“Southern Appalachian International Film Festival 2011: Hidden in the Mountains” will be home again when the festival returns to Tusculum College for its sixth annual event, beginning with opening ceremonies Wednesday, October 26 and concluding Sunday, October 30.
The Southern Appalachian International Film Festival began with the idea to revive the Sinking Creek Film Festival, originally founded by the late Mary Jane Coleman of Greeneville and held at Tusculum College until the festival moved to Nashville and became the still-successful Nashville Film Festival.
Scheduled events include festival screenings comprised of 100 features and short films from all over the world, and a special Opening Night Gala: The “Mary Jane Coleman Legacy Celebration,” which will incorporate an awards ceremony for the festival winners and a very moving presentation of two commissioned portraits of fallen soldiers which will be given to their families by artist Kaziah Hancock.
Hancock began “Project Compassion,” where families of fallen soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts submit a request accompanied by a photo and a team of artists then produces a painted portrait of the soldier killed in action to send to the family. Hancock’s documentary, “Kaziah the Goat Woman,” separate from “Project Compassion,” will be screened as part of Southern Appalachian International Film Festival 2011: Hidden in the Mountains on Friday, October 28, at 4 p.m.
Filmmaker Shelley Rogers, a Greeneville native, will have a screening of her environmental film, “What’s ‘Organic’ About Organic?,” which is also nominated as one of the top submissions in the festival. Rogers traveled around the country exploring what goes into the making of organic products.
The film takes advantage of the farmers’ good humor as they explain what “growing organic” really means and focuses on these farm families and their connection to the land, making theirs a personal fight to stay afloat while competing against mega-farms in other states. Rogers’ film will screen on Saturday, October 29, at 12:30 p.m.
Rounding out the diversity of Southern Appalachian International Film Festival 2011: Hidden in the Mountains is “Hollywood to Dollywood,” a documentary film about twin brothers, raised in the South but now living in Los Angeles, who decide to drive across country and present Dolly Parton with the script they have written for her, during Dollywood’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. “Hollywood to Dollywood” will screen Friday, October 28 at 5:15 p.m. and again on Sunday, October 30 at 4 p.m.
Films scheduled for this year’s event include five horror films, three independent films, seven Appalachian-themed films, eight films with sexuality themes, eight women’s films, eight art/experimental films, eight environmental films, 14 foreign language films, 14 documentaries, seven short films and eight student films.
All screenings, as well as the Opening Night Gala are free and open to the public. The gala will begin at 6 p.m. and will be held in Chalmers Conference Center. Screenings begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, running to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday screenings run from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sunday screenings begin at noon and will conclude by 8 p.m.
The festival will be held in several locations on campus, including The Hurley Room in the Niswonger Commons and Rooms 213 and 202 in the Charles Oliver Gray North building. For specific location information, movie trailers and a complete list of films to be screened or for further information please visit the festival website at www.soapiff.com, or call Festival Director Amelia Fry at (423) 943-8295, or Festival Coordinator Bridget Chandley at (423) 361-3370.
The purpose of Southern Appalachian International Film Festival 2011: Hidden in the Mountains is to publicly recognize, promote and preserve the work of independent filmmakers and encourage film production and film culture in Southern Appalachia.