The 7th Annual Ocean City Film Festival (OCFF) kicks off Thursday, March 2 and runs till Sunday, March 5. I've been working as a juror, helping to select titles that will screen during the event. There's over 50 films playing this year. The majority of which are short films. I've had the opportunity to view all of them. There are plenty of great choices. I want to share my personal list of favorites.
First, in full disclosure, I personally have a film of my own playing in the festival. It's screening on Thursday as part of the "Hassle Us, We're Local Showcase." My film is called Peer (2023) and this festival is essentially its world premiere, so this is also a shameless promotion. However, I want to put a spotlight on a host of other films that are amazing, starting with the opening night selection.
The opening night films are playing at 7 PM at the Performing Arts Center inside Ocean City's Convention Center. They include Hedgehog, written and directed by D. Mitry, a filmmaker born in the U.S.S.R. or Russia, and his film is about the war currently in Ukraine, but through the perspective of a six-year-old girl, living with her grandmother. What's notable is that the film was produced by Unscene Productions, the local video company, based in West Ocean City. The 17-minute short was shot in Mariner's Country Down in Berlin, Maryland, which was featured in a documentary by Unscene Productions called Reggie's Forest (2020).
Other than those opening night selections, my top ten list is exclusively of short films throughout the 4-day event. There are a handful of feature films, anything over an hour, that's going to be screening at the festival. One such is Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (2023). I did not consider those films for this list. Each title on my top ten list is playing with other, thematically-related, short films in a showcase. I will indicate in my write-up which showcase has the short film. Here's my top ten:
10. THE RELENTLESS ONE by M. Douglas Silverstein is playing during the "Resilient Women Showcase" on Friday, March 3 at 2:30 PM in Nick's restaurant. It's about Kathleen Black, a real estate agent and motivational speaker, the daughter to two firefighters, who tells her story of growing up in an abusive home, her struggles with her mother and how she overcame it all.
9. BIG BOY by Michael Strassner is playing during the "Sex, Love, Romance, & Intimacy Showcase" on Saturday, March 4 at 4 PM in Ocean Downs Casino. It's about a hefty young man who goes to the home of an aging, sex worker named Madam Claire (Brett Paesel) for an afternoon delight. Things don’t go according to plan. Strassner who stars in this short had a film called Grace (2021) that won an award at the 5th Annual OCFF.
8. UP AND DOWN by Luke Masella is playing during the "Perseverance Showcase" on Saturday, March 4 at 8 PM at Flagship Cinemas. It's about a weightlifter with a limp (Aaron Latta-Morissette) who graduated but who is still working out at his old high school. He becomes obsessed with getting bigger and bench pressing the most he can, as he reveals his inner torment and insecurity. Latta-Morissette was the star of a short film called The Night Clubbers (2021) that won an award at the 6th Annual OCFF.
7. IN A FUNK by Rob Simmons is playing during the "Comedy Showcase" on Friday, March 3 at 12:30 PM at Seacrets Morley Hall. It's an experimental short, which includes music video elements, focusing on a man’s daily routine, the tedium or frustration of life in the modern era. A lot of it revolves around his job, which has him staring at a computer screen all day in a Groundhog Day repetition that perhaps drives him to mania.
6. WALKING TOWARD PEACE: TRAVIS JOHNSTON'S STORY by Davis Holliday & Clark Stefanic is playing during the "Veteran Showcase." Based on the book by Cindy Ross, a veteran from the War in Afghanistan, an Army Ranger, embraces traveling the Appalachian Trail after a fellow soldier commits suicide. He recounts a harrowing incident of friendly fire that haunted both of them and still haunts him to today.
5. A DREAMER'S SEARCH by Eric Downs is playing during the "Between Worlds Showcase" on Saturday, March 4 at 2 PM at Flagship Cinemas. It's a biopic of artist and writer, Rockwell Kent (Bradford James Jackson), in 1918 after he left New York City to go to Alaska with his son. They lived in a cabin in the woods, next to a lake. It's a beautiful, gentle and subtle depiction of an artist attempting to be in tune with nature.
4. GUT SOUP by Andrew Harper is playing during the "Maritime Life Showcase" on Friday, March 3 at Noon at Nick's restaurant. It's about a 3 million-gallon tank built in Wicomico County, Maryland, within a mile of some 50 homes, that's storing industrial waste. The risks to the health of neighboring residents and to air, land, and water quality are explored in this amazing exposé.
3. STEALING BREAD by William D. Ashton is playing during the "Outsiders Showcase" on Friday, March 3 at 10:30AM at Seacrets Morley Hall. It's a modern day, black-and-white look at life on DC’s streets, hearing from various Black men commenting on the political and legal system. Johnny (Paris Jackson) rides around on a bike and survives through drug dealing. His travels reveal the homelessness and poverty plaguing the city. If one is a fan of HBO's The Wire, you're sure to key into this.
2. ROCCO UP by John Madere is playing during the "Maritime Life Showcase" on Friday, March 3 at Noon at Nick's restaurant. Set in Montauk, Long Island, New York, Ben Intonato and his wife Sara Intonato tell the story of their son, Rocco who is autistic. They talk about how surfing was used to overcome some struggles and inspire them in ways they didn’t expect.
1. HOURGLASS by Caitlyn Dorrer is playing Sunday, March 5 at 10 AM at Flagship Cinemas. It's about Dylan (Jared Koenig) who is working for the summer, saving up to buy a film camera. His plans change when his ex-girlfriend, Allison (Elizabeth Henson) returns to Salisbury after being away for college. It's an unpretentious and non gimmick, romantic comedy that taps into modern-day relationships, while also feeling a bit timeless.
For more showtimes and tickets, go to the Ocean City Film Festival website.
For more movie and TV reviews, go to The M Report on WBOC.
