Preview: New/Next Festival at the Charles Theatre on Oct. 1-4

Next week, Baltimore’s oldest cinema, the Charles Theatre, will introduce audiences to the newest voices in film during the New/Next Festival. This year marks the festival’s fourth annual installment, premiering shorts and features from some of cinema’s brightest minds. Years past have included the Baltimore premiere of Conner O’Malley’s Rap World, as well as the world premiere of Alexi Wasser’s debut feature, Messy. This year’s lineup promises to be just as impactful, opening with Marnie Ellen Hertzler’s documentary Eternity One (scored by Baltimore’s own Beach House), and closing with Alexandre Rockwell’s The Projectionist, followed by a live Q&A with Rockwell and the cast. In between, films such as the newest entry in Louise Weard’s “Castration Movie” series and Riptides by Alex Karpovsky will be screened, as well as restorations of Henry Jaglom’s Sitting Ducks and Allen Moore and Jack Shea’s The Shepherds of Berneray. If that’s not enough, the festival also boasts over 100 shorts, screened as collections of films that follow specific themes, such as “Experimental Forms” and “Love and Lust.” If you have any interest in cinema, be sure to check out New/Next Festival from October 1st through 4th, either to catch your favorite auteur’s newest work or to be introduced to your new favorite director.

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Maxine Messina is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She’s excited to be attending her first film festival, and is not gonna shut up about it.