A Baltimore film critic's take on his city's upcoming film festival poster is so far getting little support from the masses.

By FilmStew Staff, FilmStew.com

Take a look for the moment at the image to the right, a reduced size duplication of the poster for the 2008 Maryland Film Festival (May 1st -4th); a bigger version of the image can be seen here. Then decide whether you, like Baltimore Sun film critic Michael Sragow, feel that it looks more like a German Nazi symbol than anything celebrating the tenth anniversary, Roman numeral "X."

When Sragow first glimpsed the poster in a movie theater lobby, he thought it was an advertisement for some sort of Orwellian drama. After learning it was in fact the emblem of the 10th Annual Maryland Film Festival, he became outraged. "With the little design twists and the scarlet background, the banner turned the lobby into what looked like a colorized version of Triumph of the Will," Sragow argues in a newspaper blog entry. "I think this is a design disaster from top to bottom - even if you can wipe away the queasy visual associations, the red functions as a stop sign. You flinch from it before you realize it's a come-on for the festival."

Festival director Jed Dietz, in a timely response to Sragow also posted, reveals that only one other person has so far contacted him with objections to the poster's design. Indeed, at press time, the comments at the bottom of Sragow's blog item indicate that he may well remain in the minority on this one. Still, the critic is urging readers to decided for themselves and, if in agreement, help him convince the festival to change the design.

Meanwhile, in his response, Dietz reveals that the early design phase reaction at his end was far different from that experienced by Sragow. "Our design process started in the fall [of 2007], and the 'X in film' was one of several terrific ideas the MGH team presented. A consensus formed around it quickly. As we showed the concepts to a variety of people, oddly there was some concern that the 'X in film' slightly referenced the various ribbon designs we see around - honoring troops, fighting breast cancer, etc."

Email Story Printable Version

More from • All Rise for the Brolin's • A Screenwriter's Close Encounter • View this Article (With Photos) at FilmStew.com