Jed Dietz

Maryland Film Festival

By this time next year, Jed Dietz, Maryland Film Festival’s director, plans to have movies playing at the historic Parkway Theatre.

Dietz has led the charge to rehab the vacant, 100-year-old theater and three additional buildings. Set to become the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Film Center, the site will feature just over 600 seats and three screens.

“It will give us a chance to really add to the film community and build up film in Baltimore but specifically in Station North,” he said.

MFF operates the theater as a nonprofit and has raised almost $16 million in funds toward its $18.2 million goal. The site will not only show smaller independent and foreign films but also serve as a home for the group’s annual festival, which has been meandering from different locations throughout the years. The goal is to bring more movies and expand the options to Charm City, Dietz said.

Making movies is one of the world’s most democratic art forms especially during this era because anybody can make a high-quality film now, according to Dietz.

“Connecting audiences to films and the people who make them is a great thing to do. All sides benefit,” Dietz said. “I think movies have a unique way to communicate to people. …They engage people in a way that is rare.”