The 11th annual Southern Screen Festival will be presented virtually on the Eventive platform and in-person in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana, from November 11-14, 2021.
Highlights include sessions with visual effects supervisor Robert Legato (Titantic, Hugo, The Lion King), first assistant editor Mary Lukasiewicz (Dune, Blade Runner 2049), and music supervisor Josh Rabinowitz (Brooklyn Music Experience).
Among the films selected for the festival are the following:
Filmmaker Edgar Wright explores how one rock band can be successful, underrated, hugely influential and criminally overlooked—all at the same time—in The Sparks Brothers. This musical odyssey explores five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron and Russell Mael while celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks—your favorite band’s favorite band. The documentary includes commentary from celebrity fans Flea, Jane Wiedlin, Beck, Jack Antonoff, Jason Schwartzman, Neil Gaiman and more.
Road Runner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain explores the life, career, and legacy of the late Anthony Bourdain. It charts his initial rise to national fame with the publication of his 2000 memoir, his globe-trotting culinary adventures as a travel-show host and his death by suicide in 2018 at the age of 61.
In MAYDAY, an unusual storm is approaching, and it’s about to change everything for Ana (Grace Van Patten). After a short circuit at her workplace mysteriously transports her to an alternate world, she meets a crew of female soldiers caught in an endless war. Along a strange and rugged coastline, men face the stark truth lurking behind damsels who appear to be in distress. Under the leadership of Marsha (Mia Goth), Ana trains as a sharpshooter and discovers a newfound freedom in this uninhibited sisterhood. She soon senses she may not be the ruthless killer they expect, though, and time is running out for her to find a path home. Both a feminist fever dream and an ambitious reimagining of a war film, MAYDAY detonates expectations to question where empowerment truly lies.
The Neutral Ground documents New Orleans’ fight over the removal of Confederate monuments and America’s troubled romance with the Lost Cause. In 2015, director C.J. Hunt was filming the New Orleans City Council’s vote to remove four confederate monuments. But when that removal is halted by death threats, Hunt sets out to understand why a losing army from 1865 still holds so much power in America.
17 Year Locust is a story about an unlikely crossing of paths between two people living very different lives, their only common connection being the French language. The short film follows René, a Haitian immigrant, who moves to a French-speaking city in Louisiana in search of a better life for he and his pregnant wife. When Odile, an elderly woman in hospice care, demands a French-speaking caregiver, the staffing agency reaches out to René, who is the only option they have. After intense conversation Odile learns from René that he intends to abandon his own culture and traditions in exchange for becoming “a true citizen”, an American. It’s only then she feels brave to open up and share her own story of American assimilation and the great cost that came with it.
Navel Gazers is a dark comedy that takes place in a society where humanity has become so engrossed with their mobile devices that their spines have developed permanent and inheritable curvatures – a society that is perpetually navel gazing.
So much documentary content focuses on the struggles and tragedies of being an LGBTQ POC in America. In contrast, A Fine Girl is an optimistic portrait of a thriving woman in a Deep South community that embraces her. This short film then poses the question, how much better could we be as a community if we extended the same grace to everyone regardless of their identity? At 27 years old, Brandi is a successful hairstylist, a woman of faith, and a valued member of her community. She holds an active role in her community as a Black queer woman. The film will follow Brandi as she works to open a luxury salon in New Orleans, become an advocate for the local trans community and build her brand as a hairstylist, and through that journey we will see her move through the various communities to which she contributes daily.
Southern Screen is a multi-disciplinary not-for-profit arts organization that supports and celebrates artists and their work. Moving beyond traditional film and music outlets, the organization exposes Southern communities to the widespread possibilities of storytelling, by curating year round events, workshops, and pop-ups all in preparation for the annual Southern Screen Festival every November.
For more information, including a schedule of in-person and virtual screenings and ticket options, visit here.
