Plan Your Indie Memphis Schedule: Ten Must-See Films
Plan Your Indie Memphis Schedule: Ten Must-See Films
Indie Memphis Film Festival kicks off this Thursday night and rages all through Sunday with tons of films. Plan your Indie Memphis schedule with this handy guide to the ten films you'll want to pick and choose from.
GIVEAWAY: I'm giving away two 4-Day Standby Passes* (worth $100) to one person who comments on this post telling me which movies they'll see. I'll do a random drawing on Wednesday at noon. *Read about Standby Passes here.
**GIVEAWAY ENDED: Congrats to our winner, Christopher Marshburn! Enjoy the passes! **
If you can't spend your whole weekend at the movies, no worries. You can buy individual tickets to screenings for $15. Or if you want to buy a weekend pass, it comes with all kinds of perks like shows and parties. Or you can volunteer and get some cool perks, too. Check out all your options for tickets here.
1. Gabriel (Opening Night Film/Gala Screening), Thursday, Oct. 30 7 p.m., Playhouse on the Square, watch the trailer here
Rory Culkin plays Gabriel, a troubled young man who tries to reunite with his first love. As his search gets tougher, he gets crazier.
No Way! Rory Culkin and director Lou Howe are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Buy tickets to Gabriel
2. Hometowner Shorts (Gala Screening), Friday Oct. 31 6:30 p.m., Playhouse on the Square
11 locally-made short films, ranging from four minutes to 15 minutes long, will play one right after the other. This one is really fun, because the theatre will be full of the Memphis actors, directors, and crew members who made the movies.
Buy tickets to Hometowner Shorts
3. Wild Canaries, Friday Oct 31 6:45 p.m., Circuit Playhouse, Watch the trailer here
Brooklyn couple Barri (Sophia Takal) and Noah (writer-director Lawrence Michael Levine) neighbor dies. Barri suspects foul play and sets out to investigate. Boasting a stellar supporting cast including Jason Ritter (Parenthood), Kevin Corrigan (The Departed), and Annie Parisse (The Following), Wild Canaries is a freshly comedic take on classic film noir.
Buy tickets to Wild Canaries
4. Art & Craft, Saturday Nov 1 3:30 p.m., Playhouse on the Square, Watch the trailer here
For decades, art forger Mark Landis has recreated amazing works of art, passed them off as authentic and given them away to museums and galleries (including the Brooks Museum in Memphis!) posing as a philanthropic donor. This documentary is about how he got caught and what happens next.
No Way!: Mark Landis and Director Sam Cullman are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Buy tickets to Art & Craft
5. Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back, Sat, Nov 1 3:35 p.m, Studio on the Square, Watch the music video here
The career of Frankie Banali, drummer of Quiet Riot, took a major sideswipe when his singer and best friend Kevin DuBrow died in 2007. At times both utterly tragic and downright hilarious, the film follows him going through the emotional feat of trying to fill the void left by Kevin and get the band back together one more time.
No Way!: Director Regina Johnson and Frank Banali are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Buy tickets to Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back
6. Evolution of a Criminal, Sat Nov 1 3:45 p.m., Hattiloo, Watch the trailer here.
How does a 16 year-old evolve into a bank robber? Filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe asks this very question — about himself. Years after robbing a bank to help his family make ends meet, Monroe returns to his neighborhood to examine lower class struggles and the desperation of a teen under pressure.
No Way!: Director Darius Clark Monroe is scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Buy tickets to Evolution of a Criminal
7. Heathers (Gala Screening), Saturday, Nov 1. 6 p.m., Playhouse on the Square, watch the trailer here
25th anniversary screening of one of the most subversive films of the 1980s, Heathers. Audiences were not ready for this merciless black comedy when it debuted in 1989, but…it's now regarded as one of the greatest high school movies ever made.(Synopsis by C. Scott McCoy).
No Way!: Director Michael Lehmann and screenwriter Daniel Waters are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
buy tickets to Heathers
8. Glena, Saturday Nov. 1 6:30 p.m., Circuit Playhouse, watch the trailer here
Craig Brewer described this film to me like this: "A documentary about a Germantown soccer mom type who becomes a badass cage fighter." I'm sold. (Synopsis by Holly).
No Way!: Glena Avila and Producer Ashley Scherman are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Buy tickets to Glena
9. Who Took Johnny?, Sat Nov 1 6:45 p.m., Studio on the Square, Watch the trailer here
Johnny Gosh was the first missing child to appear on a milk carton more than thirty years ago. His case is cold, but this film focuses on his mother's quest to find the truth, and the endless intrigue and conspiracy theories surrounding the case.
No Way!: Directors Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Buy tickets to Who Took Johnny
10. Hoop Dreams, Sunday, Nov. 1 5 p.m., Hattiloo Theater, watch the trailer here
20th anniversary screening of the 1994 documentary which follows the lives of two inner city Chicago boys (Arthur Agee and William Gates) who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
No Way!: Arthur Agee, William Gates and Peter Gilbert are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Buy tickets to Hoop Dreams.
BONUS!! Lights, Camera, Bullsh**, Sunday, Nov. 2 5:30 p.m., Circuit Playhouse, watch the trailer here (warning: adult language in the trailer)
Support your fellow Memphians by going to see this debut from local director Chad Allen Barton that stars Ron Gephart and Eric Tate (who made me cry with his role in The Poor and Hungry). The story: Gerard Evans comes back to Memphis to make legit films, but is thwarted by his crazy day job, mobsters, family obligations, and of course, two psychotic gangs of historically inaccurate presidential impersonators.
No Way! Director Chad Allen Barton and Producer Joseph Carr are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Buy tickets to Lights, Camera, Bullsh**
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To see the full Indie Memphis 2014 schedule, go here.
A huge, huge thanks to the folks at Indie Memphis who helped me out with this post and picking films. Y'all are the best.
(Ed. Note: Film synopses ares edited versions of those provided by Indie Memphis, unless otherwise noted.)
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