Title: “Southern Exposures” Festival Programs Set for Noon March 24 and 25
Location: Old Independence Regional Museum, 380 South Ninth Street in Batesville
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Description: The 9th annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest will present two free “Brown Bag” programs from noon to 1:00 p.m. on March 24 and 25 at Old Independence Regional Museum, 380 South Ninth Street in Batesville. The programs will showcase recent documentary films that focus on the politics, history, and the people of the South.
Southern Exposures Documentary Showcase I, on Wednesday, features two short films:
From Wood to Singing Guitar. 32 minutes. 2009. Shawn Lind.
The small town of Rugby, Virginia is home to Wayne Henderson, a skilled craftsman and respected musician. Henderson was awarded the National Endowment for the Art’s National Heritage fellowship for his work as a musician and luthier (a maker of string instruments). Henderson has made over 400 guitars for musicians as wide-ranging as Doc Watson and Eric Clapton. From Wood to Singing Guitar is an intimate portrait of a national treasure at work. Appalshop filmmaker Shawn Lind has created a vivid, yet intimate portrait of a master at work making guitars and making music.
The Sheriff.14 minutes. 2007. Jeff M. Giordano. A moving documentary portrait of Eugene, an elderly African-American man with albinism from the mountains of North Carolina. Eugene works in a mattress for the Industries for the Blind. The film focuses on Eugene’s optimism, his resilience, and his spirituality. It is currently being developed into a full-length documentary. Special Jury Prize winner at the Provincetown International Film Festival.
Southern Exposures Documentary Showcase II, on Thursday, features three short films:
Dick-George, Tenn-Tom. 12 minutes. 2007. Marcus Rosentrater and Gideon Kennedy.
In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon visited Mobile, Alabama for 104 minutes, during which time he shook 100 feet of hands, lost a cufflink, and shared a stage with his biggest political rival, Governor George Wallace. Dick-George,Tenn-Tom is a sardonic look at their rivalry, the creation of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, the attempt on Wallace’s life less than a year later, and Nixon’s fall from grace due to Watergate. Winner of the Alabama Citation of Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking.
The Space within Memory. 5 minutes. 2007. April Grayson. An abstract journey through the filmmaker’s memories of and emotions about her hometown in the Mississippi Delta. This powerful experimental film uses altered video footage and a dreamlike audio track of ambient sound and conversations to capture “the space within memory.”
Another Word for Family, 17 minutes. 2007. April Grayson. The filmmaker returns to her small hometown in the Mississippi Delta to explore the burden of its troubled history and its impact on her own life. Through both new Super 8 footage and family archives, the film confronts how a community and its individuals deal with the legacy of racism. Memory is another word for family. The film has played at the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Oxford Film Festival, Crossroads Film Festival, and Mississippi Museum of Art.
Attendees are welcome to bring a “brown bag” lunch. Water will be provided courtesy of Pepsi Americas. Discussion will follow the screenings, led by FilmFest president and co-founder Bob Pest.
Complete festival details are available at www.ozarkfoothillsfilmfest.org.
Start Date: 2010-03-24
End Date: 2010-03-25
