Written By Elaine Bean for The Courier of Ocean Pines
It all began on a fateful night in January 2017. B.L. Strang-Moya, a film student at Towson University at the time, was in Ocean City helping a friend shoot a film for his thesis. One location was the Ocean City Center for the Arts on 94th St. Strang-Moya happened to run into Rina Thaler, executive director of the Art League of Ocean City, and the rest is history, as the Ocean City Film Festival enters its 9th season.
“Rina mentioned the Art League was interested in putting on a film festival at some point,” Strang-Moya said. “With the bare minimum amount of experience and a heart brimming with piss and vinegar, I offered on the spot to serve as the Creative Director for the Ocean City Film Festival. Six months later, we would host Season 1.”
Over the years, the Film Festival’s growth has been steady. “Startling, too,” Strang-Moya said. “I don’t think any of us really expected Ocean City to get behind something like its own film fest. Unlike many festivals, we began from the ground up with minimal industry prospects outside of personal networks and a workflow that has evolved drastically. As the Creative Director, I have also worked as an archivist, projectionist, moderator, usher, and videographer … My understanding of every layer of this event has made me quite competitive in this role.”
The 9th Annual Ocean City Film Festival returns to Ocean City and West Ocean City March 6 through 9, presenting 100 films from all over the world and opportunities to mingle with the filmmakers. “Season 9 has a larger focus than usual on commemorating local culture and history, given Ocean City’s 150th birthday. Season 9 also has a lot of unique film screenings, highlighting a variety of topics and interests.
“The OC Film Festival ties me to the community in so many ways. I am really humbled by all the wonderful people that we work with to organize the event from volunteers to sponsors. As for my own filmmaking, I am very fortunate to say that many of my close collaborators are also my close friends who continue to live and thrive on the Shore.”
Aside from organizing the Ocean City Film Festival every year, Strang-Moya also personally documents the Eastern Shore region through film.
“I am currently working on a couple of documentaries highlighting pre-colonial Delmarva history,” Strang-Moya continued. “There’s too much to be said about the strange and ancient land that is the Delmarva Peninsula. Growing up, I was mystified by the ever-present crumbling architecture of sporadic centuries-old farm houses along major roads. The scent of ocean air awakens something in me every time I experience it. I adore the people more than anything. Regardless of your voting record, if you’re on the shore, you have no choice but to amicably interface with others. There is a sense of community in the geographic isolation – specifically for those who live there year-round.”
Strang-Moya moved to South Ocean Pines when he was four years old, graduated from Stephen Decatur High School in 2013, and received a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media and Film degree from Towson University in 2018. He made his first movie in the 9th grade.
“The Chiller network on DirecTV was advertising a horror film contest, and it was like a call to action for me,” he said. “I called all my friends, and we filmed a slasher horror in broad daylight at a public park without a script. I went home that night and knew I had to keep doing this.
Strang-Moya has relocated “across the bridge” for his work as a filmmaker, producing videos for marketing, instruction, and documentary-style productions at TU and teaching at the Baltimore School for the Arts, instructing students on practical effects and advanced video editing.
“My art and passion are centered in a desire to learn and teach,” he said. “I refuse to make a film about what I don’t know, so if I am going to make a documentary, I am going to learn everything about my subject until I am confident that I can teach others about the subject.”
“Without art, I would undoubtedly pursue a life of crime and die under mysterious circumstances,” Strang-Moya joked. “Art matters because I believe it is a human necessity to express oneself – even if that expression is just a mundane representation of your own life. I often think back to the Lascaux Cave Paintings in France. These images depicted the daily life of ancient people. The paintings have lasted tens of thousands of years. Jokes aside, can you name a single politician from the Upper Paleolithic Era?”
Strang-Moya often returns to Ocean Pines with his wife and one-year-old son to visit his grandparents. “Their love for me has taken me farther than any film or festival … Any time I’m on the shore, my days start and end in Ocean Pines.”