OBEX

ERIC SAYS In any discussion of the Baltimore film scene today, the name Albert Birney deserves a central position. With his Maryland-made features Sylvio and Strawberry Mansion (both co-directed by Kentucker Audley), he’s made an international mark working in a highly original space where fantasy, sci-fi, dark comedy, and poignant character drama all fold into one. Alongside these narrative features he’s also created inventive music videos, games, and short films (including the stunning psychedelic-knight tale Gruenfeld, which world premiered at New/Next 2024)—not to mention two animated features starring his popular Tux & Fanny characters, which he serializes on Instagram. Throughout his work, a moody mist of melancholy spritzes a buoyant sense of play, with characters, costumes, and hand-cranked practical effects that deserve comparison to the early works of Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam.

With OBEX, Birney gives us what is at once his most personal work and his most psychotronic  feature thus far. Starring Birney himself, his real-life beloved dog Dorothy, and countless anonymous cicadas, Birney has concocted a film that connects the dots between old-school Nintendo games and late nights spent watching Eraserhead on VHS. Scored by Deakin of Animal Collective, co-written with filmmaker Pete Ohs (whose The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick also screens within New/Next 2025), and co-starring Callie Hernandez, Frank Mosley, and Paisley Lou Isaacs, OBEX is a wonder of truly independent Baltimore filmmaking—and the perfect film with which to kick off New/Next 3.0. (Eric Allen Hatch)

Join us after the film to celebrate OBEX and N/N’s opening night w/ DJ Amy Reid at The Metro Gallery.