Tonight marks the start of the 12th annual Indie Memphis Film Festival at Studio on the Square in Midtown. Yay!

The festival was named one of the "25 Coolest Film Festivals" by Movie Maker Magazine (a totally deserved honor). I've had the pleasure of previewing some of this year's films and if you make it to the festival, you're in for some great viewing experiences.

I highly recommend checking out "Dear Lemon Lima" (an adorable and funny misfit story written and directed by Suzi Yoonessi) and "Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo" (a documentary about inmates riding bulls in one of the country's last surviving prison rodeos).https://ilovememphisblog.com/wp-admin/post-new.php

Other festival events not to be missed this weekend are Friday's screening of "Paranormal Activity" (hosted by local filmmaker Craig Brewer), the discussions (on everything from working the film festival circuit to wrangling non-professional actors), and the Music Video Showcase (on Saturday at 7:30).

The festival closes on Thursday, Oct. 15th with a screening of Kirt Gunn's  made-in-Memphis film "Lovely By Surprise".

Passes are available for the whole festival or you can purchase tickets to individual screenings. Some of the events (like tomorrow night's screening of Elvis's '68 Comeback Special, Memphis at SXSW and the Big Lebowski at Levitt Shell) are free.