SAVE THE DATES! September 30 – October 9 for the 2022 Chesapeake Film Festival

Celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Chesapeake Film Festival with a weekend of provocative, insightful, and innovative films at our LIVE Festival, followed by a week-long VIRTUAL Festival.

The LIVE Festival begins Friday, September 30 with a VIP reception at the Eastern Shore Conservation Center followed by an evening of environmental films, and continues through Sunday, October 2 at Easton’s Avalon Theatre with outstanding films and conversations with the filmmakers.

But the excitement doesn’t end on Sunday. From Monday October 3 through Sunday, October 9 our Festival continues VIRTUALLY with an amazing array of films in diverse categories and genres.

The environmental films that open the LIVE Festival include the World Premiere of The Search for Cooper River by local favorites Dave Harp and our own VP Sandy Cannon-Brown. The second film, Upstream, Down River by Maggie Stogner recognizes the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Clean Water Act. Environmental photographer and filmmaker Michael O. Snyder caps our opening night program with his new project The Coming Coast about the rising tides of the Chesapeake Bay and a documentary about the preservation of marine life in the Arctic called Into the Dark.

On Saturday, we honor Women’s Achievements in Independent Cinema. The two exceptional features that evening are The Glorias starring Julianne Moore directed by Julie Taymor about the life and work of Gloria Steinem, and Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache directed by Pamela Green about a little-known female studio head who directed close to a thousand films in the 1890s.

Our focus on Women’s Achievements continues Sunday afternoon with a screening of the documentary Directed by William Wyler directed by Aviva Slesin and produced by his daughter Catherine Wyler who will present the film and answer questions. Before the documentary, CFF will screen one of Wyler’s classic films, Roman Holiday. William Wyler was nominated for 12 Academy Awards for best direction, more than any other director, and won three times.

All of this needs your support to happen. Gifts of at least $125 gain one person entrance to the VIP Reception and the entire LIVE Festival! Tickets to individual screenings at the LIVE Festival will be available for $15.

Our VIRTUAL Festival is FREE, but we encourage donations upon registration to cover our costs. Our deadline for submissions is June 5. We’ll announced the films in the VIRTUAL Festival as soon as we’ve made our final selections.

Ticket sales for the screenings, and more details about the 2022 Film Festival will be forthcoming.