Baltimore film fans, take note: the work of three Charm City filmmakers will be showcased this fall at the ninnth-annual film series at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
“Baltimore Reel: A Celebration of Films and Filmmakers” aims to highlight the richness and diversity of work coming from Charm City. St. Mary’s, Maryland’s honors college that is a two-hour drive from Baltimore, will feature films in documentary, animation, and narrative genres.
It kicks off this Monday with 12 O’Clock Boys, Lotfy Nathan’s 2013 documentary about the well-known group of Baltimore dirt bike riders and a young boy named Pug who wants to join their ranks.
The film series provides an opportunity for Nathan, a Maryland Institute College of Art alum, to gauge the reaction of an audience that is different from the viewers in Baltimore who first saw the film. He says it brought about discussions of whether the characters’ behavior was criminal, or if they should be considered members of a gang.
“There’s a certain mythology about the group, and the subject matter was polarizing within the city,” Nathan says. “But this is not a urban audience so it will be interesting to see what they think of it.”
The 12 O’Clock Boys, who have long ridden their bikes on Sunday evenings at Druid Hill Park, still make headlines, most recently as city officials discussed possibilities such as giving the group a dedicated place they can ride. Nathan supports that idea—“Why not try, you know?” he says.
Nathan will be at St. Mary’s for the screening, and a discussion of the film.
The film series runs through November 16, and also features works by Matthew Potterfield and Martha Colburn.