Screenings:
Sunday, April 30, 7:00-Closing Night Feature, Charles 1

Ned Beatty and Liev Schrieber star in this rich character study of two municipal employees-one, an ex-con determined to turn his life around, the other-an old-timer with patience and quiet wisdom. Spring Forward chronicles the burgeoning relationship between the young ex-con, Paul, and Murph, a veteran municipal employee facing his upcoming retirement. The film begins the day the recently paroled Paul, jailed for holding up a Dunkin' Donuts in a moment of financial desperation, gets a fresh start with a Parks and Recreation job in a small New England town. Built around a series of dialogues between the two, Spring Forward takes the time to develop the characters-it allows the actors to inhabit their roles. The depth and conviction each performer brings to his role is astonishing; it should come as no surprise that Gilroy, though a novice behind the camera, has extensive experience as a theater director and is himself an actor.

Tidbit:
Spring Forward was shot in sequence, season by season, over the course of a year. The production set up and broke for each of the four seasons-allowing for physical changes in the performers, and for the natural changes in the climate, landscape, etc., to develop in progression.

Bios:
Tom Gilroy is a New York based actor, director, and playwright who, along with Lili Taylor and Michael Imperioli, is the co-founder and co-artistic director of the theater company Machine Full. He makes his feature film directorial debut with Spring Forward following his short film Touch Base, starring Lili Taylor, which received seven national and international awards. Tom has a cameo in Maryland Film Festival 2000 film The Acting Class.

Gill Holland is one of the busiest independent film producers working today. His first film, Morgan J. Freeman's Hurricane Streets won 3 prizes at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, an unprecedented feat. He followed that success by producing dozens more independent films including Tim Kirkman's Dear Jesse, and his follow-up, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me (which made its American Premiere at the Maryland Film Festival 2000), Morgan J. Freeman's Desert Blue, and Arthur Flam and Diane Doniol-Valcroze's Kill by Inches. (also screening at the Maryland Film Festival 2000). His quality body of work was recognized by the IFP as he was nominated for a 1999 Independent Spirit Award for Indie Producer of the Year.

Spring Forward will be followed by the Closing Night Party at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Jonathan Richman will perform.