New/Next Film Festival, produced by Baltimore NPR affiliate station 88.1 WYPR and curated by programmer Eric Allen Hatch, announces today the first titles in its inaugural 2023 lineup. The festival was created in reaction to the recent news that the Maryland Film Festival would not have a 2023 edition. New/Next will run from August 18-20 and be hosted at the five-screen Charles Theatre in Baltimore.

“I’m thrilled to be back at The Charles Theatre, bringing some of the most exciting cinema I’ve seen in recent years to our audiences,” said Hatch, who was MdFF’s director of programming from 2010-2018, in a press release. “I very much see New/Next as a continuation of the work I’ve done in Baltimore for other institutions.”

New/Next lineup announcements will continue throughout the month of July, including repertory programming, which will feature a screening selected and introduced by Baltimore-based dream pop duo Beach House.

All-access festival passes also go on sale today. Per the press release:

All-access passes provide access to all New/Next screenings; an advance window for film and seat selection ahead of public ticketing; and attendance to all New/Next special events, including the Opening and Closing Night parties and concerts. The Opening Night Party will include performances by stars of Baltimore’s club and hip-hop scenes, TT the Artist and Dapper Dan Midas.

Find the first three titles selected for New/Next 2023 and descriptions below. For more information about all-access passes and general updates, visit the festival’s official website.

Titles Announced Today for New/Next:

Margie Soudek‘s Salt and Pepper Shakers (2023 Meredith Moore) | Doc Short 

An artist and visual-effects instructor connects with her aging grandmother, Margie, through collecting, art-making, and obsessing as a way to enhance reality. Produced by Jonna McKone, Executive Produced by MEMORY (Rat Film; Crestone; All Light, Everywhere) and scored by Dan Deacon.

Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes (2023 Sam Pollard) | Doc Feature 

Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes explores the life and music of the legendary drummer, composer, bandleader, and social activist through a remarkable series of creative peaks, struggles, and personal reinventions—from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights years, surveying the heady days of post-war modern jazz to hip-hop and beyond.

Rotting in the Sun (2023 Sebastián Silva) | Narrative Feature 

Writer-director Sebastián Silva’s Sundance hit Rotting in the Sun is a darkly funny and refreshingly audacious meta-comedy that skewers the business of filmmaking and our self-obsessed culture. While unwinding at a Mexican gay beach town, depressed director Sebastián Silva meets gregarious Instagram influencer Jordan Firstman (both playing versions of themselves), and Sebastián reluctantly agrees to collaborate on an upcoming project. But when Jordan arrives back in Mexico City, Sebastián is nowhere to be found, and Jordan embarks on a wildly unpredictable, quasi-detective journey.