The Chesapeake Film Festival (CFF) announces a new bi-monthly series, “Making Imagination Reel,” showcasing outstanding films featured in the 2021 Festival. The first program in the series, available through December 2021 and January 2022, offers three incredible short films and interviews with their filmmakers.  The series is free on chesapeakefilmfestival.com.

“By popular demand, we’re making selected films from 2021 available on our website,” said Cid Collins Walker, Festival Director. “Every two months, we’ll bring you exceptional films that won CFF awards and/or were most popular with our virtual audience. You’ll also get extensive interviews we conducted with the filmmakers. I’m very excited to share these informative and lively conversations with you.”

The December and January lineup includes these films and interviews with their directors:

Our Story: LifeTime Wells (17 minutes)

CFF Award for Best Made-in-Maryland film

Synopsis:

This powerful film follows the remarkable story of a water charity based in Denton, MD that has drilled more than 2,500 water wells in Africa to help underserved populations all over the continent.

Director: Rob Simmons

Rob is a video producer at 5:00 Films & Media, a video production company based in Washington, DC focused on non-profit video production. Rob has created films and video campaigns for many clients in the public sector including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Baltimore City Parks & Recreation, Maryland Recreation & Parks Association, and Lifetime Wells International.

Director’s Statement:

In May of 2019, I opted to skip walking across a stage for graduation, and flew 7,000 miles to rural Tanzania with a water well driller from my hometown, Ken Wood. Throughout the month-long trip capturing photo/video content in southern Tanzania, I watched a 75-year-old man, who had open heart surgery twice, drill 3-4 wells a day in grueling heat, through swarms of killer bees, all on a diet of canned tuna and Dunkin coffee that’d he’d packed from the Denton, MD Walmart. I left the trip craving the opportunity to pay tribute to his generosity and dedication. Please check out their website at lifetimewellsinternational.org

Pooch Sitter (15 minutes)

CFF Award for Best Narrative Short

Synopsis:

Pooch Sitter is about homelessness. Claire Wingham usually finds her clients by sitting on park benches, which otherwise serve as occasional beds. When fate finds her the perfect client, she floats through life with a chameleon-like creativity and unperturbed naivete.

Director:  Monda Raquel Webb

Monda is an award-winning author, filmmaker and performing artist. After graduating with a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Rhode Island in 1990, Monda began her award-winning production career with City Cable 16 in Washington, DC. Currently, Monda combines her talents under her consulting company, Monda Media, LLC.  In 2015, Monda wrote, directed and produced her multi award-winning short film, Zoo (Volkerschau), about the last known human zoo at the 1958 World Fair in Brussels, Belgium. Zoo, like Pooch Sitter, was an official selection of the 2021 CFF Virtual Festival.

Director’s Statement:

I’m an independent storyteller dedicated to telling little known stories hidden in the crevices of history’s pages. A visual archaeologist, I’m committed to organic storytelling from a woman’s lens that elevates, educates and uplifts humanity. As a filmmaker, if I don’t make you laugh, cry or throw something at the screen, I have failed. We all deserve to feel something. Thus, I choose to tackle topics that challenge the status quo. I aim to raise the rug under which many secrets are held. The truth is refreshing. The truth frees. Truth — feels.

True North: Sailing to Salvation (19:35 minutes)

Second most-popular film in CFF 2021 Virtual Festival

Synopsis: 

This documentary short features distressed war veterans who, feeling alienated from society upon their return from duty, find healing, connection, and a sense of belonging on the Chesapeake Bay.

Director: Suzie Galler

Suzie is a documentary filmmaker with more than 25 years in production, marketing, and communications. She worked for the major television networks and Disney Studios and ran two production companies which produced specials for CBS, NBC, Lifetime TV, and other broadcast outlets.  Suzie produced her first documentary, More Loverly Than Ever: The Making and Restoration of My Fair Lady, for CBS and went on to produce other biopics before producing two independent documentaries on gender issues: I Am Beautiful and I Am My Mother’s Daughter. As a result of that work, she founded a non-profit advocacy organization for women. While Suzie settled in Maryland in 2008, she kept a global perspective and produced several international films for USAID.

Director Statement

After living in many different cities, I finally landed in a small, welcoming community on the Chesapeake Bay where I felt fulfilled in my environment and my creative life. When I realized I had found my True North here, I began to explore what that concept might mean for others. The veterans in our story exemplify that experience and provide inspiration for viewers seeking their own True North. This is the first episode of what we hope will become a True North series.

The 2021 Chesapeake Film Festival (CFF) surpassed expectations for an event in the time of COVID, with an overflow-crowd at a VIP reception, hundreds attending the live festival Oct. 1 and 2, and several thousand watching at home during the virtual festival, Oct. 3 through 10.

CFF did not host a live event in 2020 because of COVID.  But, with a mandatory proof-of vaccination requirement, audiences returned this year to the Avalon Theatre for the excitement of watching films on the silver screen, discussing the films with the filmmakers, and enjoying the camaraderie of film lovers.

The Festival kicked off Friday night with a VIP reception honoring more than 150 sponsors and major donors on a perfect fall afternoon at the Eastern Shore Conservation Center in Easton. The reception included a drawing for a solar generator donated by Enel Green Power, sponsor of this year’s environmental programming.

About 325 people attended the Friday night screenings, led by the premiere and panel discussion of Water’s Way: Thinking Like a Watershed by local filmmakers Tom Horton, Dave Harp and Sandy Cannon-Brown.

On Saturday, 225 people turned out for the narrative features, sponsored by Bluepoint Hospitality. First up was Tyndall Typewriters, by Ted Adams III, starring his son Ted Adams IV.  The younger Adams won the CFF award for best actor. The screening was preceded by a well-attended event at the Academy Art Museum featuring a hands-on experience with vintage typewriters.

“The turnout was astounding.  With COVID still a concern, we didn’t know what to expect. The great response confirms that the Chesapeake Film Festival has become a much-anticipated annual event for the community,” said Festival Director Cid Collins Walker.

While delighted to be back live, the success of the 2020 all-virtual festival convinced CFF to continue offering dozens of films for home-viewing.  This year approximately 6,400 viewers watched more than 50 films at home – for free.

“The hybrid festival seems the way to go from now on,” Collins Walker continued. “But we do want to have many more filmmakers here in person for the live festival next year.”

The Festival was pleased that films by four of its board members – Monda Raquel Webb, Harold Jackson, Cannon-Brown and Adams – were among the most viewed films in the virtual festival.  Other filmmakers represented in the virtual festival came from Los Angeles, New York, Boston and many other locations to experience CFF and explore the Eastern Shore.

Once a best-kept secret, the Chesapeake Film Festival is now a sought-after event by filmmakers as well as film-lovers.  About 300 films were submitted to the 2021 Festival.

The most-viewed film in the virtual festival was Sky So Blue, a stunning tribute to the victims of the attacks of September 9, 2011.  True North: Sailing to Salvation, a documentary short about war veterans who find healing, connection and a sense of belonging on the Chesapeake Bay was second. Two narrative shorts by Webb, Pooch Sitter and Zoo, ranked in the top ten.

“The size of the audience is only one measure of success,” stated Nancy Tabor, Executive Director. “Support from donors and sponsors is another measure and we are pleased to report that contributions from our donors and sponsors was at a record high in 2021.”

Sponsors of CFF 2021 include Shared Earth Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Prager on behalf of Bluepoint Hospitality, Enel Green Power, The Nature Conservancy, Maryland State Arts Council, Talbot Arts, Artistic Insights Fund, Richard and Beverly Tilghman, U.S. Small Business Administration, Maryland Humanities and the Ravenal Foundation.

To see a list of the 2021 awardees, listen to interviews with filmmakers, and learn about CFF events throughout the year, please go to chespeakefilmfestival.com.

Enel Green Power, a developer, long-term owner and operator of renewable energy projects in North America, is presenting a selection of environmental films at the 14^th annual Chesapeake Film Festival (CFF), beginning Friday, October 1, at the historic Avalon Theatre in Easton. The hybrid festival will continue online with free virtual film offerings from Oct 3-10 available on the festival’s website.

Enel Green Power operates 60 renewable power plants in the US and Canada powered by wind, solar and geothermal energy and is exploring the development of new utility-scale solar projects in the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

“Enel Green Power is proud to support the Chesapeake Film Festival and the dedicated storytellers who are turning their lenses to environmental issues in the Eastern Shore and beyond,” said Gerald Juliani, development manager at Enel Green Power, “Renewable energy is the key to a decarbonized future that reduces pollution and mitigates the effects of climate change, both of which are serious threats to the natural world around us. As we pursue new solar development in Maryland, we’re thrilled to sponsor this important cultural institution and look forward to a long-term partnership with communities around the Chesapeake Bay.”

Environmental film screenings for this year’s festival include the world premiere of Water’s Way, an environmental feature film produced by local filmmakers Sandy Cannon-Brown, Dave Harp and Tom Horton. The film will debut at the Avalon Theatre on Friday, October 1, and be followed with a Q&A session with the filmmakers.

Other environmental film offerings presented by Enel will include The Heat Is On: Driving Climate Action for People and Nature, a short film produced by the World Wildlife Fund, and Farmscape Ecology, a short film focused on the evolution of farming that explores the essential question of “How do we produce food and still maintain a livelihood for farmers, while respecting the needs of other organisms with which we share the land?”

Made in Maryland films are also a major focus of the CFF, and include Power of the Paddle, the story of Chris Hopkinson’s quest to draw attention to the effects of decades of pollution and overfishing on the Chesapeake Bay, and Crisis on the Half Shell, a tale of hope about the efforts of marine biologists and advocates to restore the oyster populations of the Bay.

More information about the Chesapeake Film Festival is available at www.ChesapeakeFilmFestival.com.

Enel Green Power North America is a leading developer, long-term owner and operator of renewable energy plants in North America, with a presence in 14 US states and one Canadian province. The company operates 60 plants with a managed capacity of over 6.7 GW powered by renewable wind, geothermal and solar energy. https://www.enelgreenpower.com/countries/north-america/united-states

The Chesapeake Film Festival opens its 2021 Live Festival with a VIP reception in the courtyard of the Eastern Shore Conservation Center on Friday, Oct. 1. The reception, hosted by the CFF Board of Directors, honors filmmakers, sponsors and major donors.

Tickets, which cover the reception and the three environmental films premiering at the Avalon Theatre that evening, may be purchased for $125 per person.  To purchase tickets, go to chesapeakefilmfestival.com and scroll down to “Click Here to Purchase Tickets for the Live Festival.”

CFF relies on its VIP sponsors and donors to fulfill its mission to entertain, empower, educate and inspire diverse audiences of all ages by presenting independent films and events throughout the year.  The reception honoring them, catered by Blue Heron Catering, begins at 5 p.m.  The ESCC, at 114 S. Washington Street in Easton, is just two blocks from the Avalon Theatre.

Because of CoVid concerns, the reception will be outdoors and attendees must be fully vaccinated. In the event of rain or new CoVid restrictions, the reception will be rescheduled for a future date.

Friday evening offers the world premieres of three environmental films, ranging from 5- to 45-minutes, and a panel discussion with the filmmakers.  Tickets for Friday’s evening of environmental films, without the VIP reception, are $25.

The Live Festival opens with Water’s Way: Thinking Like a Watershed. This new film by Tom Horton, Dave Harp and Sandy Cannon-Brown suggests that learning to appreciate and emulate beavers may be a key to understanding how we might once again experience a watershed resilient to flood and drought and Chesapeake clean and clear.

Two shorts follow Water’s Way and a panel discussion.  Olympic Sleepers of the Arctic, by CFF board members Irene Magafan and Jamie Currie, explores the arctic ground squirrels and how they have adapted to hibernate up to eight months to survive. This 5-minute film touches on the unique biology of these animals in the greater context of the environmental threats facing the arctic region.

The Heat is On: Driving Climate Action for People and Nature is a 20-minute film by Irene Magafan and Kelly Ashford about World Wildlife Fund’s response to dire reports on the threats of climate change.

To learn more about the reception, the Live Festival Oct. 1 and 2, and the Virtual Festival Oct. 3-10, go to chesapeakefilmfestival.com

The Chesapeake Film Festival is generously supported by the Shared Earth Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Prager on behalf of Bluepoint Hospitality, Enel Green Powers, Doug Powers, The Nature Conservancy, Maryland Film Office, Choptank Electric, Maryland State Arts Council, Talbot Arts, Talbot County Department of Tourism, Artistic Insights Fund, Richard and Beverly Tilghman, U.S. Small Business Administration, and The Ravenal Foundation. Funding has also been provided to the Chesapeake Film Festival from Maryland Humanities and The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program.

This year, The Chesapeake Film Festival will have a LIVE festival on October 1-2 at the Avalon Theatre featuring an opening night of environmental filmmaking followed by a night of narrative newcomers. Tickets for these films are available by going to chesapeakefilmfestival.com.

Starting Sunday, October 3 through Sunday, October 10, the Chesapeake Film Festival will host a VIRTUAL screening of 48 films at NO CHARGE. We ask that you consider a contribution to offset our expenses.

We’re very excited to announce this year’s Award Winners for our VIRTUAL festival:

Best Animated Film:  Dumpling Dash — Directed by Lisa Cui

Best Comedy: The Yawndemic — Directed by Jean Pierre

Best Documentary Feature: Sky So Blue, Directed by Michael J. Finnegan, David L. Trapasso Jr.

Best Drama: Mickey Hardaway — Directed by Marcellus Cox

Best Cinematography: Chicago: America’s Hidden War — Directed by Daylight Supreme

Best Emerging Filmmaker: James Sampsel — If I Tell Them

Best Environmental Feature: Laws of the Lizard — Directed by Neil Losin, Nathan Dappen

Best Environmental Short: Hidden Wild — Directed by Neil Losin, Nathan Dappen

Best International Film: The Wound — Directed by Sahar Nourmonavar

Best Made In Maryland Film: Our Story: Lifetime Wells — Directed by Rob Simmons

Best Performance — Actor: Theo Adams IV, Tyndall Typewriters

Best Short Film: Pooch Sitter — Directed by Monda Raquel Webb

Best Sound Editing: Heroes’ Honeymoon – Directed by Rich West

Best Screenplay: Harold Jackson, III, Liam White

Best Editing: The Heat is On — Directed by Kelley Ashford and Irene Magafan

Best Director: The Tower Road Bus — Directed by Michael Streissguth

Best Thriller: Sleep Tight — Directed by Michael Seabolt

Jury’s Prize: RUMBLE: The Indians who Rocked the World — Directed by Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana

The Chesapeake Film Festival is generously supported by the Shared Earth Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Prager on behalf of Bluepoint Hospitality, Enel Green Powers, Doug Powers, The Nature Conservancy, Maryland Film Office, Choptank Electric, Maryland State Arts Council, Talbot Arts, Talbot County Department of Tourism, Artistic Insights Fund, Richard and Beverly Tilghman, U.S. Small Business Administration, and The Ravenal Foundation. Funding has also been provided to the Chesapeake Film Festival from Maryland Humanities and The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program.

For further information contact: Nancy Tabor, Executive Director, [email protected], (443) 955-9144. To purchase tickets to our LIVE festival or see our trailers for our VIRTUAL festival, go to chesapeakefilmfestival.com.

Animator Ezra Pailer, an Eldersburg, Maryland artist is lending his considerable talents and enthusiasm to a greater awareness of the Chesapeake Bay by creating an original animation for the 2021 Chesapeake Film Festival (CFF) that will air on MPT, in theaters and on social media as part of our branding campaign. He’s so happy to be working on this project because the Chesapeake Bay is worth protecting.  “I like the Chesapeake Bay and I love the direction the Chesapeake Film Festival is going with its films,” says Pailer, who is a 2019 graduate of the University of Maryland at Baltimore County and works as an animator at Early Light Media in Baltimore.  At Early Light, he collaborates on commercial storytelling projects including documentaries.

Pailer’s animation for this year’s festival is based on his memories of the Chesapeake Bay from when he was a child.  “I drew from memories when I was a kid, and my time on the water,” he says.  I wanted to capture that feeling, that sense of adventure.”  Pailer says he studied the Bay before designing the animation, and then “gave it a whimsical touch.”  He says that his visits to Calvert Cliffs in Calvert County, is one of the many memories he has that inspired his animation work on this project.

The animation will help promote this year’s Chesapeake Film Festival, which runs from October 1 – 10 and will be both live and virtual.

CFF Executive Director Nancy Tabor says that Pailer’s work is very inspiring.  “He’s just taken the world by storm,” Tabor says.  “His animations are fantastic and very imaginative.”  Tabor says Pailer came to mind this year after his first-place win in last year’s virtual festival for his work, “Willow.”  Pailer says he was thrilled to work with the CFF for the 2021 festival, knowing that he’s contributing to a good cause – the Chesapeake Bay.

“I am aware that there is quite a bit of environmental concerns about the Chesapeake Bay.  It’s really something worth protecting, it’s very important.  But there are a lot of great people speaking out for the Bay and I think that’s great.”

Click here to see our exciting new animated promo for this year’s Chesapeake Film Festival:

For more information on the 2021 Chesapeake Film Festival, visit www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com or contact our Executive Director at 443-955-9144. Tickets go sale and trailers can be viewed starting September 1.

The Chesapeake Film Festival is generously supported by the Shared Earth Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Prager on behalf of Bluepoint Hospitality, Enel Green Powers, Doug Powers, The Nature Conservancy, Maryland Film Office, Choptank Electric, Maryland State Arts Council, Talbot Arts, Talbot County Department of Tourism, Artistic Insights Fund, Richard and Beverly Tilghman, U.S. Small Business Administration, and The Ravenal Foundation. Funding has also been provided to the Chesapeake Film Festival from Maryland Humanities and The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program.

We hope you can join us for a tapping good time at the Academy Art Museum.

When: Saturday, October 2^nd from 2:00-4:00pm

Where: Academy Art Museum  

106 South St, Easton, MD 21601

Get ready to check your computer at the door and join us for a lo-tech, hi-tap afternoon! This FREE open house event will introduce typewriter newbies to the old school technology, and typewriter aficionados can bring their own machines and socialize with like-minded “types”. Basics like how to change a ribbon and other typing tips will be offered throughout the afternoon and you’ll be able to use our many of our typewriters to test your typing technique. A typewriter specialist will be on site to evaluate your machine.

Red Zeppelin Productions will be featuring its collection of antique typewriters that were used in the Award-Winning short film, Tyndall Typewriters. All beautifully serviced with some available for sale. A raffle for prizes including a Vintage Typewriter will be offered. Other door prizes will also be available for attendees.

Typewriter enthusiast and Award-Winning filmmaker, Theodore Adams III, is hosting this event which will be followed by the World Premier of his short film, Tyndall Typewriters. The film will screen at the Chesapeake Film Festival in Easton, Maryland’s Avalon Theater at 5pm. To purchase tickets to the screening, go to: https://chesapeakefilmfestival.com/

The Chesapeake Film Festival’s mission is to entertain, empower, educate and inspire diverse audiences of all ages by presenting exceptional independent films and events. They offer outstanding filmmakers, experienced and emerging, a forum to showcase and discuss stories of compelling interest to the local and global community. Because of their location on the Chesapeake Bay and their diverse population, prioritizing films that focus on the environment and social justice issues is imperative. The Festival also strives to be an economic engine for the Eastern Shore by enticing visitors to experience exceptional films, world-famous seafood, art, and the beauty of our waterways.

Be sure to check out the festival from October 1^st – October 10^th. Environmental and Dramatic films will screen on October 1^st – October 2^nd and FREE virtual festival runs will be from October 3^rd – October 10^th.

COVID COMPLIANCE NOTICES: Masks will be required to enter the Academy Arts Museum. Masks AND Proof of Full COVID Vaccination will be required to enter the Avalon Theater.

For more information about the Type-In:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 571-403-3678

For Inquiries about the Chesapeake Film Festival:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 443-955-9144

As the lights dim in the grandeur of the historic Avalon Theatre in Easton, MD, a hush falls over the audience.  Excitement builds as the first images of the 14^th annual Chesapeake Film Festival mark the return of a LIVE Festival October 1 and 2.

And what better way to kick off an Eastern Shore Festival than to present the world premiere of the Bay Journal’s latest film, Water’s Way: Thinking Like a Watershed, by local favorites Tom Horton, Dave Harp and CFF’s Vice President for Environmental Programming Sandy Cannon-Brown.  As Horton says in the introduction:

“Consider water’s way throughout the vast basin of Chesapeake Bay, some 40 rivers and thousands of creeks feeding the great estuary from across nearly a sixth of the East Coast. This is the watershed. Every drop of rain that falls on 64,000 square miles heads one way, Bayward. And the Chesapeake, which appears so long and broad is, in context, just a smallish and shallow pool of water on the receiving end of everything 18 million people in six states and the District of Columbia do with the land, for good or ill.”

One of the “stars” of Water’s Way is Herbert the Beaver, a representative of a species whose ponds and dams once sponsored a lush mosaic of wetlands throughout the Chesapeake region.

The second film on opening night, The Heat is On: Driving Climate Action for People and Nature, focuses on World Wildlife Fund’s response to climate change. This short documentary was produced by CFF Board Member Irene Magafan and her colleague Kelley Ashford to prod and inspire people to take action against climate change before it’s too late.

The cost of the Friday night screenings and the panel discussion that follows is $25.

But wait! There’s more to Friday evening:  A VIP reception at the Avalon honoring our filmmakers, sponsors and major donors precedes the screenings.  Individual tickets for the VIP reception and screenings are available for a $125 tax-deductible donation to CFF.  The reception brings the community and visitors to our beloved Eastern shore together to celebrate the magic of a LIVE Festival.

The LIVE Festival continues on Saturday evening at the Avalon with two acclaimed features, Minari and Tesla. Tickets are $15 for each film.

Minari, about a Korean-American family pursuing the American dream in Arkansas, earned six Oscar nominations, and won Youn Yuh -jung Best Supporting Actress.  It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and earned six nominations at the 74th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film Not in the English Language. Youn is the first Korean actor nominated for an Oscar for acting, as well as the first to win.

Tesla is a freewheeling take on visionary inventor Nikola Tesla and his imagined interactions with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.  One of the actors in the film, Maryland native Vincent de Paul, will introduce the film.

While the Chesapeake Film Festival is thrilled to bring back a LIVE Festival, it is also delighted to extend the Festival for another week online.  The VIRTUAL Festival, October 3-10, includes more than 50 films to watch at your convenience, along with and several scheduled interviews with filmmakers.  The VIRTUAL Festival is FREE, but donations are encouraged to help cover the costs.

“Our 2021 Festival includes work by amazing filmmakers around the world,” said Festival Director Cid Collins Walker, “and we are honored to have several of those filmmakers sitting on our Board of Directors both in the LIVE and VIRTUAL events…”

Films by Chesapeake Film Festival Board Members in the VIRTUAL Festival, October 3-10, include:

Liam White, produced and directed by Harold Jackson, III, follows a novelist who, with a few months to live, faces all the people he stepped on to get to the top.

Othello San, produced and directed by Theodore Adams, III, about the realities a celebrated young African-American actor faces when he enrolls at a prestigious theater school in Japan to play the lead role in Shakespeare’s Othello.

Tyndall Typewriter, with an award-winning script by Theodore Adams, III, features a repairman of antique typewriters who reminds people of the days when communications, social interactions, and relationships were tactile experiences.

Zoo (Volkershau), produced and directed by Monda Raquel Webb, is based on a gut-wrenching. true event at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, Belgium.

Saving San Domingo, produced and edited by Sandy Cannon-Brown, reveals a 200-year-old African-American community struggling to save its traditions and values.

Other independent film highlights in the virtual festival include: Heroes’ Honeymoon, Honey Bee, The Recess, Type Cast, Ball Side Middle (A Brooklyn Basketball Story), Chicago: America’s Hidden War, Sky So Blue, RUMBLE: The Indians who Rocked the World, The FriendliestTown, The Tower Road Bus and Under the Same Sky.

Now in its 14^th year, the mission of the Chesapeake Film Festival is to entertain, empower, educate and inspire diverse audiences of all ages by presenting exceptional independent films and events. We offer outstanding filmmakers, experienced and emerging, a forum to showcase and discuss stories of compelling interest to our local and global community. Because of our location on the Chesapeake Bay and our diverse population, we prioritize films that focus on the environment and social justice issues. The Festival also strives to be an economic engine for the Eastern Shore by enticing visitors to experience exceptional films, world-famous seafood, art, and the beauty of our waterways.

For more information, visit chesapeakefilmfestival.com or contact our Executive Director at 443-955-9144.

As the lights dim in the grandeur of the historic Avalon Theatre in Easton, MD, a hush falls over the audience.  Excitement builds as the first images of the 14^th annual Chesapeake Film Festival mark the return of a LIVE Festival October 1 and 2.

And what better way to kick off an Eastern Shore Festival than to present the world premiere of the Bay Journal’s latest film, Water’s Way: Thinking Like a Watershed, by local favorites Tom Horton, Dave Harp and CFF’s Vice President for Environmental Programming Sandy Cannon-Brown.  As Horton says in the introduction:

“Consider water’s way throughout the vast basin of Chesapeake Bay, some 40 rivers and thousands of creeks feeding the great estuary from across nearly a sixth of the East Coast. This is the watershed. Every drop of rain that falls on 64,000 square miles heads one way, Bayward. And the Chesapeake, which appears so long and broad is, in context, just a smallish and shallow pool of water on the receiving end of everything 18 million people in six states and the District of Columbia do with the land, for good or ill.”

One of the “stars” of Water’s Way is Herbert the Beaver, a representative of a species whose ponds and dams once sponsored a lush mosaic of wetlands throughout the Chesapeake region.

The second film on opening night, The Heat is On: Driving Climate Action for People and Nature, focuses on World Wildlife Fund’s response to climate change. This short documentary was produced by CFF Board Member Irene Magafan and her colleague Kelley Ashford to prod and inspire people to take action against climate change before it’s too late.

The cost of the Friday night screenings and the panel discussion that follows is $25.

But wait! There’s more to Friday evening: A VIP reception at the Avalon honoring our filmmakers, sponsors and major donors precedes the screenings.  Individual tickets for the VIP reception and screenings are available for a $125 tax-deductible donation to CFF.  The reception brings the community and visitors to our beloved Eastern shore together to celebrate the magic of a LIVE Festival.

The LIVE Festival continues on Saturday evening at the Avalon with two acclaimed features, Minari and Tesla. Tickets are $15 for each film.

Minari, about a Korean-American family pursuing the American dream in Arkansas, earned six Oscar nominations, and won Youn Yuh -jungBest Supporting Actress.  It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and earned six nominations at the 74th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film Not in the English Language. Youn is the first Korean actor nominated for an Oscar for acting, as well as the first to win.

Tesla is a freewheeling take on visionary inventor Nikola Tesla and his imagined interactions with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.  One of the actors in the film, Maryland native Vincent de Paul, will introduce the film.

While the Chesapeake Film Festival is thrilled to bring back a LIVE Festival, it is also delighted to extend the Festival for another week online.  The VIRTUAL Festival, October 3-10, includes more than 50 films to watch at your convenience, along with and several scheduled interviews with filmmakers.  The VIRTUAL Festival is FREE, but donations are encouraged to help cover the costs.

“Our 2021 Festival includes work by amazing filmmakers around the world,” said Festival Director Cid Collins Walker, “and we are honored to have several of those filmmakers sitting on our Board of Directors both in the LIVE and VIRTUAL events…”

Films by Chesapeake Film Festival Board Members in the VIRTUAL Festival, October 3-10, include:

Liam White, produced and directed by Harold Jackson, III, follows a novelist who, with a few months to live, faces all the people he stepped on to get to the top.

Othello San, produced and directed by Theodore Adams, III, about the realities a celebrated young African-American actor faces when he enrolls at a prestigious theater school in Japan to play the lead role in Shakespeare’s Othello.

Tyndall Typewriter, with an award-winning script by Theodore Adams, III, features a repairman of antique typewriters who reminds people of the days when communications, social interactions, and relationships were tactile experiences.

Zoo (Volkershau), produced and directed by Monda Raquel Webb, is based on a gut-wrenching, true event at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, Belgium.

Harriet Tubman Monument, produced and directed by Cesar Gonzalez, is a tribute to Maryland native, Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and led more than a dozen missions to rescue enslaved people and take them to freedom through the Underground Railroad.

Saving San Domingo, produced and edited by Sandy Cannon-Brown, reveals a 200-year-old African-American community struggling to save its traditions and values.

Other independent film highlights in the virtual festival include: Heroes’ Honeymoon, Honey Bee, The Recess, Type Cast, Ball Side Middle (A Brooklyn Basketball Story), Chicago: America’s Hidden War, Sky So Blue, RUMBLE: The Indians who Rocked the World, The FriendliestTown, The Tower Road Bus and Under the Same Sky.

Now in its 14^th year, the mission of the Chesapeake Film Festival is to entertain, empower, educate and inspire diverse audiences of all ages by presenting exceptional independent films and events. We offer outstanding filmmakers, experienced and emerging, a forum to showcase and discuss stories of compelling interest to our local and global community. Because of our location on the Chesapeake Bay and our diverse population, we prioritize films that focus on the environment and social justice issues. The Festival also strives to be an economic engine for the Eastern Shore by enticing visitors to experience exceptional films, world-famous seafood, art, and the beauty of our waterways.

For more information, visit chesapeakefilmfestival.com or contact our Executive Director at 443-955-9144.

Remember the excitement of watching films on a big screen with surround sound in a darkened theater among other film lovers, and then discussing them with the filmmakers?  That intimate experience returns this fall as the Chesapeake Film Festival offers a wall-to-wall weekend of provocative, insightful and innovative films October 1 and 2 at Easton’s Avalon Theatre. Friday evening begins with a VIP reception for sponsors and donors followed by screenings and discussions of environmental films, including the world premiere of a new film by local favorites Tom Horton, Dave Harp and Sandy Cannon-Brown.  Saturday’s films feature two audience-pleasing narrative newcomers. Admission to Friday’s evening of environmental films and discussions is $25.  Admission for Saturday’s films is $15 each.

The remaining complement of the Chesapeake Film Festival’s lineup will be shown virtually October 3-10. The CFF is thrilled to bring these films to audiences free-of-charge, but donations to help offset cost is encouraged.

For the Live and Virtual Festival, nearly 60 films will be shown, including documentaries, animation, shorts, narratives, student films, Made in Maryland films, thrillers and environmental films.

The films to be screened at the Avalon are:

Water’s Way: Thinking Like a Watershed – A film by Sandy Cannon-Brown, Dave Harp and Tom Horton.

Every drop of rain that falls on 64,000 square miles heads one way, Bayward. And the Chesapeake, which appears so long and broad is, in context, just a smallish and shallow pool of water on the receiving end of everything 18 million people in six states and the District of Columbia do with the land, for good or ill. Controlling Bay pollution has achieved modest success in recent decades. But these technological solutions are pushing the limits of engineering and affordability. Alone they cannot achieve a healthy Bay. Further progress must come from the lands of the watershed, from better understanding what was Water’s Way when the Chesapeake basin and the Bay it feeds were clearer, cleaner, healthier. One source of hope: beavers. These furry rodents have a lot to teach us about preserving a healthy, diverse, rich ecosystem.

The Heat is On: Driving Climate Action for People and Nature — World Wildlife Fund.

This short documentary produced by Kelley Ashford and Irene Magafan focuses on WWF’s climate work shortly after the big global climate report was revealed from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change).  The film encourages individual activism to fight a universal challenge.

The narrative films on Saturday night, October 2 will be:

Minari – Directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

This critically-acclaimed film had its world premiere at Sundance in 2020 where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, received a Golden Globe and six Academy Award nominations, including winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The heartwarming story follows a Korean American family as they face the challenges of a new life in the Ozarks.

TESLA –Starring Ethan Hawke.
This freewheeling take on visionary inventor Nikola Tesla imagines his interactions with Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan’s daughter Anne while it follows his uphill battle to bring his revolutionary electrical system to the world. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020.

Among the films in CFF’sfree virtual festival include:

Fly Like a Girl – Documentary Feature– A young girl aspires to change the face of aviation. Fly Like a Girl is more than just a film. It’s a movement of young girls and women relentlessly pursuing their passion for aviation, a field dominated by men. From a lego-loving young girl who includes female pilots in her toy airplanes, to a courageous woman who helped lead shuttle missions to space, Fly Like a Girl shows us that women are in charge of their own destiny.

My Generation — Celebrate the ‘60s: The Decade that Changed the World starring Michael Caine – Documentary Feature — My Generation is a film directed by David Batty and presented by Michael Caine.  It follows the cultural revolution that occurred in 1960’s England and interviews various icons and key figures such a David Bailey, Roger Daltrey, Marianne Faithful, Paul McCartney, Mary Quant and Twiggy.

For more information, go to chesapeakefilmfestival.com, or call our Executive Director at 443-955-9144.