Virginia Commonwealth University Announces Third Annual Southern Film Festival

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University’s third annual Southern Film Festival features a diverse lineup of films that emphasize unconventional Southern rebels, including women, African-Americans and white Southerners opposed to the Civil War.

The theme of this year’s festival is “Screening Southern Rebellion." The festival takes place Feb. 24 and 25 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard; the Grace Street Theater, 934 W. Grace St.; and Cous Cous restaurant, 900 W. Franklin St.

The festival features five films and several prominent speakers, including film historian Molly Haskell, documentary filmmakers Connie Field and Marilyn Mulford and Willie Lanier, a retired Kansas City Chiefs linebacker inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, who acted in one of the films. 

“I think people enjoy the opportunity to engage in dialogue about films,” said festival organizer Emilie Raymond, Ph.D., associate professor of history. “While there are a lot of opportunities to see films, there are very few opportunities to actually talk about the films with the people involved in their making or with experts in their subject matter. We also try to show a good mix of feature, documentary and independent films.”

The addition of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as a screening venue allows the festival to reach larger audiences.

"Given the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ heritage of presenting creative, quality moving image programs, we are especially proud to host three events of the 2012 VCU Southern Film Festival,” said Suzanne Hall, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Chief Communications Director. 
   

Schedule of events:

Friday, Feb. 24

5 p.m.: Opening Reception

6 p.m.: Keynote Speaker:  Molly Haskell, author of “Frankly My Dear: ‘Gone With the Wind’ Revisited”

7 p.m.: “Margaret Mitchell:  American Rebel,” a Georgia Public Broadcasting film about the author’s life          

8 p.m.: Panel Discussion: John Wiley and Ellen Brown, authors of “Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind,” and Haskell

Moderator:  Jane Lucas, assistant professor in VCU’s University College

A portion of Wiley’s vast collection of “Gone With the Wind” memorabilia will be on display and all three panelists will be available for book signings

Location:  Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

 

Saturday, Feb. 25

10 a.m. “The Thrillbillys,” a 2005 independent film that focuses on one group’s revenge for a bulldozed moonshine still and the larger theme of taking the South back from Yankee industrialists

Post-film Discussion:  Jim Stramel, writer, director and producer of film

Moderator:  Ted Tunnell, Ph.D., professor of history

Location:  Cous Cous restaurant, where a breakfast buffet and non-alcoholic drink are available

 

1 p.m. “Shenandoah,” a 1965 film set in the American Civil War in which a Virginia farmer tries to remain neutral during the war

Moderator:  Richard A. Fine, Ph.D., English Department

Post-film response:  Ed Ayers, president, University of Richmond

Location:  Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

 

4 p.m. “The Black Six,” a 1974 film that was considered one of the first all-black biker films

Post-film Discussion:  Willie Lanier, retired NFL football player and actor in the film

Moderator:  Emilie Raymond, associate professor, history department, VCU

A meet and greet/autograph session will follow

Location:  Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

 

7 p.m. “Freedom on My Mind,” a 1994 documentary about efforts to register African-American voters in Mississippi in the 1960’s

Panel Discussion:  Connie Field, film director, and Marilyn Mulford, film producer

Moderator: Norrece Jones, Ph.D., associate professor of African-American studies and history

Location: Grace Street Theater

 

Screening of “Freedom on My Mind” is free and open to the public. Tickets for “The Thrillbillys” are $5 and include a buffet breakfast and non-alcoholic drink. Tickets for the other films are $8 for the general public and $4 for VMFA members. Admission to all films, with the exception of “Thrillbillys,” is free to VCU faculty, staff and students.

For additional information about the Southern Film Festival, visit http://wp.vcu.edu/sff/.

### 

About VCU and the VCU Medical Center:  Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 216 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-nine of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.

 

About Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: With a collection of art that spans the globe and more than 5,000 years, plus a wide array of special exhibitions, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is recognized as one of the top comprehensive art museums in the United States. The museum’s permanent collection encompasses more than 23,000 works of art, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside Russia and one of the nation’s finest collections of American Art, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. VMFA is home to acclaimed collections of English Silver and Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British Sporting and Modern & Contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened its doors to the public after a transformative expansion, the largest in its 75-year history. Programs include educational activities and studio classes for all ages, plus fun after-hours events. VMFA’s Statewide Partnership program includes traveling exhibitions, artist and teacher workshops, and lectures across the Commonwealth. VMFA is open 365 days a year and general admission is always free. For additional information, telephone 804-340-1400 or visit www.vmfa.museum.