Beginning Thursday, October 3, the Chesapeake Film Festival will present a week-long extravaganza of outstanding cinema to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Subjects include a pro baseball player turned World War II spy; nine teens vying for the world title of best young scientist; the Apollo 11 voyage with never-before-seen footage and endangered species in the oceans and on land.

In all, the Festival will offer 62 extraordinary films, discussions led by the filmmakers and experts on the topics illuminated by the films, and opportunities to participate, network and socialize.

The festival opens with a star-studded evening at the historic Avalon Theatre in Easton and kicks off with The Cold Blue, Catherine Wyler’s tribute to her father and the heroic airmen of WWII.  Wyler, the daughter of legendary film director William Wyler will be present for a Q & A following the screening.  After a gourmet reception the evening continues with the Maryland premiere of The Spy Behind Home Plate, directed by Aviva Kempner who will be present to discuss her new film with the audience.  The Spy Behind Home Plate tells the story of Moe Berg, a major league baseball player and his secret life as a spy for the OSS during WWII.

“There is a tremendous ethos surrounding the Sundance Film Festival and it’s there for a reason”, said Cid Collins Walker, the artistic director for the festival. “The experience is so intense, so raw in terms of the power of the storytelling that takes place there each year.  This year while scouting films I was able to procure six of Sundance’s finest films for the Chesapeake Film Festival.” Several of those films include the elucidating Bedlam directed by Kenneth Paul Rosenberg about the mental health crisis currently taking place in urban America, the modern narrative thriller Light from Light, directed by Paul Harrill where single mom Shelia, gifted with prophetic dreams, moonlights as a paranormal investigator, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller that takes you straight to the heart of this intense scientific and human endeavor, sharing the atmosphere and action around the final moments of the preparation, liftoff, landing and return of the famed moon-landing mission. Sea of Shadows, directed by Richard Landkani gives us an up-close encounter with Mexican drug cartels that have discovered the “cocaine of the sea,” a valuable fish called the totaba—which is at the center of a multimillion-dollar business with the Chinese Mafia executive produced by Leonardo di Caprio. And Tigerland which illustrates how shifting political realities in Russia and India created a lucrative poaching underworld that decimated the tiger population. Tigerland is directed by Academy Award winner Ross Kaufman who will be in attendance at the festival to answer questions from the audience about his new film.

Environmental films highlight the festival starting Friday evening, October 4 at the Avalon Theatre in Easton with a series of films about the Chesapeake Bay.  The lineup includes premieres of new short works by festival favorites Tom Horton, Dave Harp and Sandy Cannon-Brown.  On Sunday, October 6, the Festival will present a full day of environmental films at Gallery 447 in Cambridge including the festival favorite feature-length film The Tale of the Tongs with screenings of Sharkwater: Extinction and The Human Element later in the day.

On Wednesday, October 9 the Chesapeake Film Festival and the Oxford Community Center team up with Candle Light Cove and other corporate and non-profit sponsors to present, Art to Remember, about Mental Health and Dementia Awareness.  A breakfast reception will open the day at 8:30am followed by the Irish animated short Late Afternoon. The feature-length film Away from Her starring Julie Christie will screen at 10:30. Following a lunch reception and panel discussion at 12:30pm also at the Oxford Community Center, the 2014 Sundance Audience Award-winning film, Alive Inside will screen at 2pm.

Closing the festival this year on Thursday, October 10 at 1pm at the Easton Premier Cinema will be festival favorite, The Bonobo Connection, directed by Irene Magafan.  The festival will close this year with the beautiful and light-hearted film Swing Away starring John O’Hurley.  Executive producer George Stephanopoulos and writer Paul Lingas of Swing Away will be in attendance to answer any questions the audience may have about this humorous feature-length film.

The Chesapeake Film Festival is generously supported by the Maryland Film Office, Maryland State Arts Council, Talbot County Arts Council, Talbot County Department of Tourism and Exelon. The Chesapeake Film Festival’s Media Sponsors include WRNR Radio, Attraction Magazine, WCEI Radio, What’s Up Media, MPT, Talbot Spy, Shore Home and Garden, Talbot Guide, Tidewater Times, Discover Easton, WBOC TV, Delmarva Public Radio, Talbot County Chamber of Commerce, WYPR and APG Chesapeake.

Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

Tickets will be available for purchase in August on chesapeakefilmfestival.com.  Individual tickets for Adults (18 and up) are $12. Individual Tickets for Youth (under 18) and Seniors (55 and up) are $10.  Festival Passes that can also be purchased online are $140.  Opening Day Passes for two films and a gourmet reception are $40.

Please note: the schedule of films is subject to change.

On Saturday, August 3, 2019, the Chesapeake Film Festival celebrates “Heroes” at a fundraising gala at the Talbot Country Club in Easton, Maryland.

Honorees include four stellar filmmakers: Catherine Wyler, Aviva Kempner and Easton’s Holly and Paul Fine.  In addition to these distinguished filmmakers, the gala will honor the heroes of their films in the Chesapeake Film Festival (Oct. 3-10) and heroes in our community. Stay tuned for the announcement of the community heroes!

Catherine Wyler, daughter of the legendary director William Wyler, pays tribute to her father and the airmen of WWII in The Cold Blue. The film, directed by Erik Nelson, is constructed from digitally-enhanced footage captured by Wyler and his cameramen on the B-17 bomber, the Memphis Belle, during missions over Germany in 1943. The documentary succeeds Memphis Belle, a feature film Catherine produced for Warner Bros. in 1990. Her other credits include Directed by William Wyler and Witness to Hope: The Life of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. Catherine was a Senior Vice President at Columbia Pictures, Director of Cultural and Children’s Programming at PBS, and played a key role at the National Endowment for the Arts in the creation of The Sundance Institute and other media organizations.

Aviva Kempner’s 2019 film, The Spy Behind Home Plate tells the real story of Moe Berg, major league baseball player turned spy during WWII. Once again focusing on a little-known Jewish hero, Aviva follows Berg from the streets of Newark to major league baseball to his secret life of spying for the OSS during WWII.  A child of a Holocaust survivor, Aviva was born in Berlin after WWII. Her family history inspired her to produce her first documentary, Partisans of Vilna, a gripping story of Jewish resistance to the Nazis.  Later films include Peabody Award-winning The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, the first Jewish baseball star in the Major Leagues; Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg about Gertrude Berg, who received the first Best Actress Emmy in history; and Rosenwald, about businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald who partnered with Booker T. Washington to build 5,000 schools for African American communities in the Jim Crow south.

With 40 years of experience, four Peabody Awards, over 80 Emmys Awards and the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Holly and Paul Fine are among the most respected producers/directors of television documentaries. The Easton couple had a long and illustrious career with 60 Minutes and a special relationship with fearsome newsman Mike Wallace.  They will share stories about Wallace following the festival screening of a documentary about Wallace that premiered at Sundance this year. In addition to their work with 60 Minutes, Holly and Paul produced many TV specials for CBS, including In the Killing Fields of America, and specials for 20/20, and Nightline at ABC.  Their son, Sean, and his wife Andrea earned two Academy Award nominations, and one Oscar for their documentary Inocente.

The gala will feature an award-winning three course meal with a signature dessert by celebrity chef Steve Konopelski of Turnbridge Point.

To request an invitation, please go to chesapeakefilmfestival.com and click on “Send a CFF Gala Invitation!”

The Chesapeake Film Festival is proud to honor four Eastern Shore residents who personify the spirit and accomplishments of the heroes in three films in the 2019 Festival in October. They join four previously-announced filmmakers as 2019 Festival Heroes. The awards will be presented at the Chesapeake Film Festival Gala Aug. 3 in Easton.

Rear Admiral Sara Joyner of Hoopers Island represents the courage and commitment of the airmen in The Cold Blue who flew bombing missions over Germany in 1943.  The Executive Producer of The Cold Blue, Catherine Wyler, also will be honored at the gala. The film, directed by Erik Nelson, is constructed with digitally-enhanced footage captured by Catherine’s father, legendary director William Wyler, who flew missions with the airmen on the B-17 bomber, the Memphis Belle. The Cold Blue succeeds The Memphis Belle, a feature film Catherine produced for Warner Bros. in 1990 based on her father’s wartime documentary of the same name.

Rear Admiral Joyner established her place in naval history as the first woman to command a Strike Fighter Squadron and as the first female commander of a Carrier Air Wing. Since then, she has held numerous other leadership positions in the Navy, including her present position as director for Manpower and Personnel on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon.

Lesley and Fred Israel of Easton will be recognized along with filmmaker Aviva Kempner whose film, The Spy Behind Home Plate, focuses on Moe Berg, a baseball player turned spy during WWII. Aviva, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, has produced numerous award-winning films with Jewish heroes, including the Peabody Award-winning The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, the first Jewish baseball player in the Major League.

The Israels were honorary chairs of the capital campaign for Temple B’Nai Israel and recently received the Temple’s first humanitarian award. Lesley, a political consultant, was a national officer of the Anti-defamation League and remains on the board of Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli based charity which does open-heart surgery on children from third-world countries. On the Eastern Shore, she chaired the boards of Talbot Humane and the Avalon Foundation. Fred, a retired lawyer, chaired the board of the Temple and served on the board of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.

Paul Berry of Easton, one of Washington’s most experienced and respected journalists, shares his award with Holly and Paul Fine.  With more than 40 years of experience and the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Fines are among the most esteemed producers/directors of television documentaries. The Easton couple had a long and illustrious career with Mike Wallace, the subject of a film screening in the 2019 Festival.

Paul anchored three newscasts each weekday for WJLA, DC’s ABC affiliate, where the Fines worked early in their career.  Among his many accomplishments, Paul established two WJLA public service programs, Crime Solvers and Seven on Your Side. He now supports Eastern Shore communities through his affiliations with Talbot Mentors, the YMCA, and the Chesapeake Chapter of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was appointed by three governors as a commissioner for Maryland Public Television, most recently by Larry Hogan.

To request an invitation to the Chesapeake Film Festival gala at the Talbot Country Club on Aug. 3, please visit chesapeakefilmfestival.com.  Tickets are $125.  $60 of the ticket price is tax deductible.

On Thursday, October 3, 2019, the Chesapeake Film Festival kicks off a week-long festival of independent films that celebrate heroes on the screen and behind the scenes.

Starting on Thursday, October 3 at the newly renovated Avalon Theatre, the Chesapeake Film Festival will present The Cold Blue followed by a gourmet reception and ending with The Spy Behind Home Plate. 

Aviva Kempner’s 2019 film, The Spy Behind Home Plate tells the real story of Moe Berg, major league baseball player turned spy during WWII. Once again focusing on a little-known Jewish hero, Aviva follows Berg from the streets of Newark to major league baseball to his secret life of spying for the OSS during WWII.

Catherine Wyler, daughter of the legendary director William Wyler, pays tribute to her father and the airmen of WWII in The Cold Blue. The film, directed by Erik Nelson, is constructed from digitally-enhanced footage captured by Wyler and his cameramen on the B-17 bomber, the Memphis Belle, during missions over Germany in 1943.  Both filmmakers Catherine Wyler and Aviva Kempner will be on hand to discuss their films with the audience.

On October 4, the festival focuses on the Chesapeake Bay. The evening event starts with a reception at the Eastern Shore Conservation Center and moves to the Avalon. The warm-up act includes two student films: Effects of Rising Water in Annapolis and Chesapeake Bay Report.  The main act is a series of new short films about the heroes of the Eastern Shore rivers by Dave Harp and Sandy Cannon-Brown.  A panel discussion caps the evening.

Six films are coming to the festival in October directly from the Sundance Film Festival this year that include the magnificent and suspenseful Light from Light directed by Paul Harrill, Bedlam, directed by Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, Sea of Shadows, directed by Richard Ladkani, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller, Tigerland, directed by Ross Kauffman and an important film about the life and work of the late Mike Wallace of 60 minutes.

The environmental focus continues throughout the festival, with a full day of environmental films at Gallery 447 in Cambridge on Sunday, October 6. The lineup includes Tale of the Tongs directed by Judy & Stanley Hallet about an architectural installation on the island of Inishturk in Ireland. Another feature is the thrilling and inspiring action-packed journey that follows filmmaker Rob Stewart as he exposes the massive illegal shark fin industry and the political corruption behind it in Sharkwater: Extinction.  The finale of the day is The Human Element, which begins with a visit to Tangier Island where rising tides and erosion threaten the future of this Chesapeake Bay island. Panel discussions enhance all screenings.

We have introduced an important new series in the festival line-up this year called “Festival Favorites”, as we honor returning films that our audiences have loved the most including, Into the Okavango, The Gardener, Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, Saving Sea Turtles: Preventing Extinction and Wild Ponies of Chincoteague and the wonderful film Swing Away which will close the festival this year.

An entire day of films and events will be dedicated to the issues of Mental Health & Aging with presenting partners of the Oxford Community Center featuring films exploring both dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Those film titles include Late Afternoon, Away From Her, Iris and Alive Inside.

The Chesapeake Film Festival is generously supported by the Maryland Film Office, Maryland State Arts Council, Talbot County Arts Council, Talbot County Department of Tourism and Exelon Corporation.

Please visit us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or on chesapeakefilmfestival.com for ticketing and information about events and films.  We look forward to seeing you in October!

The schedule of films is subject to change.

The riveting, award-winning documentary, Moving Stories, screens Saturday, May 11 at 3 p.m. at the Talbot County Free Library, 100 W. Dover St., Easton, MD.

Moving Stories follows Battery Dance’s troupe in India, Romania, Korea, and Iraq as the professional dancers teach tools of choreography to at-risk youth through the Dancing to Connect program. The film captures the struggle, frustration, determination, and transformation of both teachers and students, who have just one week to prepare for a final performance.

The film, by Cornelia Ravenal, Mikael Södersten, Rob Fruchtman, and Wendy Sax, won the Best Documentary Award at the Chesapeake Film Festival in 2018. It premiered at the New York Museum of Modern Art last year.

Two of the filmmakers, Cornelia Ravenal and Mikael Södersten, will participate in a Q&A and a short reception in the Frederick Douglass Room following the screening. The event is free, but seating is limited. To reserve tickets for this event, go to Moving Stories on chesapeakefilmfestival.com and click on “Register.”

As a journalist and cultural critic, Cornelia Ravenal has written for the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Post and India Today.  As a scriptwriter, she has been recognized three times by The Writers Lab funded by Meryl Streep.  She has a B.A. in English from Harvard University.  She was a producer of the NY Times Critics Pick Nirbhaya off-Broadway and has won 5 Best Awards at more than 25 film festivals. As founder of WIP (Women Independent Producers), she’s an activist for women in the industry.

Mikael Södersten is a filmmaker, producer, screenwriter, and script doctor for Sweden’s leading producers and television networks. As a scriptwriter, he co-wrote the Swedish film I Love You (2016) and the upcoming mini-series Raoul Wallenberg. As a script consultant, he’s developed over 70 projects, including Grand Jury Prizewinners at Tribeca (Let The Right One In) and Sundance (King Of Ping Pong). He majored in film at Harvard and studied film theory at Stockholm University. He’s taught story structure at the Swedish Royal Academy of Fine Arts and currently teaches Directing Actors at Columbia University’s Graduate Film Program.

This event serves as a “thank you to our audience” from the CFF and an opportunity to learn how to volunteer at our exciting festival which will take place from October 3 to October 10, 2019. If you have any questions, please contact our Festival Office at 410-822-3500.

The Chesapeake Film Festival will screen the riveting, award winning documentary, Moving Stories, on Saturday, May 11, at 3:00 p.m. at the Talbot County Free Library, 100 W. Dover St. in Easton.

Moving Stories follows Battery Dance’s troupe in India, Romania, Korea, and Iraq as the professional dancers teach tools of choreography to at-risk youth through the Dancing to Connect program. The film captures the struggle, frustration, determination, and transformation of both teachers and students, who have just one week to prepare for a final performance.

The film, by Cornelia Ravenal, Mikael Södersten, Rob Fruchtman, and Wendy Sax, premiered at the New York Museum of Modern Art last year and won the Best Documentary Award at the Chesapeake Film Festival in 2018.

Two of the filmmakers, Cornelia Ravenal and Mikael Södersten, will participate in a Question and Answer session after a short reception in the Frederick Douglass Room following the screening. The event is free but seating is limited. To reserve tickets for this event, go to Moving Stories on chesapeakefilmfestival.com and click on “Register.”

As a journalist and cultural critic, Cornelia Ravenal has a B.A. in English from Harvard University and has written for the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Post and India Today. As a scriptwriter, she has been recognized three times by The Writers Lab funded by Meryl Streep. She was a producer of the NY Times Critics Pick Nirbhaya off-Broadway and has won five Best Awards at more than twenty-five film festivals. As founder of WIP (Women Independent Producers), she is a prominent activist for women in the film industry.

Mikael Södersten is a filmmaker, producer, screenwriter, and script doctor for Sweden’s leading producers and television networks. As a scriptwriter, he co-wrote the Swedish film I Love You (2016) and the upcoming mini-series Raoul Wallenberg. As a script consultant, he has developed over seventy projects, including Grand Jury Prizewinners at Tribeca (Let The Right One In) and Sundance (King Of Ping Pong). He majored in film at Harvard and studied film theory at Stockholm University. He has taught story structure at the Swedish Royal Academy of Fine Arts and currently teaches Directing Actors at Columbia University’s Graduate Film Program.

This event serves both as a “thank you to our audience” from the Chesapeake Film Festival and an opportunity for attendees to learn how to volunteer at our exciting festival which will take place from October 3 to October 10, 2019. For further information please contact the Festival Office at 410-822-3500.

In August, Pope Francis declared the death penalty wrong. His edict challenged Catholics who have argued that their church accepted capital punishment in some cases. As efforts to overturn capital punishment continue in the United States, people of all faiths are questioning their deepest beliefs about justice.

This debate over the death penalty is the focus of a powerful new documentary, In the Executioner’s Shadow. This profound film premieres in Maryland during the Chesapeake Film Festival at the Avalon Theatre in Easton on Friday, October 12 at 8 p.m. and at Cambridge Premier Cinemas in Easton on October 13 at 1 p.m. For tickets and more information, go to chesapeakefilmfestival.com.

The film, co-produced by American University School of Communication professors Maggie Burnette Stogner and Rick Stack, casts a penetrating look at the consequences of the death penalty through three powerful stories: the rare perspective of a former state executioner who comes within days of executing an innocent person; a Boston Marathon bombing victim who struggles to decide what justice really means; and the parents of a murder victim who choose to fight for the life of their daughter’s killer.

Each screening will be followed by a panel and Q&A with Maggie Burnette Stogner and Rick Stack. They will be accompanied by Jerry Givens, retired Virginia executioner; Vicki Shieber, mother of a murder victim; and Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Featuring a record 48 films from around the world, the 11th annual Chesapeake Film Festival promises an unprecedented celebration of films and filmmakers. Travel around our own Chesapeake Bay, through the gardens of Europe, the deltas of Africa, and the heart of American communities to witness the universal spirit of our planet.

October 11 – 14, 2018

Easton, St. Michaels and Cambridge, MD

Ticket sales on www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com

Join thousands of film lovers on Maryland’s scenic Eastern Shore this October at the Chesapeake Film Festival (CFF), where great stories begin. Our historic Maryland venues include the Avalon Theatre and the Academy Art Museum in Easton; the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels; and the Cambridge Premier Cinemas and the Dorchester Center for the Arts in Cambridge.

From Thursday, October 11 through Sunday, October 14, audiences will delight in the magic of extraordinary films, meet the filmmakers, participate in lively discussions, and enjoy receptions and events created to enhance the Festival experience.

The CFF 2018 has something for everyone: A festive opening night about – and with – food; investigations into pressing social issues; virtual visits to amazing spaces; up-close and personal profiles of icons of cinema; creative short films and animations, and much more.

Opening Night Extravaganza

New Chefs on the Block, “a foodie sensation,” opens the Festival on Thursday, October 11.  Two chefs in Washington, DC struggle to open and maintain their first restaurants. Against all odds, one becomes Bon Appetit Magazine’s Best New Restaurant in America. The other is forced to redefine success.  The film, directed by Dustin Harrison-Atlas, stars Aaron Silverman of Rose’s Luxury and Frank Linn of Frankly…Pizza with cameos by legendary chefs and restaurateurs Danny Meyer (Shake Shack, Union Square Café), Mike Isabella (Bravo “Top Chef” Allstar), and Washington Post food writer Tim Carman.

To complement the cinematic portrait of chefs, the Chesapeake Film Festival will host an all-star reception with local gourmet chefs at the Academy Art Museum before the screening at the Avalon.  Businesses providing delectable hors d’oeuvres and desserts include Gourmet by the Bay, The Wylder Hotel, Stars Restaurant from the Inn at Perry Cabin, Limoncello Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar, The Bistro St. Michaels and Flying Fork Catering.

Fabulous Friday

Friday at the Avalon begins with an amazing clay-on-glass animation, The Elephant’s Song, directed by local artist Lynn Tomlinson.  From the animated short, the festival moves to a stunning feature-length documentary, Into the Okavango that tells the story of a NATGEO expedition to Botswana with a mission to help preserve the delta, all the animals and land surrounding it, and people who reside there.

The finale of the day, In the Executioner’s Shadow, casts a penetrating look at the consequences of the death penalty through three powerful stories, including the rare perspective of a former state executioner who comes within days of executing an innocent person. This powerful film will be screened again Saturday at the Cambridge Premier Cinema. The filmmakers and the subjects of the film will lead discussions after the screenings.

Making Waves at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

The Chesapeake Bay is the focus of a full day of environmental filmmaking curated by filmmaker Sandy Cannon-Brown on Saturday, October 13 at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM). The day concludes with the premiere of a new film by Tom Horton, Dave Harp and Cannon-Brown, An Island Out of Time, about Smith Island, MD.  The icing on the cake, figuratively and literally, is a reception with Maryland’s state dessert, the Smith Island multi-layer cake.

The environmental program also includes a double feature of films by Roger Sorkin and the American Resilience Project, including the East-Coast premiere of a new film about the transformation of America’s electric grid, Current Revolution. The other film, Tidewater, looks at the ravages of climate change, sea level rise and erosion on the military installations in the Tidewater area of Virginia.

The CBMM line-up also includes a sneak preview of a short film by Cannon-Brown, Edna E. Lockwood: Bottoms Up! about the three-year restoration of an 1889 nine-log bugeye in the museum’s shipyard.  Edna will officially relaunch two weeks after the Chesapeake Film Festival, during CBMM’s October 27 Oysterfest.

Saturday in Easton at the Avalon and Academy Art Museum…

The mix of stories at the Avalon Theatre and Academy Art Museum in Easton on Saturday, October 13, is sure to provide everyone with subjects of interest.

Features at the Avalon: Boko Haram: Journey from Evil, which goes beyond the headlines to profile the heroic efforts of everyday Nigerians to stand up against the terrorist group, which has killed, kidnapped and displaced millions of people. Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf is a gorgeous, meditative documentary that immerses viewers in the work of a revolutionary landscape designer. Moving Stories brings us six dancers from an acclaimed NY company who travel the world to work with youth who’ve experienced war, poverty, sexual exploitation, extreme prejudice and severe trauma as refugees. Cinephiles will appreciate Searching for Ingmar Bergman, an intimate profile of a director who is considered one of the most important filmmakers of all times.

At the Academy Art Museum:  Two programs of shorts bookend the documentary feature Saving Sea Turtles.  Narrated by renowned marine scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle, this enchanting – yet disturbing – documentary highlights the work that is being done to save a species from extinction. The exciting line-up of shorts includes Riverment by Shayla Racquel, a government employee by day and award-winning student filmmaker by night.  Her film is the story of a former civil rights activist who fears for the safety of her granddaughter who is following in her footsteps. In Othello San a young African-American actor is cast as the lead in Shakespeare’s Othello at a prestigious theater school in Japan.  His dreams of stardom are tempered by an intemperate instructor.

…and at the Dorchester Center for the Arts and Cambridge Premier Cinemas

The Chesapeake Film Festival is honored to add the Dorchester Center for the Arts as partner in the 2018 Festival.  The evening feature of Moving Stories provides a second venue for lovers of dance. The afternoon selections include a series of shorts and a gripping feature, The Sentence focusing on social justice.  Shorts include Othello San and Jabari Keating, a candid, first-person narrative that explores his personal reflections about life as an African-American in America today.

The intense documentary, In the Executioner’s Shadow, which screens Friday in Easton, comes to the Cambridge Premier Cinemas Saturday afternoon.  Lighter fare continues throughout the day with Up to Snuff, about American musician and composer W. G. Snuffy Walden. If you don’t the name, you know his music from such TV shows as The West Wing, The Wonder Years and Thirty something. A fascinating subject is featured with Poured in Pennsylvania about the redeveloped beer industry and its impact in Pennsylvania. And there’s Five Days in August which follows two teams competing in the world’s largest and richest billfish tournament—The White Marlin Open in Ocean City.

Sunday Specials

The Chesapeake Film Festival continues through Sunday in Easton and Cambridge. Highlights include I, Matter, produced by Festival board member Alexis Nichols and directed by its brave star, Llysa Rie who will share her story of living with AIDS on screen and on stage at the Academy Art Museum.

Beauty and brains are the subjects of two very different films at the Avalon. The afternoon begins with The Gardener, a walk through the gardens of Les Quatre Vents with influential gardener and horticulturalist Frank Cabot.  The closing night film tells a story that sounds like fiction, but isn’t. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is about the astounding, but little-known, talents of a Hollywood bombshell off-screen. Lamarr helped develop a secret radio system that would allow the Allies to torpedo Nazi U-Boats with deadly accuracy. The nephew of her partner in the invention, musician George Antheil, will share anecdotes with the audience after the film.  An awards ceremony and reception closes out the Festival.

This schedule is subject to change. For more information and tickets, visit chesapeakefilmfestival.com.