With a focus on safety, Greenbelt’s Utopia Film Festival returns for its 17th year on Saturday, November 20 through Monday, November 22. This year the festival will offer 35 independent films.
“This year’s festival has been significantly more challenging to plan,” said Utopia Executive Director Chris Haley, whose committee met online through Zoom to organize. “We had to consider Covid safety concerns. We want our filmmakers and patrons to be able to enjoy this year’s event and future ones also.”
Utopia 2021, a project of Greenbelt Access Television, will screen films at the Old Greenbelt Theatre (129 Centerway) and the New Deal Café (113 Centerway). Both venues will require masks, proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test and a photo ID. Seating is limited, so planners suggest purchasing tickets in advance through the festival website, utopiafilmfestival.org.
“One thing that didn’t change this year is the quality of the films we received,” added Haley. “The challenging subjects and technical skills many of our films exhibit is a testament to the equipment and expertise now more affordable for all levels of moviemakers despite limited budgets.”
Utopia 2021 will offer films from around the world that explore civil rights, human rights, historic preservation, LGBTQ issues, artists and artworks, the revolutionary era of poets Shelley and Keats, a militiaman’s mindset and assorted other compelling and timely subjects – like germs.
Beating Super Bugs: Can We Win? This is a film that investigates antibiotic-resistant bacteria, dangerous “super bugs” that threaten world health, according to the experts in this disturbing film.
Another important movie – Who Cares About DC? – examines the historic battle for congressional voting rights by District of Columbia residents and their leaders. Director Stephen Kolb will be on hand to take questions about his film, which features activists who continue to battle for fairness.
Several other films look at civil rights. A Date With History documents the 1955 arrest of a Black woman and a White man at a Miami, Fla., hotel for violating the city’s strict segregation laws. Unmarked, co-directed by Chris Haley, documents ongoing efforts to find and preserve unmarked African American burial sites scattered across the South. Haley will be on hand to take questions after the screening.
Sheer Qorma, an Indian film, explores belonging, acceptance, identity and family, as queer Muslim women and non-binary characters of color embrace tolerance and love.
The Militiaman takes place in the hills of rural Pennsylvania, where the leader of a local militia must prepare his men for the turbulent political landscape of 2020 while warring with his own conscience.
Utopia annually screens works that creatively explore the personal, social, political, cultural and environmental issues that challenge humanity’s never-ending quest for a better world. The event takes its name from Greenbelt’s historic New Deal origins as a community dedicated to “the uplift of the human spirit,” in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s words.
That spirit was reflected in 1975, when Japan gave 53 priceless bonsai trees to the United States in honor of the nation’s upcoming Bicentennial. One of this year’s most charming films, Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace, uses archival footage and interviews to tell this unusual and utopian story. Directors Paul Awad and Kathryn O’Sullivan will answer questions about their film.
For more festival information, trailers, synopses and ticket information, see utopiafilmfestival.org.
Susan Gervasi serves as deputy director of the nonprofit Utopia Film Festival, which has offered fine independent films to Greenbelt audiences since 2005.