Below is the list of screening for the 2001 Festival. You can click on the title to see a more complete description along with photos from the film.

AMERICAN CHAI (dir. Anurog Mehta)
Slamdance Audience Choice Award winner.  A funny, heartfelt, coming-of-age story about a young, first generation Indian-American college student who secretly majors in music while his immigrant parents think he’s graduating pre-med.

BAXTER (dir. Jérôme Boivin)
John Waters guest hosts a rare public screening of this 1988 French film about a serial killing bull terrier.

CHAIN CAMERA (dir. Kirby Dick)
Award-winning documentarian, Kirby Dick, handed out ten video cameras to ten students at ethnically diverse John Marshall High School in Los Angeles.  These students filmed their lives for a week and then passed on the cameras to ten other students, and so on.  This approach allows the students to tell their stories without the filter of the filmmaker, and the result is an honest portrayal of the lives of high school students today.

THE CONNECTION (dir. Steve Yeager)
A world premiere of award winning director Steve Yeager’s film adaptation of Jack Gelber’s late classic play about drug addiction. Originally performed on the stage by The Living Theatre, this is the second film adaptation, from Steve’s recent production at Villa Julie. 

COBB (dir. Ron Shelton)
As part of the MFF ongoing series of Critics’ Advocating for films that were overlooked, new Baltimore Sun critic Michael Sragow will host a special screening of Ron Shelton’s scabrous biography of baseball great Ty Cobb. The film’s editor, Paul Seydor, will also participate in the screening and show rare scenes that did not make the final cut, and explain why.

DAYDREAM BELIEVER (dir. Debra Eisenstadt)
Actress Debra Eisenstadt (OLEANNA, THE HEIDI CHRONICLES) served as a mostly one-person production crew to make this DV feature, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at Slamdance, where it had it’s premiere.  The age-old story of a small town girl who leaves home to try her luck as an actress in the big city.  With original music by Parasol Records recording artist, Jenifer Jackson who will perform at the festival.

DR. STRANGELOVE or: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
National Public Radio’s Scott Simon guest hosts a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classic Cold War black comedy, starring George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden and Slim Pickens, with Peter Sellers playing 3 separate characters.  A rare archival print will be shown.

FOUR DOGS PLAYING POKER (dir. Paul Rachman)
After four friends botch the delivery of a stolen piece of art, an art dealer gives them one week to come up with a million dollars or face death.  Their solution: take out million dollar life insurance policies on themselves and see who dies first.  Starring Tim Curry, Stacy Edwards, Balthazar Getty, and Olivia Williams.

GIRLS’ ROOM (dir. Irene Turner)
Two college roommates who couldn’t be more different try to get along in the last weeks of college.  Casey, played by Soleil Moon Frye (PUNKY BREWSTER), is rebellious and partakes in casual sex while Grace, played by Cat Taber, is the perfect Southern belle who is looking forward to her perfect wedding to Charlie, played by Wil Wheaton (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION).  As they get involved in each other’s lives for purposes of revenge, they learn about each other and themselves.

HAPPY MAN (dir. Malgorzata Szumowska)
The story of a thirty-year-old man who lives with his mother in tenement housing in Poland.  His life becomes complicated when his mother becomes ill at the same time that he meets a woman who attracts him.  This is the feature film debut of a recent graduate of the Film School in Łódź, Poland and student of legendary director Wojciech Has.

HYBRID (dir. Monteith McCollum)
Major award winner at Slamdance and South By Southwest.  With a blend of poetic cinematography, animation, and an evocative soundtrack, HYBRID is a documentary about Milford Beeghly, a 100-year old Iowa farmer, his troubled relations with his family and his life-long obsession with hybrid seed corn.

I REMEMBER ME (dir. Kim A. Snyder)
When filmmaker Kim A. Snyder was stricken with the debilitating illness, chronic fatigue syndrome, she set out to learn more about this baffling disease.  What she found was immense public misconception about the disease and doctors and researchers who are still grappling to determine a cause, much less an effective treatment.  She also gathers testimonials from dozens of individuals stricken with the disease, including director Blake Edwards (PINK PANTHER, 10) and Olympic Gold Medalist and Women’s World Cup Soccer star Michelle Akers whose career was cut short by the disease.

LIFT (dir. DeMane Davis & Khari Streeter)
From filmmakers DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter, this Sundance 2000 feature hit tells the story of a talented young woman (Kerry Washington) who works in high end retail most of the time, but who has a sizable business stealing or “boosting” name brand fashion items for her client base.  A real exploration of making one’s way in a world that covets $160 sneakers, LIFT was the first recipient of the Maryland Filmmakers Fellowship, and has won several writing awards since then.

MENTAL (dir. Tom Russell)
A group of patients from a mental institute are camped on a beach preparing for what they believe is the war on drugs.  Bill Nelson gives a dazzling performance as the leader of this ragtag military unit in a movie that is able to find comedy in these characters without becoming exploitative.  Mental is able to accomplish the difficult task of being both funny and poignant.

MR. SMITHEREEN GOES TO WASHINGTON (dir. Josh Tunick)
World Premiere screening of the documentary that covers Pat Dinizio’s (lead singer of the rock band The Smithereens) run for the U.S. Senate in New Jersey as the Reform Party candidate.  An intriguing look at the trials of a political outsider as he tries to run against the political establishment.  Dinizio will also perform during the festival.

MUTANT ALIENS (dir. Bill Plympton)
The latest feature from well-known & loved animator, Bill Plympton (THE TUNE, I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON).  After 20 years in space, a stranded astronaut returns to Earth, with his new extraterrestrial friends, seeking revenge against the government that stranded him.

THE OPPONENT (dir. Eugene Jarecki)
The story of a young woman who enters the world of boxing to take control of her life.  Erika Eleniak (BAYWATCH) gives a compelling performance in the lead role.

PLASTER CASTER (dir. Jessica Villines)
A documentary about Cynthia Plaster Caster, who for three and a half decades has made & collected plaster casts of male rock stars’ genitalia.

PORTRAIT OF JASON (dir. Shirley Clarke)
World Premiere of a newly restored print.  Late, experimental filmmaker, Shirley Clarke’s classic 1967 documentary about a street hustler.

RHYTHM N BAYOUS: A ROAD MAP TO LOUISIANA MUSIC (dir. Robert Mugge)
The latest from music-documentary filmmaker, Robert Mugge, explores the music of North and South Louisiana.

STARTUP.COM (dir. Chris Hegedus & Jehane Noujaim)
A documentary hit from this year’s Sundance film festival, this film traces the extraordinary path of two young entrepreneurs who go through all the crazy steps of starting and building a new Internet company, govworks.com, during the height of the recently deceased Internet explosion.  The film is from award winning filmmaker Chris Hegedus (THE WAR ROOM) and new filmmaker Jehain Noujaim.

SUN RA: A JOYFUL NOISE (dir. Robert Mugge)
Robert Mugge’s 1980, hour-long portrait of visionary artist Sun Ra and his avant garde jazz Arkestra. Partially filmed at Baltimore’s legendary Famous Ballroom (now the home of the expanded Charles Theater).

TWO UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHERS (dir. Kon Pet Moon)
Straight from Sundance, former U.M.B.C. film instructor, Kon Pet Moon (AKA Kon Petrochuk) returns to Maryland with this documentary about the search for information regarding two unknown photographers whose photos sat unclaimed years after being dropped off for processing at a San Francisco photo shop.

AN UNFINISHED SYMPHONY (dir. Bestor Cram & Mike Majaros)
Set primarily in Lexington, Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend, 1971, this documentary recounts Operation POW, a rally against the Vietnam War organized and led by Vietnam Veterans Against the War.  Henryk Gorecki’s 3^rd Symphony, the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, provides the sound track for this story of dissent, which includes footage from the protest and Vietnam Veteran John Kerry’s powerful testimony before Congress.

WHO IS BERNARD TAPIE? (dir. Marina Zenovich)
Fresh from its world premiere screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival, this documentary film chronicles one filmmaker’s attempt to explore the multi-faceted life of French business man/ sports entrepreneur/ entertainer/ politician Bernard Tapie.  Filmmaker Marina Zenovich is best known for the documentation of the world of independent filmmaking, INDEPENDENT’S DAY.

WILD BUNCH: AN ALBUM IN MONTAGE (dir. Paul Seydor)
An Academy Award nominated documentary about the making of Sam Peckinpah’s seminal work, The Wild Bunch. Carefully directed and featuring never before seen archival footage from Peckinpah’s Mexican set, this film explores the artistic process behind one of the most talked about Westerns ever.

REJECTED (dir. Don Hertzfeldt)
Nominated this year for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

MODERN DAYDREAMS (dir. Mitchell Rose)
The Maryland Film Festival World Premiered Rose’s short film, DEERE JOHN, last year, and here he further explores the theme of presenting dance in unique ways on film.

THE GOOD THINGS (dir. Seth Wiley)
BOUNDARIES (dir. Greg Durbin) - Grand Jury Award
THE ACCOUNTANT (dir. Ray McKinnon)
ME & THE BIG GUY (dir. Matt Nix)
WHITE FACE (dir. Brian McDonald) - Audience Award
BALLAD OF LITTLE ROGER MEAD (dir. Mark Carter) - Spirit of Slamdance Award
WARPLAY (dir. Bryan Lefler)
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (dir. Dylan Haggerty)
BEAN CAKE (dir. David Greenspan)
THE OLD MAN & THE GOBLINS (dir. Mark Caballero & Shamus Walsh) – Black and White Award
HERE (dir. Brendan Donovan)

BLACK MARIAH SHORTS PROGRAM w/John Columbus
KING OF THE JEWS Jay Rosenblatt
THE MOSCHOPS Jim Trainor
PIE FIGHT 69 Christian Bruno & Sam Green
OUT OF FIRE Luke Jaeger
GRAND CENTRAL Jeff Scher
OMEN Peter Rose
BRIDGE Mykola Kulish
PROOF OF THE WICKED FARLEYS Jeff Mott
THAT SPECIAL MONKEY Sean McBride

Other Shorts:
LA ALMA (dir. Lisa Moren)
MAKING EURPHORIA (dir. Lee Boot)
CLEAVE (dir. Hollie Lavenstein)
I WAS A STRIP CLUB VIRGIN (dir. Rachel Max)
BREAKFAST AT BEN’S (dir. Chuck Wilson)