George Lindsey UNA Film Festival

Submissions Now Open for 20th Anniversary Festival

Submissions are now open for the 2017 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, to be held March 2-4! This year, we will celebrate 20 years of exhibiting great independent films in the Shoals. To enter your film or screenplay for this year's competition, follow the FilmFreeway link:

2016 Lindsey film festival winners

The Lindsey Film Festival is pleased to announce this year's winners!

Category Winners
Feature Screenplay – “Blue Monday”
Short Screenplay – “Whitewashed”
Youth Filmmaker – “Tree Hugger”
Vanguard – “Makeshift Satellite”
Student Documentary – “Sharing the Secrets”
Student Narrative – “Bright Black”
Professional Narrative Short – “Across”
Professional Narrative Feature – “The Mourning Hills”
Professional Documentary – “No. 2: Story of the Pencil”

Special Awards
Best of Show – “Bright Black”
Clyde “Sappo” Black Sweet Home Alabama Award – “The Mourning Hills”
Hero of Film Award – “Titanic Boy”
30IN24 Winner – “Immoral Beloved”

LIndsey Fest and Half Minute Horror to host 24 Hour
Horror Film Competition

2016 sCREENPLAY WINNERS AND FINALISTS

FEATURE LENGTH SCREENPLAY
WINNER - Blue Monday by Ian Wilson
FINALIST (2nd place): Bound for the Outer Banks by Alicia Dutton
OFFICIAL SELECTION (3rd place): The Polish Medallion by Siovonne Smith

SHORT SCREENPLAY
WINNER - "Whitewashed" by Anita Williams Isaroom
FINALIST (2nd place): "Walter's Day" by Nathan Ludwig
OFFICIAL SELECTION (3rd place): "The Adventuras of Juan Sawyer" by C.W. Jones

Screeners Selected for 2016 Lindsey Festival, March 3-5

Student Documentary
                Fitting the Description in North Portland
                Sharing the Secrets
                The Self Deception Artist
Student Narrative
                Alison and Jeremy
                Bright Black
                Dog Days
Professional Documentary
                Back in Time
                LUTAH: A Passion for Architecture: A Life in Design
                No. 2: Story of the Pencil
                Undeniably Donnie
Professional Narrative Short
                Across
                BIRTHDAY
                The Red Thunder
Professional Narrative Feature
                The David Dance
                Lester
                The Mourning Hills
Vanguard
                Balloon Ride
                Makeshift Satellite
                Sister
Young Filmmaker
                Keep It Clean
                One Day on Carver St.
                Tree Hugger
Alabama Films
                April Showers
                Casual Conversation
                City Federal
Dead Saturday
                Final Moments
                Hollis Treasures
                The Mourning Hills
                The Pragmatic Vestige
                The Process
                Ruby
                Stay
                Titanic Boy
                Tutwiler
                Undeniably Donnie
                Veteran’s Day Reunion
                Wisdom Tooth

2014 winning filmmakers and screenwriters - acceptance speeches and comments - check out our new page.

2014 Lindsey film fest winners

Prof Narrative - "Pechorin"
Prof Documentary - "The Man Left Behind"
Student Narrative - "East of Kensington"
Student Documentary - "Ditching School to Whistle"
Vanguard - "System Preferences"
Young Filmmaker - "Writing the Big One"
Feature Screenplay - "A Second Last Breath"
Short Screenplay - "More than Life"
Best of Fest - "East of Kensington"
Clyde "Sappo" Black Sweet Home Alabama Award - "Mt. Pleasant"
Hero of Film Award - “Regione Caecorum (In the Land of the Blind)” Drew Goldsmith

2013 Lindsey Fest Gallery

If you were unable to attend this year's George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, you missed out on lots of great film and other fun events. Here are a few of the highlights; to see more, visit the UNA photo page.

About the festival

Bringing Southern Hospitality to the Best in Independent Film!

The George Lindsey UNA Film Festival is hosted each year by the University of North Alabama in Florence, one of the four cities comprising the culturally rich Shoals. The Shoals is an entertainment Mecca with long roots, which reach to the heart of rock and roll, southern rock, and the blues. It is the birthplace of “America’s First Lady of Courage” (Helen Keller), "The Father of the Blues" (W.C. Handy), and the legendary “Father of Rock and Roll” (Sam Phillips), who first recorded the likes of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the list goes on.

The Shoals area has always been known for its creative spirit and energy. It is now building on its rich musical heritage by devoting many of its resources toward enhancing its emerging film industry. Since 1998, The Lindsey Film Festival has contributed to that effort through the exhibition of independent films from across the world and the appearances of many special guests, including Oscar winners Billy Bob Thornton and Ernest Borgnine; "Sling Blade" co-stars Lucas Black and Natalie Canerday; character actors Rance Howard (“Cool Hand Luke”) and Stephen Root ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?"); renowned film critic and Florence native Jonathan Rosenbaum; makeup-effects artist Robert Hall (“Angel” and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), actors Michael Rooker (“The Walking Dead,” “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), James Tolkan ("Back to the Future" and "Top Gun"), Lee Majors (“The Six Million Dollar Man”) and Cedric Pendleton (“The Shield"); Music Supervisors Dave Jordan, Julianne Jordan, Thomas Golubic, and Andrea von Foerster, screenwriter and producer Bob Gale; radio personality Mark Thompson (of "Mark & Brian" fame), and many more.

As a competitive film festival, we welcome local, national, and international entries. First place winners in each category receive a substantial prize. A special award, gifted in memory of George Lindsey’s dear childhood friend, Clyde “Sappo” Black, is given to the best film made in Alabama. Past winners have included Shane Acker's Oscar nominated "9," Steve Guttenberg's "P.S. Your Cat is Dead," Robert Hall's "Lightening Bug" and the Kathryn Tucker Windham documentary "Kathryn: A Story of a Teller."

The George Lindsey UNA Film Festival was founded by celebrated entertainer George Lindsey, along with now deceased Communications professor Bobby Hurt and now retired Office of Communications Director Bill Jarnigain, George Lindsey is well known for his role of Goober Pyle on the "Andy Griffith Show" and many other credits in television, including episodes of “Hee Haw,” “The Twilight Zone," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," "Gunsmoke," "M*A*S*H," and as the host of Turner South's Emmy award-winning "Liars & Legends."

We encourage you to submit your film and come experience southern hospitality at its finest!

Mission and Objectives

The festival, presented in a university setting and around the beautiful Shoals area, provides attendees with an exceptional lineup of quality workshops, panels, screenings, networking opportunities and informal interaction among filmmakers and all guests. Our priority is to discover emerging talent and promote their work by reaching, educating, inspiring, and entertaining audiences with the best in cinematic art. Our hope is that a representative of each selected work will be in attendance for the invaluable opportunity to discuss their work with other attendees in provided forums. We strive to be as eco-friendly as possible and we support our submitters and guests in being equally as mindful.