Indie Memphis film fest focuses on South's 'soul'

By John Beifuss

Friday, September 26, 2008

An appearance by actor Giancarlo Esposito and a new documentary about Johnny Cash will be among the highlights of the upcoming 11th annual Indie Memphis Film Festival, which runs Oct. 9-16 at Malco's Studio on the Square.

Festival officials announced the complete Indie Memphis lineup Friday. The schedule includes more than 120 narrative features, documentaries, shorts, music videos, animated and experimental films, "Midnight Movies" and "Global Lens" international films. The titles represent all different genres, with a special emphasis on movies that capture "The Soul of Southern Film."

Esposito will come to Memphis to introduce his directorial feature film debut, "Gospel Hill," an ensemble drama set in a racially and economically divided South Carolina town struggling with its legacy as the place where a civil rights leader was assassinated 30 years before.

The movie -- which screens at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 -- stars Esposito, Danny Glover, Samuel L. Jackson, Julia Stiles, Angela Bassett, Memphis native Chris Ellis and The RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. Memphian Scott Bomar composed the score, which was recorded at his Electraphonic Recording studio and mixed at Ward Archer's Music and Arts Studio. Area musicians on the soundtrack include Amy LaVere, Al Kapone and Bobby Rush.

Esposito is perhaps best known for his work on such television series as "Homicide: Life on the Streets" and "Law & Order," and for his appearances in such Spike Lee films as "Do the Right Thing," "School Daze," "Mo' Better Blues" and "Malcolm X."

The documentary "Johnny Cash's America," produced for The Biography Channel, will have its regional premiere at 7 p.m. Oct. 15. Directed by Morgan Neville and Memphian Robert Gordon, who previously collaborated on "Muddy Waters Can't Be Satisfied" and "Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story," the film examines the way Cash used his faith, patriotism and Southern heritage and his reactions to cultural and political events to create music that explored such thorny issues the Vietnam War and the rights of Native Americans and prisoners.

Gordon and Neville and other special guests will participate in a panel discussion after the screening.

Tickets for individual films are $9 each, or $7 online. A film pass is $85, and a festival pass -- good for admission to all films, parties and other events -- is $150. To order and to see the complete lineup of events, visit indiememphis.com.

-- John Beifuss: 529-2394