Towson University: EMF Alum's Annual Film Festival Returns To Ocean City

Press release from Towson University:

Phaedran Linger ’22

March 2, 2022

6th-annual Ocean City Film Festival features TU alumni, faculty films

This weekend B.L. Strang-Moya ’17 will bring more than 100 independent films from
around the world to Ocean City, Maryland, as the creative director and organizer of
the Ocean City Film Festival.

The festival returns for its sixth year March 3–6, for screenings in local venues
and an award ceremony. It operates under the Art League of Ocean City, a nonprofit
dedicated to bringing visual arts into the local community through education, exhibits,
scholarships and projects. 

Strang-Moya graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electronic media and film (EMF). He is a videographer for the College of Education and a graduate student in communication management.

An Ocean City, Maryland, native, Strang-Moya spent spring break during his last term
teaching classes at the Art League of Ocean City. When he heard the nonprofit’s staff
was brainstorming how to have a yearly film festival, Strang-Moya devised a plan to
make that a reality.

“The Art League had all the resources, they just needed someone with the vision to
bring this to town. It was one of those right place, right time things,” he says.

That summer, he churned out the first one. He remembers juggling class with festival
priorities as a senior. Support from professors aided him throughout the chaos and
now some are attendees.

“I feel like these people have watched me grow up,” Strang-Moya says.

The festival has grown in scope and attendance since the Art League launched it six
years ago.

“Since our launch of the festival in 2017, we have entertained more than 3,500 audience
members, received more than 1,500 film submissions, and maintained a consistent monthly
and yearly film program,” Strang-Moya adds.

Growing up, Strang-Moya recalls how hard it was to find things to look forward to
during the colder months. He wanted to provide local artists with a platform and an
accessible opportunity for the young community to keep busy.

When March rolls around, the film festival inhabits the quiet beach town for a weekend.
The city revolves around its events, and the film festival has become a valuable part
of the town calendar. 

Strang-Moya describes the preparation as “deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.” He and
fellow team members spend months deciding what movies to screen, selecting awards,
making schedules, getting press, recruiting volunteers and working with the community
to plan venues.

The effort is a labor of love. “My heart and soul is what goes into it,” Strang-Moya
says.

He is focusing his graduate studies on how to better run the festival as well as improve
his professional career in other aspects.

“A major [part of being the] creative director of a film festival is being that connection
between filmmakers, my committee and the town of Ocean City,” he says.

Seventeen films at this year's festival were produced by Maryland artists, three from
the Department of Electronic Media and Film.

Max Radbill ’15, an EMF graduate, directed “El Poso,” a short film about a woman who,
after a failed suicide attempt, gains the ability to talk to rocks. It was made this
past October in Spain under the guidance of legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog.

“The festival focuses on truly independent films, and they have champion filmmakers
from Maryland,” Radbill says. “It's always an honor to be a part of it, and I'm so
excited to be going back in person in 2022.”

“All of This is Somehow True,” directed by EMF associate professor Joseph Kraemer,
is an experimental narrative short reflecting on the fear and dread during COVID-19
and tells the story of a sick patient seeking medical help that never comes. The film
has won best in show at the Overlea ArtsFest and was selected to screen as part of
the Quarantine Film Challenge, hosted by the San Diego Film Consortium.

“My film played to a packed house alongside a slate of comedy short films, and it
was a raucous good time,” Kraemer says of participating in the film challenge. “This
festival is especially important because it supports so many local filmmakers, including
many alumni of Towson's EMF department.”

The festival also includes “Ten Degrees of Strange,” a clay-on-glass music video directed
and animated by Lynn Tomlinson, an associate professor of electronic media and film.
Based on a song by Robert Macfarlane and Johnny Flynn, the film takes inspiration
from “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” an ancient story written on clay tablets that tells
a story of loss and hope.

For the full film listing and schedule of events or to purchase tickets, visit the
Ocean City Film Festival website.

Phaedran Linger is a senior majoring in mass communication at TU. She is a student
editorial assistant for University Marketing & Communications.

This press release was produced by Towson University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.