Film festivals are a truly unique experience.  Aside from the opportunity to see independent films in a wide range of genres (make sure you check out our new Film & Screenplay Synopses page!), audiences often have the opportunity to talk with the filmmaker after a screening, or the screenwriter after a table reading.  Sometimes the Q&A experience includes actors, cinematographers, and others who participated in bringing a film to the screen. 

Just think what it would be like to personally question Tarantino after watching “Django Unchained,” or Spielberg after a showing of “Lincoln.”  The odds are pretty slim this will ever happen.  But at a film festival, the odds are pretty high you’ll have the opportunity to ask the filmmaker, “why did you pick that color for….,” or “what were you thinking about when you directed the scene with ….”  When this happens, your viewing experience is compounded by, well, tons!

The ironic thing is that Tarantino can probably afford to jet around and chat with his some of his audiences, but the indie filmmakers exhibiting their work at festivals have already poured most or all of their resources into the film’s production, leaving nothing to finance travel to festivals.  That is why most festivals commit large portions of their budgets to assisting filmmakers with travel expenses. It’s all about providing audiences and filmmakers with the best possible screening experience.

So when you areat the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, kicking off in less than two weeks, make sure you take advantage of the many opportunities we’ll give you to speak with filmmakers about their projects. It will be an experience to remember!

How does a film festival run?  That depends on which festival you’re talking about.  Sundance has a large staff of paid employees, supplemented by interns and volunteers, and makes its operating funds through ticket and merchandise sales, as well as other revenue sources.  Other festivals have similar operating structures, mostly on a smaller scale than Sundance.  And some, like the Lindsey Festival, are run purely by volunteers who stretch their small yearly budget to unbelievable limits.   But that’s not such a bad thing.

Because the Lindsey Film Festival staff is an “all-volunteer army,” you can bet the final product is truly an act of love.  Love is about the only thing that would motivate folks to put in hundreds (thousands) of hours of work beyond their normal work schedules all for something that pretty much disappears once it is finished, and then has to be built again from scratch the next year.   What do we love?  Well, there is George Lindsey, who spread his own love for this festival like a virus; in his absence, we continue to love his memory.  Then there is Film.  Each year we are introduced to new and exciting and innovative works from filmmakers young and not so young that deserve the best possible exhibition provided by folks who understand the idea of an “act of love.”  And because we are putting on a film festival after all, there is fun.  If you’ve ever wondered why we put such effort into planning our parties, it’s because we get to go to them, too, and by the time the festival actually gets here, we really need some good fun!

And if we didn’t do all this work, we wouldn’t get to see our festival friends, the ones who come back again and again regardless of the number of things we mess up.  Actress Natalie Canerday is at the top of that list, and we’re happy to announce she will be joining us again after a one year Lindsey Fest hiatus.  The laughter meter is already rising in anticipation of Natalie’s visit.

That’s how our festival runs: long hours; little money; lots of love. If this blog seems a little too mushy, it was inspired by tomorrow’s holiday of love.  Just think of it as a Valentine’s message from the Lindsey Film Festival. 

Sixteen days until the festival begins!  Actually, we will be kicking off this year's festival a day early with a very special event. On Wednesday, February 27, there will be a special VIP screening of the critically acclaimed film, "Muscle Shoals," at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center.  The evening will include live musical performances by some of the biggest names in Muscle Shoals music history, and  Grammy Award winner John Paul White of The Civil Wars is coordinating the event. Tickets are $100, and all proceeds will go to he Alabama Music Hall of Fame and to support local exhibits pertaining to Muscle Shoals music.  And momentum is already building for the Friday, March 1 screening of "Muscle Shoals" at Norton Auditorium.  The festival has been fielding phone calls all day about ticket sales, and they are going very fast!  There is a link to the ticket sales on the Lindsey Festival home page, so everyone needs to get on over there and get their tickets before they are gone!  The film sold out multiple screenings at Sundance - just think about how it is going to do during its homecoming!

We're just 20 days away from the 16th George Lindsey UNA Film Festival. The festival organizers are all working overtime to make sure our guests have a meaningful and memorable experience at the Lindsey Fest.  This will be our first year without George, and it’s going to be hard not to hear that sweet “hey” of his, but we are honored to continue the festival in his name.  We’ve made a few changes, including the new web site.  We will be live blogging during the fest, so if you can’t get to the Lindsey Fest, make sure you stop in here to see what’s going on.