The 2013 Maryland Film Festival will kick off on Wednesday, May 8th, with an Opening Night Shorts program, described by the festival as “an eclectic mix of work from an extremely talented array of filmmakers.”  Featured short films include Francis Bodomo’s Boneshaker, a drama about an African family lost in rural Alabama starring Academy Award nominated Quvenzhané Wallis, last seen in Beasts of the Southern Wild. The 2013 Maryland Film Festival runs May 8-12 in downtown Baltimore.

Maryland Film Festival 2013’s Opening Night Shorts Films are:  Francis Bodomo’s Boneshaker, a drama about an African family lost in rural Alabama starring Quvenzhané Wallis (Academy Award nominee, Beasts of the Southern Wild); Grainger David’s The Chair, the story of one boy’s reaction to an outbreak of poisonous mold in his small town, nominated for Cannes 2012’s Short Film Palme d’or and winner of SXSW 2012’s Short Film Jury Prize;  Riley Stearns’ 16mm-shot The Cub, a note-perfect dark comedy about humans living amongst wolves that was nominated for Sundance 2013’s short-film grand-jury prize;  Dara Bratt’s observational documentary Flutter, a portrait of an ordinary man living in the extraordinary world of butterfly collecting; Chetin Chabuk’s Jujitsuing Reality, an inspiring documentary about Scott Lew, a screenwriter living with ALS; and Lauren Wolkstein’s elegant and sly Social Butterfly, in which a mysterious American woman (Anna Margaret Hollyman) arrives at a teenage party in the South of France.