SNF Parkway Theatre/Maryland Film Festival

Located in Baltimore, MD, the MdFF was founded in 1993 as the Producer’s Club of Maryland Inc. The organization’s mission has always focused on bringing filmmakers, films and audiences together in a friendly, inclusive atmosphere that reflects the unique aspects of our community, while participating in and adding to the larger film dialogue across the country and globally. In 2018 the Maryland Film Festival (MdFF) celebrated 20 years of "Film For Everyone" and the one year anniversary of its new year-round home, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway, a 1915 Renaissance Revival style movie palace, preserved and expanded to a three-screen film complex, situated in the geographic center of Baltimore. The SNF Parkway serves as a crucial anchor in the revitalization of the Station North Arts and Entertainment District and features a breathtaking auditorium in the original Parkway, two smaller theaters, state-of-the-art projection and sound, ground-floor bar and lounge, and classroom space for film students. Baltimore's newest cultural hub, the SNF Parkway presents year-round film, digital video, and educational offerings, community initiatives, special events, and live music concerts. 

In the fall of 2018 MdFF adopted a five-year plan to fully realize its role in Baltimore and the field as a respite for filmmakers, a world-class destination for cinema, and a stalwart advocate for democratizing the power of story, as told through film, and expressed through each individual storyteller’s voice. The SNF Parkway functions as a multi-disciplinary film, community, and education hub and serves a broad cross-section of the Baltimore area. MdFF leverages the powerful assets of the Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Institute College of Art and surrounding campus communities to function as a vibrant, regional nerve center for dialogue, discussion, and debate on the key issues of the day, with film as the central axis in broad public discussions. Through programming, education and community ventures, MdFF is establishing a year-round a platform for all voices that are reflective of the diverse population of greater Baltimore and the nation. 

The five-year strategic plan has been reimagined and extended through 2026 with a revised model season to account for online screenings, hybrid programming, and the return of in-person movie watching at the SNF Parkway. In addition, the extended plan includes a programmatic expansion into a contemporary center for moving image – a more socially-engaged, community -responsive and participatory mix of the best elements of a movie theater and arts center that harnesses the accessibility of the moving image and the collectivity of cinema to support the efforts of our communities. To achieve this new strategic vision and plan, MdFF is making a major investment in capacity building, infrastructure and programming. 

Unlike any cinema-house in the greater Baltimore region, the SNF Parkway is becoming a vibrant, nerve center - a civic commons - for great film, dialogue, and innovation. Since opening, the SNF Parkway has welcomed more than 140,000 participants and screened 1,000 films from over 60 countries. MdFF has created a world-class cinema program with films from every era, region, and genre, with a focus on emerging filmmakers, and offers audiences a fresh and immersive new window into the art form. Many of the films screened are not offered anywhere else in Baltimore. 

For more information about Maryland Film Festival and the SNF Parkway, visit www.mdfilmfest.com.