Grab some popcorn
Athens goes Hollywood as it kicks off first film festival
By Holly Hollman
Staff Writer
Promotional poster for “The Way We Get By,” a feature film that will be screened in a special showing at the Southern Shorts Film Festival.

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ATHENS — It’s curtain call time for downtown Athens.

The city is kicking off its first film festival with a premiere party Friday and the festival Saturday. The Southern Shorts Film Festival premiere party will be at the Club House Cafe on the square, where festival winners will mingle with movie lovers and celebrate with Southern delights like barbecue and MoonPies. Tickets are $35 and are available by calling 656-6588 or 278-6436.

On Saturday, the public can get an all-day pass for $8 at Athens State University’s McCandless Hall. The all-day event will include children’s films, documentaries and a special showing of a feature film scheduled to air later on PBS. The feature is “The Way We Get By,” which won’t air nationwide until Veterans Day.

Greeting soldiers

The film follows a group of senior citizens who go daily to the airport to greet military personnel returning from the Middle East and thank them for their service. The movie also follows the seniors’ own issues of failing health, depression and debt.

Another special feature the festival will showcase is “A Genesis Found,” filmed completely in Alabama by Lee Fanning and Ben Stark, both of Tuscaloosa. The sci-fi thriller will be screened at 3:05 p.m.

The film is set in 1938 during an excavation at Moundville Archaeological Park. A Civilian Conservation Corp cadet finds and hides a skeleton that is not animal or human. He reveals the discovery decades later as proof it’s an extraterrestrial, which ruins his career. Thirty years later, his grandson, an anthropology student at The University of Alabama, is forced to come to terms with his grandfather’s past.

The Spirit of Athens and Art On The Square are sponsoring the festival to highlight the historic and picturesque attributes of Athens and promote filmmaking in the area. That effort coincides with plans for Calhoun Community College and Athens State to offer a fine arts degree program and partner with Decatur and Morgan County on a fine arts center in downtown Decatur.

Filmmaking camp

In June, Athens hosted a filmmaking camp for students in grades 7-12 to promote the festival and local talent. One of the organizers, Diane Lehr, said the camp and festival could encourage future students who train in the college program to make films in Limestone County. Proceeds from the festival will fund downtown revitalization programs and art camps for children.

Organizer Trisha Black said the festival also is a chance for movie lovers to see what local talent the area already offers. For example, the documentary “Collecting Choloe”, directed by Brad Thompson of Athens, won the best independent short film award. The film, set in the 1970s, depicts a young girl’s discovery that something is odd about the locals in the town where she has stopped for gas.

Black said the festival will screen each submission, including the winning entries. The special feature “The Way We Get By” will play at 6:30 p.m.

“Be one of the first to see this film and support events in the local community,” Black said. “Only selected festivals will be showing ‘The Way We Get By’, so see it in Athens first. This is what independent filmmaking is all about.”

Southern Shorts Film Festival Schedule

The festival will be Saturday at Athens State University’s McCandless Hall from noon to 10 p.m. Cost is $8 and tickets are available at the door. Children get in free from noon to 2 p.m.

Here are highlights of the day’s schedule:

  • Noon, children’s films division entries and Flip Out!, which is various children’s art in flip book animation

  • 1:40 p.m., “The Key”, drama, rated G, Creative Vision Award

  • 1:50 p.m., “1 Small Detective”, mystery/comedy, Community Vision Award

  • 2 p.m., “The Legend of the Lost Gold”, drama, rated G, winner in Youth Division

  • 2:15 p.m., “Spirit World of the Shoals”, rated PG

  • 3:05-4 p.m., special screening of “A Genesis Found”, rated PG

  • 5 p.m., question and answer session with “A Genesis Found” filmmakers Lee Fanning and Ben Stark

  • 5:20 p.m., question and answer session with “Collecting Chloe” filmmaker Brad Thompson of Athens

  • 5:40 p.m., “Under One Roof”, documentary, Special Distinction Impact Award

  • 6:30 p.m., special screening of the feature film “The Way We Get By”, rated PG

  • 8:05 p.m., “Voices of Jericho”, social documentary, rated PG, Grand Jury Prize

  • 8:10 p.m., “The Protagonist”, action, rated PG, winner for Special Distinction Creativity Award

  • 8:20 p.m., “Collecting Chloe”, drama, rated PG-13, Best Indi Short Award

  • 8:35 p.m., “Elements of Time”, experimental animation, rated G, Special Distinction Animation Award

  • 8:40 p.m., “Wonder Water”, drama, rated PG, Special Distinction Story Award

  • 9 p.m., special screening of “The Feast of the Vampires”, comedy/horror.

    Go online at www.aots-athens.com/film.html to get a complete schedule and find intermission times. Attendees should enter during intermissions.

    Southern Shorts Film Festival winners

    The following is the list of winners in the first annual Southern Shorts Film Festival in Athens.

  • Athens State University, Grand Jury Prize of $500

    “The Voices of Jericho: Stories of Jail Diversion”

    Social documentary directed by JoAnn Self of Memphis

  • Westside Jiffy Pharmacy, adult division, Best Indie Short award of $200

    “Collecting Chloe”

    Drama/thriller directed by Brad Thompson of Athens

  • J.R. Douthit, youth division, Excellence in Film award of $200

    “The Legend of the Lost Gold”

    Action adventure directed by Stahlie Calvin of Athens

  • Art On The Square, Creative Vision award

    “The Key”

    Mystery directed by Matthew LaBathe of Athens and production shoot with Cornerstone Entertainment

  • Spirit of Athens, Community Vision Award

    “1 Small Detective”

    Mystery/comedy directed by Joseph Kirby of Athens and production shoot with Cornerstone Entertainment

  • “The Protagonist”, Special Distinction Creativity Award
    Drama produced by David Kilgo of Birmingham
  • “Elements of Time”, Special Distinction Animation Award
    Experimental animation directed by David Montgomery of Fernandina Beach, Fla.

  • “Under One Roof”, Special Distinction Impact Award
    Documentary directed by Tyler Godsy and Chris Lee of Harvest
  • “Wonder Water”, Special Distinction Story Award Drama directed by Sam Tumminello of Huntsville
  • Cornerstone Entertainment, Technical Excellence in Film

    “Collecting Chloe”

    Drama/thriller directed by Brad Thompson of Athens

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