Quvenzhané Wallis in MFF Alum Benh Zeitlin's new film, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

The Maryland Film Festival and WYPR's Maryland Morning will be hosting a sneak preview of BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD with special guest screenwriter Lucy Alibar on Tuesday, June 5th, at 7:00pm at the MICA Brown Center.   

A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR CURRENT FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL; RSVP TO THIS EMAIL TO RESERVE A SPOT.  This will be a closed screening; tickets will not be available for purchase to the general public.

Tom Hall of WYPR's Maryland Morning will interview Lucy Alibar immediately following the screening.  The WYPR radio interview will air on July 13th, when BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD opens at the Charles Theater.

MFF alum Behn Zeitlin's BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD recently won the FIPRESCI prize and Caméra d'Or at the 2012 International Cannes Film Festival.  The film also received a special mention from the Cannes Ecumenical Jury.  

Film Synopsis:
Benh Zeitlin's BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD whisks you to a surreal realm, where little girls and mythical animals coexist in a bayou called The Bathtub, all intertwined in the cosmic mesh of the universe. Hushpuppy (stunning newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis) relentlessly explores her world for answers, to satisfy her curiosity, and to make her budding mark on a world she's only beginning to comprehend.   

Sneak Preview Information:
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD with special guest Lucy Alibar
Tuesday, June 5th
Doors at 6pm, show starts at 7:00pm
MICA Brown Center

1300 West Mt. Royal Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21217 

Seating is limited; Friends of the Festival will be given priority.  We still have a limited amount of FREE PASSES for current Friends of the Festival.  Friends of the Festival: reply to this email with your name in message body for a chance to win free passes.    

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD Trailer #1 HD

Not a Friend of the Festival? Click here to join!  Friends of the Festival get access to FREE movies all year long, including special access to our 2013 Festival!   

Praise for BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD:

"One of the most striking films ever to debut at the Sundance film festival"
- Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

"Among the best films to play at Sundance in two decades...Hauntingly beautiful both visually and in the tenderness it shows towards the characters."
-Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

"A startlingly beautiful and daringly creative film that runs free of Hollywood formula."
- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

 

The film director Lynn Shelton, in her hometown, Seattle.

MFF Alum Lynn Shelton (director of WE GO WAY BACK, HUMPDAY, MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE)

Check out Margie Rochlin's article about Lynn Shelton, "Scriptless in Seattle: A Filmmaker's Map" in The New York Times: 

"BACK in 2003 Lynn Shelton found herself in the audience for a Northwest Film Forum screening of the French movie "Friday Night" and an interview with its director, Claire Denis. At the time Ms. Shelton was at loose ends professionally, fretting that her master's degree in photography and related media from the School of Visual Arts in New York and her years as a stage actress, freelance film editor and director of 10 or so experimental films could never coalesce into a single profession.

When Ms. Denis talked about her directorial debut in 1988 with "Chocolat," Ms. Shelton, then 37, realized that when it came to directing a feature film, that door had not shut for her yet: "I thought: 'Oh, my God. She was 40 when she made her first film. I thought it was too late for me, so in my head was, 'Oh, I still have three more years.' "

That Ms. Denis was a late bloomer seemed to be all the encouragement Ms. Shelton needed. Since then she has written and directed four feature films, each made on a micro-budget, except for her 2006 directorial debut, "We Go Way Back," largely improvised and shot on the tightest of shooting schedules. Her latest feature, "Your Sister's Sister," which opens June 15, explores sexual identity, grief and friendship and follows the typical Shelton model: compact story line, lots of riffing, tiny crew, borrowed locations and low cost."

Click here for the full article in The New York Times!