Utopia Film Festival Opens Saturday

Films from Australia, Iran, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada, as well as from across the United States will be shown at the Eighth Annual Utopia Film Festival. It opens Saturday at 11 a.m. and runs from Oct. 13-21.

Nestled in a city birthed 75 years ago according to the Franklin-Delano Roosevelt Administration’s goal to establish cooperative and garden communities, Utopia seeks out and shows independent films that explore Utopian visions.

It also sprinkles in a Halloween theme.

Local horror show legend Count Gore De Vol from Channel 20 will be there for a screening of "Every Other Day is Halloween," on Oct. 20, and will answer questions afterward.

The film festival has a general ticket price of $5, but Utopia is offering free films and events as well, including a program of experimental works, a Reel and Meal documentary, the Filmmaker Forum. The festival will open on Saturday with two free programs of Greenbelt history films.

An array of feature-length and short documentaries, short narrative films, animations by adults and kids, and more will be shown during the festival. For a full list of movies and screenings, see the Utopia Film Festival website schedule. 

Festival films will be screened at five Greenbelt venues:

• Greenbelt Arts Center
• Greenbelt Municipal Building
• P&G Theatre (The Old Greenbelt Theatre
• New Deal Café
• Academy Theaters at Beltway Plaza Mall

Primarily sponsored by Greenbelt Access Television (GATE) with assistance from the Maryland Film Office and other sponsors, Utopia is a volunteer-run festival.

Find out more about tickets or $25 all-event passes and get the full Utopia picture by visiting the Utopia Film Festival's website.