Be Sure to See...Part 2

Only the Young, to be shown at the AFF, has just been named one of the top five docs of 2012 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.

Only the Young introduces us to three Southern California teenagers living in a small desert town known for its foreclosed homes and empty swimming pools. The town's single saving grace is its skate parks. Through these vulnerable, articulate, and rebellious youths, audiences get a close-up look at this generation's hopes and dreams as they learn the importance of friendship.

Combat Girls, Marisa, a 20-year-old working-class German, loves and hates with equal passion. When 14-year-old Svenja joins Marisa's violent Neo-Nazi group,  the older girl incorporates Svenja's ideal of combat girl fighting into the group's ideology. But things change when Marisa encounters a young Afghan refugee. Authentic, brutal, and powerful, Combat Girls explores the gritty, complex nuances of national and personal identity; love, family, and friendship.

Behind The Scenes

Meet AFF’s founding members and Co-Creative Directors, Patti O. White and K. Lee Anderson.

Patti has been a producer/director/writer in the fields of TV, journalism and film for over 30 years and is co-owner of Filmsters, a TV and film production company in Annapolis, which is currently developing and producing several documentaries and series.

For three seasons, she was Producer and Senior Producer for ABC’s Extreme Makeover, a People’s Choice Award-winning show. She spent over 15 years at CBS News in New York where she produced 60 Minutes and CBS Reports and received three National Emmy Awards, three additional Emmy nominations and the coveted George Foster Peabody Award. Patti produced and directed the multi-award winning 2001 feature documentary, If I Could, narrated by Sally Field. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County for 17 years.

Lee is a Producer and Line Producer who began her career as a news and commercial producer for ABC and CBS affiliates in Maryland before joining Filmsters in 1994.  Her credits have appeared on ABC (Extreme Makeover), CBS, TBS, Lifetime TV, Discovery Health and Current TV.

Lee just completed production of a national event for Google. As a producer on the award-winning documentary, If I Could, Lee spent many months on the festival circuit.

Lee and Patti are co-founders of Filmsters Academy, an annual filmmaking program for young people between the ages of 11-20.

- Annapolis Film Festival

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Be Sure to See.... Part 1

Among the many films being featured at the Annapolis Film Festival, be sure to see...

Charles Bradley: Soul of America, 

which charts the extraordinary late-in-life success story of 62-year-old soul singer Charles Bradley. His debut album rocketed him from homelessness and tragedy to Rolling Stone magazine's top 50 albums of 2011. Thefilm tracks the volatile months between his 62nd birthday and his album release and world tour. Bradley's incredible transformation from a James Brown impersonator to a soul legend was a dream in the making for 48 years. Prepare to be inspired! The film's director, Poull Brien, will be a guest at the Festival. For a taste of Charles Bradley's gut-wrenching sound, listen to him singing "Heartache and Pain" with the Menahan Street Band here.

Get Together Girls, the true story of six former Kenyan "street" girls who became fashion designers. After graduating from their "home for marginalized children," the girls are taken under the wing of Grace Orsolato who teaches them to sew. Now, with their Get Together collection of fashionable women's attire, their future is secure.

The Exquisite Corpse Project, a comedy/drama/doc/thriller/action movie/buddy picture/heist flick! Five comedy writers met the challenge of writing 15 pages each, after reading only the previous 5 pages. You've not seen anything like this before. The movie resonates emotionally and is consistently laugh-out-loud funny! These comedic filmmakers will be on hand to do some stand-up comedy, live at AFF. 

- Annapolis Film Fest