When filmmakers Lee Anderson and Patti White decided to create the Annapolis Film Festival, they had a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve. Years of attending regional and international festivals from Palm Springs to Toronto had convinced them there was just one way to get there: “It was go big or go home,” Anderson recalls.
Now, 13 years later, their project is one of the most anticipated events on the spring arts calendar. The four-day festival, scheduled for March 27–30, is a cinematic smorgasbord, screening more than 70 new narrative, documentary, and short films at four Annapolis venues. The showings are surrounded by a full complement of panel discussions, Q&As, appearances by artists and industry reps, and plenty of parties. The buzz extends across the Annapolis Arts District, as hundreds of film lovers find a community of like-minded friends to share critiques and discuss their favorites.
“Wherever we went, we’d see how people were enlightened and educated by film,” White explains. “We knew we wanted to be inclusive in our programming and welcome all kinds of audiences—blended audiences—to build that sense of community.”
Director Rob Reiner at a past AFF
With that in mind, Anderson and White structured the Festival around six themes they felt were specific to the Annapolis region: Sailing, Environment, the Black Experience, the Latin Experience, the Faith Experience, and the Jewish Experience. Nearly all the films on the schedule touch on one of these categories, and most are new releases, screened here three to six months before they hit theaters.
“This year, one of our feature films is Been Here, Stay Here, which explores five generations of families trying to adapt to changing conditions on Tangier Island,” Anderson says. The struggling Chesapeake Bay hamlet is an example of the real-life effects of a changing climate, where watermen struggle to maintain their traditional ways of life. Lilly, starring Patricia Clarkson, tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, an activist who challenged pay discrimination by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Checkpoint Zoo tracks the efforts of staff at the Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to rescue thousands of animals lost or trapped amid the Russian invasion of the country. It won the audience prize at the Tribeca Film Festival.
A line-up this varied gives the Festival the chance to “push the envelope a little,” offering audiences new perspectives on contemporary issues. Anderson and White say that the most gratifying moments of their work come when a screening is over and people turn to share their impressions with each other, striking up conversations with strangers. “You can see the way that these films create a shared experience, actually moving the needle in peoples’ lives,” White notes.
Short films have always had pride of place at the Annapolis Festival, and have inspired one of its biggest annual crowd-pleasers: The Shorts Challenge. The Challenge invites filmmakers to submit their pitches for a short film and selects five finalists, each of whom gets the chance to present their idea to a panel of jurors and a live audience. The winner receives a $30K package that includes state-of-the-art cameras, lighting, sound, and post-production services—and earns the right to screen the finished film at the following year’s Festival.
Casey Baum directs Bowling Alone
Anderson and White. Photo by Studio Unknown
Casey Baum, a 25-year-old filmmaker who grew up in Annapolis, won the Festival Shorts Challenge in 2024. He began his career at Filmsters Academy, a summer school for young filmmakers run by Anderson and White, and earned a degree in film from Temple University before moving to LA. Baum pitched his concept for Bowling, Alone, which follows the unexpected journey of a grieving widower, and won the top prize.
“I knew I wanted to tell this story, and it was really important to me that people connected to it,” Baum says. “We did a nationwide casting search (led by casting director Aaron Schoonover, whom Baum met at the Annapolis Festival), and found Guy Boyd, an immensely talented, 82-year-old actor. In November, we shot the film in and around Annapolis.”
Festival audiences will enjoy spotting familiar locations in Bowling, Alone, many of them part of the fabric of Baum’s life. “It was like a homecoming,” he says, with settings that included the house of a childhood friend, St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis, Anne Arundel
Community College, and the Mustang Bowling Alley in Baltimore. “The extras were a mix of LA friends and Annapolis friends.”
Now, Baum is looking forward to the hometown response. “It might not be the easiest watch, but I’m hopeful that by the end of the film, there’ll be a feeling of catharsis.”
Anderson, White, and their nine-person team are now working around the clock to put the final touches on the Festival schedule. When opening night arrives, their cadre of volunteers will swing into action. More than 200 strong, the group assists with operations, special events, hospitality, and more, ensuring that logistics for set-ups, screenings, Q&As, and coffee talks (popular early-morning discussions for casual film lovers and industry personnel) run on schedule.
Audiences have several options for admission to the Festival. There are three levels of passes, offering entrance to a wide range of events and screenings, as well as six-ticket packages and single tickets. Passes can be purchased online at annapolisfilmfestival.com. Check out the programs, choose your favorites, and prepare to share the magic of the film experience.
