The 17th annual Utopia Film Festival took place here in Greenbelt town center on Saturday, November 20 through Monday, November 22. All 35 movies, with discussions afterward, screened at the Old Greenbelt Theatre or at the New Deal Café.
With in-person venues shuttered last year due to the pandemic, a shortened six-film festival was mounted entirely on Zoom. All were very good films, but many more had to be omitted when we reluctantly had to cancel the live show.
This year, with fingers crossed, the committee of dedicated volunteers began tentatively in March the process of assembling the festival, with scheduling beginning in May. In the weeks that followed we advertised, received and evaluated 76 films from 22 different countries. In typical years, we have received more than double that number.
Every year our enthusiasm builds around the excellent films we feel privileged to show. This year our hope was that the festival would not have to be shut down again due to Covid-19 and that people would feel comfortable coming out to see the films in person.
The venues for screening the movies were the Old Greenbelt Theatre and a second new great home, the back room of the New Deal Café, which has been beautifully renovated with a new UV air filtration system installed. Using blackout curtains, it became a good movie theater for our daytime shows. A brand-new projector, on back order for months, arrived just a few days before the festival. Scott Stark installed it and had all the technical needs solved in time for the opening screening Saturday at 10 a.m.
Once advanced ticket sales started, we breathed a bit easier when we found that the shows all had good-sized audiences. The weekend evening shows at the Café sold out.
A number of filmmakers, both local and from out-of-state, were present for the screening of their movies and to take questions from the audience. The question-and-answer part of the program is some of what makes film festivals so enjoyable.
The films were unique, non-commercial creations from people with compelling stories to tell. The hard work and skill to create these quality films were evident.
This year we were honored to screen an academy-award-nominated film, Feeling Through. The film is a short story of a young homeless man who helps a blind and deaf person. The actor performing the blind and deaf role, for the first time ever in film history, was an actual blind and deaf actor. The film was both beautifully made and heartwarming.
All of the 35 films were either educational, entertaining or both. Unmarked tells the story of neglected and forgotten African American cemeteries. The Rumba Kings, a film about using the power of music to fight colonial oppression, sold out two nights in a row at the Café. Who Cares About DC talks about the struggle for statehood for our next-door neighbors. These are just a few of the excellent films screened in November.
Susan Harris’s article in the News Review last week reviewed the Utopian Visions award-winning film Bicentennial Bonsai: Visions of Peace. This film and a few others will be shown again, some with a question-and-answer session, at the Old Greenbelt Theatre in January.
Some of the films will also be broadcast on the Greenbelt Access Television station. This week you can see Ecstasy and Death: Keats and Shelley in Rome, with question-and-answer highlights, on the GATe channel.
The eye-opening film from Myanmar, The Purple Thanaka of the Angels, made by a French filmmaker, presented stories of the harsh realities today in Myanmar. It ends with a plea – please help us. This film will be re-shown, sponsored by the festival, at an upcoming Reel and Meal at the New Deal.
The Utopia Film Festival, a production of Greenbelt Access Television, has the motto “Seeking a better world through film,” and sends proceeds from ticket sales for these screenings to UNICEF, an organization doing wonderful work with so many of the places and people we learn about in the films.
We are delighted to be able to continue this work and thank all the many volunteers who make it happen. Our gratitude goes out to our utopian community of Greenbelt who continue to come out and support the festival. We look forward to more repeat showings of this year’s festival and to the 18th annual Utopia Film Festival next year.
