VCU hosts fifth annual Southern Film Festival

By Brian McNeill

Virginia Commonwealth University's fifth annual Southern Film Festival will feature a diverse lineup of films that highlights how sports can reflect larger themes in the South and often hold wider implications for society.

This year's festival, with a theme of "Sports and the South," will be held Feb. 7 and Feb. 8. The festival's seven films, including two shorts, will be screened at four venues around Richmond.

Historians, authors, filmmakers, TV personalities and a number of notable figures from the world of sports will speak on panels following the films. All of the festival’s screenings will be open to the public, and admission is free unless otherwise noted.

"This year, people who turn out for the festival are in for a real treat because they will have the opportunity to see captivating films about such Southern sports legends as Arthur Ashe, Secretariat and Althea Gibson, and by Southern writers John Grisham and Shauna Cross, as well as converse with filmmakers and those behind the scenes to the real-life events," said Emilie Raymond, Ph.D., the festival's director and an associate professor of history in the College of Humanities and Sciences.

She added that the films – including "Remember the Titans," "Secretariat" and "Whip It!" – demonstrate how sports often are about more than just a game, and how sporting events and those involved with them do not operate in a vacuum.

"For example, Coach Herman Boone's abilities to unite his racially-divided football team helped unite the city of Alexandria, Virginia," Raymond said. "Playing sports can also help individuals tap into their identities and greater potential, as with Penny Tweedy, who overcame gender norms to bring the racehorse Secretariat to the Triple Crown victory."

Schedule of events:

Friday, Feb. 7

3 p.m. "Remember the Titans" (2000)
Set at T.C. Williams High School in Northern Virginia and starring Denzel Washington, tells the true story of how Coach Herman Boone's leadership of the racially-divided football team helped promote integration of the school in the early 1970s.
Panel: Boone will introduce the film, and will participate in a post-film discussion with T.C. Williams alumni Randy Woods McKlveen ('72), Betsy Blake Haas ('72), and Marilyn Buckner Martin ('73).
Location: VCU Campus, Academic Learning Commons, 1000 Floyd Ave., Room 1107
Admission: Free

6:30-9 p.m. "Secretariat" (2010)
The story of Penny Chenery, played by Diane Lane, who took over the management of her father's Meadow Ridge Stables in Virginia and brought the racehorse Secretariat to Triple Crown victory.
Moderator: Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D., associate professor of English at VCU
Panel: The film will be presented by Kate Chenery Tweedy, author of "Secretariat's Meadow" and daughter of Penny Chenery. Tweedy, who also served as a consultant and extra on the film, will participate in a post-film discussion with co-author Leanne Meadows.
Location: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Leslie Cheek Theater, 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond
Admission: $8; $5 for VMFA members; free for VCU faculty, staff and students (must present a valid ID to pick up tickets)

Saturday, Feb. 8

10 a.m. Tennis Shorts
Get a sneak peek of the upcoming film  "Althea" (2014) with a "work-in-progress excerpt" that chronicles the improbable career of Althea Gibson, the first player – and woman – to break the color barrier in U.S. tennis in the 1950s. "Johnnie and Arthur Ashe" (2013) tells the moving story of how Johnnie’s sacrifices for his brother Arthur helped shape the career of the tennis champion.
Panel: A post-film panel discussion will feature "Althea" director Rex Miller; Jolynn Johnson Smith, granddaughter of Walter Johnson who coached both Gibson and Ashe; and Eric Perkins and Tom Hood, co-authors of "Richmond – One of America's Best Tennis Towns."
Location: Grace Street Theater, 934 W. Grace St., Richmond
Admission: Free
Co-sponsored by the Richmond Tennis Association

12 p.m. "Mickey: A Family Story" (2004)
Pre-film activities begin at noon and include baseball activities with Nutzy, the Flying Squirrels mascot; a book signing by Richard and Kathy Verlander, 2008 Little League Parents of the Year and authors of “Rocks Across the Pond”; and a sports collection drive by the Virginia Historical Society.
The film  will begin at 1 p.m. “Mickey,” which was written by John Grisham and made in Virginia, is a family film about parenting, ethics and Little League Baseball. Harry Connick Jr. stars.
Panel: A post-film discussion panel will follow with the Verlanders and Dawn Blacksten, location manager for "Mickey."
Location: Virginia Historical Society, Robins Family Forum, 428 North Boulevard, Richmond
Admission: Free
Co-sponsored by the Richmond Flying Squirrels

4 p.m. "Greased Lightning" (1977)
Starring Richard Pryor, this dramatic film tells the story of Danville stock car driver Wendell Scott, the only African American to win what is now the Sprint Cup Series.
Moderator: Connie Nyholm, CEO and owner of Virginia International Raceway
Panel: Introduction and post-film discussion with William F. Scott Sr. and Warrick F. Scott Sr., Scott’s son and grandson, who established the Wendell Scott Foundation to preserve the driver’s legacy.
Location: Grace Street Theater, 934 W. Grace St., Richmond
Admission: Free

7 p.m. "Whip It!" (2009)
About a young girl in Texas, played by Ellen Page, whose secret life as roller derby champion Babe Ruthless helps her cope with small-town living and a beauty pageant-obsessed mother. Shauna Cross, who wrote the novel and film and who once skated under the name  Maggie Mayhem, will introduce the film.
Panel: A discussion with Cross, WRIC-TV Channel 8 film critic Morgan Dean and River City Roller Girl Thistle Hurt will follow the film.
Location: Grace Street Theater, 934 W. Grace St., Richmond
Co-sponsored by River City Roller Girls

The Southern Film Festival was founded in 2010 to explore how the distinctiveness of the South has been portrayed on screen. It brings together films and those involved in their making with constructive commentary.

The festival is sponsored by the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Historical Society, the VCU departments of English, history, dance, and gender, sexuality and women’s studies, as well as VCU’s Division of Student Affairs, Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and Humanities Research Center.