The Nashville Film Festival will return in late September and early October with a hybrid slate of in-individual and on-line screenings and occasions — with a number of music documentaries figuring into the programming, together with docs about Brian Wilson, the pioneering 1970s all-feminine rock band Fanny and the MTV-period group A-ha, plus the world premiere of a movie that takes John Hiatt and Jerry Douglas into Nashville’s famed RCA Studio B.
Music-based movies take up solely a sliver of the general roster on the Sept. 30-Oct. 6 competition. Among narrative highlights, the competition will wrap up with A24’s “The Humans,” Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his Tony Award-winning play, with Karam and different visitors from the movie in attendance.
Altogether, 160 movies — 45 of that are function-size entries — have been chosen for the 52nd annual competition, slightly greater than 50 of which is able to display screen in-individual at venues all through Nashville. More than 30 of the options are getting their U.S., North American or world premieres.
Tickets for badgeholders go on sale at present at www.nashvillefilmfestival.org, with particular person tickets happening sale to most people Sept. 1.
The hybrid mannequin contains one key occasion that can be on-line-solely this 12 months, the 2-day Creators Conference Oct. 1-2, with digital visitors to embody filmmaker Kirsten Johnson, producer Peter Gilbert and composers Leo Sirdan and Joe Kraemer, amongst many others.
On the opposite hand, there can be a number of stay music occasions related to this 12 months’s competition, together with performances tied to “Leftover Feelings: An RCA Studio B Revival,” a documentary concerning the latest collaborative album by Hiatt and Douglas, and “Invisible,” a movie by T.J. Parsell about homosexual girls in Southern music. The Hiatt/Douglas efficiency will happen on the Belmont Theatre following the screening of “Leftover Feelings” on Oct. four; different stay-music occasions can be introduced later
The opening evening movie is “Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road,” which lately had its world premiere on the Tribeca Film Festival. Director Brent Wilson can be readily available for the regional premiere in Nashville, as will Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine, who’s the manager producer of the doc and does the intensive on-display screen interviews with the legendary Beach Boys maestro.
The official picks within the music documentary class are “a-ha The Movie,” concerning the Norwegian sensations who discovered fame within the ’80s with “Take on Me”; “I’m Wanita,” about an Australian nation singer attempting to make her method to Nashville; and “Fanny: The Right to Rock” (pictured under), concerning the all-feminine rock band that launched its first main-label effort in 1970, paving the way in which for bands just like the Runaways and Go-Go’s.
Fanny, topic of a brand new documentary
Linda Wolf
The documentary “Thistle” can be of specific curiosity to Nashville’s music neighborhood as properly — it’s a doc about Nashville’s Thistle Farms, a sanctuary for girls attempting to discover their method out of cycles of abuse and habit, which is a charity close to and pricey to the hearts of many musicians and trade leaders.
A fiction movie with a music angle is “Hard Luck Love Song,” starring Michael Dorman and Sophia Bush, described because the story of “a charismatic but down on his luck troubadour finds himself at an existential crossroads as a history of bad choices catch up with him during an unexpected reunion with an old flame.”
Among the filmmakers or stars scheduled to attend the competition, apart from Hiatt, Douglas and the Brian Wilson doc’s inventive principals, are actor Tim Blake Nelson, who’ll deliver “Old Henry,” an motion Western; CJ Hunt, director of the documentary “The Neutral Ground”; and Júlia Parés, author of “The Return: Life After Isis.”
Other key movies within the lineup embody “Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s award-successful documentary on one man’s harrowing childhood as a refugee, and “Petite Maman,” Celine Sciamma’s observe-up to “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.”
“This year’s Nashville Film Festival will deliver a dynamic mix of films, music and live events,” stated director of programming Lauren Ponto, “and our team is excited for the community to be a part of it in new and innovative ways. From narratives and documentaries to our newest category of films, The Edge, a new shorts competition highlighting boundary pushing cinema from emerging filmmakers, we’re presenting a vibrant line-up of films from right here in Tennessee as well as across the country and around the world. This year’s content is stronger than ever and very intentionally curated to bring audiences exceptional film and music experiences.”
Other particular picks are anticipated to be added within the run-up to the competition.
The full 50-plus roster of function-size movies, from descriptions borrowed from the official competition program (with picks that may solely display screen in-individual marked with an asterisk):
Opening Night Selection
*Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road (directed by Brent Wilson) – The legendary songwriter and cofounder of The Beach Boys takes viewers on an impressionistic highway-journey by means of his life and music on this intimate and unconventional cinematic memoir.
Centerpiece Selections
*Flee (directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen) – The extraordinary true story of a person, Amin, on the verge of marriage, compelling him to reveal his hidden previous for the primary time.
*Petite Maman (directed by Céline Sciamma) – Nelly has simply misplaced her grandmother and helps her mother and father clear out her mom’s childhood dwelling. She explores the home and the encompassing woods. One day she meets a lady her similar age constructing a treehouse.
*Old Henry (directed by Potsy Ponciroli) – A widowed farmer warily takes in a mysterious, injured man with a satchel of money. When a posse comes for the cash, he should resolve who to belief, revealing a gunslinging expertise calling his true id into query.
Closing Night Selection
*The Humans (directed by Stephen Karam) – From author-director Stephen Karam, and tailored from his Tony Award-winning play, The Humans explores the hidden dread of a household and the love that binds them collectively.
Narrative Official Selections
7 Days (directed by Roshan Sethi) – In sunny California, Ravi and Rita meet on an ungainly organized marriage date organized by their mother and father… that will get extra awkward after they’re trapped collectively by quarantine.
*Huda’s Salon (directed by Hany Abu-Assad) – A lady whose go to to a hair salon turns right into a nightmare when she is blackmailed by its proprietor.
Poser (directed by Ori Segev, Noah Dixon) – A younger musician slips right into a darkish transformation as she explores an unique underground music scene.
*Queen of Glory (directed by Nana Mensah) – Ghanaian-American Sarah is all set to abandon her Ivy League doctoral program to observe her married lover throughout the nation when her mom dies all of a sudden and makes her the proprietor of a neighborhood bookshop within the Bronx.
See You Then (directed by Mari Walker) – A decade after abruptly breaking apart with Naomi, Kris invitations her to dinner to atone for their sophisticated lives, relationships, and Kris’ transition.
*The Tale of King Crab (directed by Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis) – Luciano lives as a wandering drunkard in a distant Italian village the place spiteful actions ensue between him and the prince of the area over the suitable of passage by means of an historical gateway.
Documentary Official Selections
Charm Circle (directed by Nira Berstein) – Oscillating between current day and a long time-outdated dwelling movies, Charm Circle is a cinéma vérité portrait of an eccentric New York household navigating the chaos that divides them.
Clean Slate (directed by Jared Callahan) – Two pals in a Southern drug restoration program wrestle to come to phrases with their habit and psychological sickness by making a brief movie concerning the ache they’ve prompted their households.
The First Step (directed by Brandon Kramer) – In a divided America, Van Jones makes an attempt to deliver individuals collectively to go a bipartisan prison justice invoice — and finds himself underneath hearth from all sides.
The Neutral Ground (directed by CJ Hunt) – The Neutral Ground paperwork New Orleans’ combat over monuments and America’s troubled romance with the Lost Cause.
The Return: Life After Isis (directed by Alba Sotorra) – Shamima Begum (UK) and Hoda Muthana (US) made it into worldwide headlines after they left their international locations as youngsters to be a part of ISIS. Now they need to return however their international locations don’t need them again.
Socks on Fire (directed by Bo McGuire) – Bo McGuire composes a cinematic love letter to his grandmother as his homophobic aunt and drag queen uncle wage struggle over her property in Hokes Bluff, Alabama.
Music Documentary Official Selections
a-ha: The Movie (directed by Thomas Robsham) – a-ha is Norway’s greatest pop success with their hit “Take On Me!”
*Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road (see above)
Fanny: The Right to Rock (directed by Bobbi Jo Hart) – FANNY: The Right to Rock reveals the untold story of a self-fashioned storage band — which included Filipina American and queer bandmates — that morphed into the ferocious rock group Fanny, the primary band of ladies to launch an LP with a serious file label (Warner/Reprise, 1970).
I’m Wanita (directed by Matthew Walker) – A renegade Australian nation music singer makes an attempt to maintain issues collectively lengthy sufficient so she will get to Nashville, file her definitive album and fulfill a lifelong dream.
New Directors Official Selections
*Clara Sola (directed by Nathanlie Álvarez Mesén) – In a distant village in Costa Rica, Clara experiences a sexual and mystical awakening as she begins a journey to free herself from the repressive non secular and social conventions which have dominated her life.
Ludi (directed by Edson Jean) – Ludi, a hardworking and exhausted nurse, battles coworkers, purchasers and one impatient bus driver to study her self price as she chases the American Dream in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
Luzzu (directed by Alex Camilleri) – A person dangers the whole lot to present for his spouse and new child son by coming into Malta’s black-market fishing trade.
Pebbles (directed by Vinothraj P S) – An alcoholic spouse beater embarks on a journey, dragging his younger son alongside to fetch again his spouse whom he had chased away.
Graveyard Shift Official Selections
*Beta Test (directed by Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe) – A married Hollywood agent receives a mysterious letter for an nameless sexual encounter and turns into ensnared in a sinister world of mendacity, infidelity, and digital information.
The Murder Podcast (directed by William Bagley) – Two newbie podcasters begin investigating a homicide of their hometown solely to turn out to be wrapped up in a terrifying journey stuffed with supernatural threats.
*We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (directed by Jane Schoenbrun) – logline
Woodland The Dark Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (directed by Kier-La Janisse) – An epic journey by means of the forests, fields and furrows of the phenomenon often known as ‘folk horror.’
Spotlight: U.S. Indies
Adventures in Success (directed by Jay Buim) – A wellness startup, whose mission is to heal Mother Earth by means of the ability of orgasm and a ritual known as Jilling Off, tries to scale their enterprise.
Ayar (directed by Floyd Russ) – Ayar, a 1st era American Latina, returns dwelling to reunite along with her daughter, confronted by the various roles she’s been compelled to play, together with the position on this movie.
Hard Luck Love Song (directed by Justin Corsbie) – Jesse, a charismatic however down on his luck troubadour finds himself at an existential crossroads as a historical past of dangerous decisions meet up with him throughout an sudden reunion with Carla, an outdated flame.
Porcupine (directed by M. Cahill) – An grownup girl places herself up for adoption and varieties a bond with the misanthropic patriarch of her adoptive household.
Potato Dreams of America (directed by Wes Hurley) – An autobiographical darkish comedy a few homosexual boy rising up within the Soviet Union, his mail-order bride mom and their adventurous escape to America.
Spotlight: International Lens
Green Sea (directed by Angeliki Antoniou) – A mysterious girl who has misplaced her reminiscence struggles to rebuild her life whereas cooking easy but scrumptious meals for employees at a working-class seaside tavern.
Window Boy Would Also Like to Have a Submarine (directed by Alex Piperno) – On a cruise ship off the Patagonian coasts, a crewman discovers a magical portal main into a lady’s condo.
Tennessee Feature Official Selections
Everybody is Looking for Some Light (directed by Caleb Chapman) – “Everybody is Looking for Some Light” blurs the road between a live performance movie and an journey documentary, with insightful and intelligent commentary from an unbiased rock band.
The Fable of a Song (directed by Andy Strohl) – Four Nashville songwriters converge on a studio condo to write successful track and movie the method. Featuring music from The Young Fables, Oneno & Liz Longley.
Faye (directed by Kd Amond) – Faye L. Ryan is a profitable private progress writer mourning the lack of her husband. She retreats to a cabin on the bayou to end her subsequent e book solely to discover that extra than simply her previous will hang-out her.
Invisible (directed by T.J. Parsell) – To be an overtly homosexual artist in nation music is almost unattainable, but this group of homosexual girls (and one trans man) persevered anyhow.
A Hard Problem (directed by hazart) – After the demise of his mom, Ian should pack up the home the place he cared for her in her waning years.
Leftover Feelings: An RCA Studio B Revival (directed by Lagan Sebert & Ted Roach..) – Nashville music icons John Hiatt & Jerry Douglas group up to file their first-ever collaboration “Leftover Feelings” in Elvis’s favourite studio, RCA Studio B, reviving the magical sounds and musical historical past of this iconic room.
*Thistle (directed by Ryan Camp) – Stories of survival from the ladies of Thistle Farms.
Episodic and VR Official Selections
Cary in Retrograde (directed by Priya & Philipp Yaw Domfeh) – A story about ALMOST by no means giving up, “Cary in Retrograde” follows a failed musician as he traverses a surrealist Los Angeles in hopes of a second probability
Chicks (directed by Eduard Oganesyan) – Four women from a small city in Russia resolve to change their lives fully by opening their very own health membership.
Hudson Falls (directed by Elias Plagianos) – The secrets and techniques of a small upstate city that revolve round an eccentric scientist (William Sadler) start to unravel when a non-public eye from town (Richard Kind) takes on a seemingly mundane job in an effort to rekindle a relationship along with his ex spouse (Jessica Hecht)
if i’m alive subsequent week (directed by Jennifer Morris, Robbie Sublett) – When a foul-mouthed, 80-year-outdated grandma will get dumped and booted from her boyfriend’s brownstone, she’s compelled to return to the hire-stabilized condo housing her broke-ass, ungrateful children.
In the Cards (directed by Colin Kane Healey) – A darkish comedy collection that follows infamous psychic scammer Dinah on the soiled highway she takes to riches… …and a spot on the FBI’s Most Wanted checklist.
Nashville Dads Club (directed by Danny Dones) – Three dads from wildly totally different backgrounds navigate elevating children in Music City.
Parked In America (directed by Luke Salin) – Jamie Park, a Korean teenager, and her cousin Eli navigate highschool whereas scuffling with id, guilt, and grief.
Trans in Trumpland (directed by Tony Zosherafatain) – A trans man investigates the devastating impacts of the Trump administration on the lives of transgender Americans.
Biolum (directed by Abel Kohen) – Biolum thrusts you into the position of a diver within the ocean abyss which is invaded by extraterrestrial bioluminescent creatures. Will you make an escape or be absorbed right into a shared consciousness?
Greenwood Avenue: A Virtual Reality Experience (directed by Tarik Jackson, Talibah L. Newman, Spade Robinson) – Brings us into the 1920’s world of a 14-year-outdated Black woman experiencing old flame & devastating loss in America’s Black Wall Street.
Lily’s Day (directed by Sina Dolati) – As her household goes by means of a tough patch, 9-12 months-outdated Lily should take into account the impacts of her choices as she faces the bittersweetness of accountability.
Mindful (directed by Scott Bailey Gagain) – Cultivating social consciousness by offering alternatives to see the world by means of the eyes of one other.
A Promise Kept (directed by Ken Winikur) – This gripping digital actuality expertise takes you on a journey again to the infamous Auschwitz killing heart with Survivor, Fritzie Fritzshall, as she fulfills her promise to the 599 girls who helped save her life.
Strands of Mind (directed by Adrian Meyer) – Explore a world past the bounds of our human notion. A world stuffed with thriller, of magnificence and darkness. Let your self be taken on a visit into the woven nature of existence.
Virtually There (directed by Leon Oldstrong) – One knife destroys multiple life
Short movie picks can be found at NashvilleFilmFestival.org.
