Whoa!  Our web site has suffering from some malady, and has been up and down for the last few days, but there is SO much to catch up on! We'll give this a try and see if it makes it to all you out there on the nets. Before sharing some of what we've been doing, a big reminder that our Annual Awards show is tonight at 7pm (the Mane Room, Pine Street, Florence, Alabama), and there are still tickets available.  You really have to make this one; I can’t think of a better way to spend the evening than with this incredible, and I am not exaggerating, group of filmmakers that have assembled for this year’s Lindsey Film Fest.  You are missing out on a rich opportunity if you don’t join us to honor them. 

So, what have we been doing for two days.  The films!  They are excellent, each and every one.  Beautiful narrative films.  An amazing animation about autism awareness made by one of the most incredible young men I’ve ever met.  Documentaries about things we rarely know about unless a filmmaker shows us: the tragic yet inspiring Vietnam story, the uplifting story of overcoming multiple amputations to become a world class cycler.  And on, and on.  We have had great audiences!  We all laughed together watching the out-of-competition screening of “Guest House,” then celebrated the director Aaron Wolf’s birthday together with cake.  There was even a private midnight viewing of “Muscle Shoals.”  Today, folks gathered to hear our “activist filmmaking” panel talk about films made to inspire change, and I think we were all inspired to hear them!

We are grateful and honored for the love we are getting from our guests.  We already believe we are one of the best kept film fest secrets around, but it sure helps to have our new friends reinforce that. I know we will be sorry to say goodbye to them tomorrow! 

Today is film festival eve.  For the organizers, it’s a day filled with “did you take care of”s and “can you take of”s.  It’s also a day when our filmmakers and other guests begin finding their way tour little corner of Alabama where for the next three days, they will own the spotlight.

Today is also the day we hope our other special guests, our audiences, are making their final plans for the Lindsey Film Festival.  If you can only see five films this year, you are probably busy going through the synopsis on our web site to make sure you get the most bang for your time.  Don’t fret over that too much because we’ve made sure that whatever you pick, it will be brilliant.  But if the choice becomes too stressful, just let it go and come watch all the films.  You won’t be sorry!

This year’s panel at the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival is about “activist filmmaking.”  Our panelists will be talking about that category of documentary films made to inspire some kind of active change.  Each panelist has engaged in this type of filmmaking.  Ethan Marten has just completed “White Buffalo: An American Prophecy” which seeks to locate the source of peace and harmony found in Native American Spirituality for the benefit of all humankind.  Local filmmaker Wes Wages is currently working on two feature length documentaries, one involving Youth in Liberia and the other focusing on the value of higher education. And Robert Gray first film, "Mobile in Black and White," which was selected for screening at this year’s Lindsey Fest, “takes a hard look at the ways racism continues to pervade the structures and institutions of a supposedly post-racial world.”

The Lindsey Film Festival is driven by the belief that all filmmaking is important and it is our job to support those working independently of the Hollywood machine.  This was George Lindsey’s mission in creating the festival 17 years ago.  But films are important for different reasons.  Narrative films allow us to think about the human condition through the fictions they create.  Documentary films allow us to see the human condition through the reality they capture.  And activist films ask us to do something about the human condition they are documenting.  These films often spark loud debate; “An Inconvenient Truth” comes to mind.  And these films sometimes bring us to the understanding that we each are capable of actively engaging in the improvement of humanity. That’s something George would have liked.  We hope you will join us on Saturday, March 8, at 10am in the Guillot University Center Loft for “Activist Filmmaking,” moderated by Dr. Greg Pitts.

We are constantly amazed by the creativity and talent in our little corner of Alabama.  The Shoals musical history is well documented, and it continues to thrive.  Just last night the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Induction honored the careers of six world-class musical talents, most of whom either come from northwest Alabama or spent a great part of their careers in the Shoals area, and multiple Grammy winning singer and Florence resident John Paul White emceed the event.  But the Shoals is not just known for its music; filmmaking has made its mark on our area as well.  From the work of local producers such as Tonya Holly, to the national recognition the Film and Digital Media program at the University of North Alabama continues to receive, there seems to be no limit to the area’s filmmaking potential.

We are always excited when a local film makes it through the jury process and is selected for screening at the Lindsey Film Fest, and this year we again have reason for celebration.  UNA Alum and professional filmmaker Clay Thomas’s short vanguard film, “Mt. Pleasant,” is an official selection of the 2014 festival, and we could not be more pleased.  Clay’s work has earned its way onto the Lindsey Fest spotlight before; his film "Little Boy Lost" won the Shoals Spotlight award at our 2012 event.   If you already plan on being at the festival next week, make sure you make it to the Thursday, March 6 screening of “Mt. Pleasant” (in the 7pm screening block).  If you are in the area and still undecided about your Thursday plans, come support local filmmaking and watch a great film by a very talented director.  “See you at the movies!”