the more than 40 people being honored for their community service. They each wore a dazzling medal around their necks with ribbons in the same three colors. Fullwood Foundation volunteers, who helped the 1,800 guests find their seats, were dressed in crimson. Obviously, many of the guests knew red, in particular, was the color of the hour.

You won't catch any of the current nominees, but dozens of past Academy Award winners will be spotlighted on TCM this month, as the cable channel stages its annual celebration of all things Oscar. The festival, called "31 Days of Oscar," runs the entire month, filling TCM's schedule with Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated movies. And while it includes all the big winners - "Gone With the Wind," "Casablanca" and "Ben-Hur" - the real fun comes from ferreting out lesser-known gems, films that rarely turn up on must-see lists and aren't shown nearly as frequently as the big guns.

What's a mid-summer downpour when you've got people to meet, networking to do? Even a weather-related downtown traffic jam couldn't keep some 45 folks away from Harborview's South Harbor Tavern. They came for "Networking Happy Hour: The Sequel" -- a production of Women in Film and Video of Maryland, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to promoting women in the film, video and related industries. Those who braved the soggy streets were rewarded with good food, good company and good chances of meeting people in Maryland's film and video industry.

The Ann Arbor Film Festival is one of the best-regarded traveling festivals of independent and experimental short films in the United States. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County will play host to the festival today and tomorrow in room 306 in the Fine Arts Building. Twenty-three new films by emerging filmmakers from around the world will be presented at the festival. Screenings are at 7 p.m tonight and 6 p.m. tomorrow. Admission is $2 ($1 for students). For more information, call 410-455-2959.

There's still room at this evening's seminar with filmmaker Peter Rose at the Maryland Institute, College of Art. Rose, who has been making avant-garde films, tapes, installations and performance works for more than 30 years, will present older and recent works and will discuss the future of media-making with film programmer Vicki Westover. Works that will be on view include Rose's seminal 1981 film "the man who could not see far enough," as well as "Requiem," the first installment of a three-part video/sound opera that Rose is currently producing.

After an intermission for Baltimore's Queer Film and Video Festival, "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928) and "Gertrud" (1964) have returned to the Orpheum in Fells Point. The two classics, by Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer, play through Sunday. On Monday, "Twilight," Robert Benton's thriller starring Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman, falls on the landmark theater. Coming up at the Orpheum: a Frank Sinatra double feature with "Anchors Aweigh" and "The Manchurian Candidate." Clear your calendar.

Fullwood Foundation Cheery shades of red were everywhere at the "15th Annual Fullwood Foundation Benefit and Recognition Breakfast." The Martin's West ballroom was decked out in red, black and white -- as were the more than 40 people being honored for their community service. They each wore a dazzling medal around their necks with ribbons in the same three colors. Fullwood Foundation volunteers, who helped the 1,800 guests find their seats, were dressed in crimson. Obviously, many of the guests knew red, in particular, was the color of the hour.

Baltimore's Queer Film and Video Festival started the old-fashioned way. "It was shameless self-promotion," says festival founder Chris Lines, laughing shyly.Of course, another term for shameless self-promotion is enlightened self-interest. Last year, Lines, a graduate film student at Towson University, needed a venue for his short film "Acceptance." So rather than search for a local festival to show it in, he started the festival himself.Baltimore's Queer Film and Video Festival unspooled in June 1998 with 33 films, and Lines says, with some surprise, that about 1,000 people attended during the 10-day run. Even more surprising, he adds, was that many of them came from the suburbs.

Mission: To promote women in the film and television industries. Members are involved in various occupations within film, television and related industries, including producers, directors, stylists, casting directors and agents, actors, entertainment attorneys, composers, accountants, screenwriters, photographers and technicians. Founded in 1988, Women in Film and Video of Maryland is a founding chapter of Women in Film and Television International, a new umbrella organization for 40 WIFTI chapters worldwide.