Images on the Circuit from filmmaker Joe York

Joe at the Movie Tavern, City of Suwanee screening

MMCC audience ready for 'Pride & Joy'

Madison-Morgan Cultural Center

Hapeville screening room exterior (a former church -- thus the steeple!)

Hapeville audience engaged

Joe York on the Road with 'Pride & Joy' - The Food is Fine & the Audiences are Better!

From Joe York:

Suwannee, Georgia

My Circuit started in Suwannee, GA, last week. What struck me from the start (and what continues to impress as I make my way along the Southern Circuit ) is the level of organization and energy everyone brings to the screenings and events they host. 

Tony Shrewsbury and all of her colleagues from the City of Suwannee could not have been more friendly, the venue for the film (a great theater called the Movie Tavern that serves food and BEER during the screening) could not have been any better, and the audience was as engaged and interested in the film as any audience I’ve ever seen. To that point, the Q&A after the film went on for over an hour and we ended a great discussion with a DVD raffle or sorts, with six lucky Suwaneeans winning a copy of Pride & Joy to share with their family or sell on the black market. 

Leaving the theater after the screening I thought to myself, “If the rest of the stops on this tour are half as good as the first stop, I’m in for a hell of a good time.” I was right. 

Madison, Georgia

I’m from Oxford, Mississippi, a town that’s so quaint and charming that we can’t stand it when people tell us how quaint and charming it is. I thought we had the market cornered on beautiful old homes, cool shops on our town square, and nice folks who are nice to be around. Then I drove into Madison. 

My first stop in Madison was in one such home, the residence of Dr. Paul Roman, a professor of Sociology at the University of Georgia who had invited his freshman class on the Sociology of the South to meet with me for a discussion prior to the screening of the film. 

As we talked about the food and culture of the South, we ate pimento cheese sandwiches and boiled shrimp, a perfect beginning to a great night in Madison. 

After an hour-long discussion we headed over to the Madison Morgan Cultural Center, which is housed in a grand, old school building from the late 1800s. Inside the auditorium, a cozy room constructed entirely of heart pine from floor to ceiling, we found a crowd of over a hundred folks visiting, chatting, and enjoying the wine and beer that altogether too few concession stands feature at film screenings. 

Rebecca Bonas, who coordinated the event gave a wonderful introduction to the film and the audience really enjoyed the film, laughing throughout (a good thing) and asking really thoughtful questions during a half-hour Q&A after the screening.

We moved to an adjoining room following the Q&A and were treated to a gracious plenty of local foods, everything from spicy sausages to hand-made gouda. 

The next day I had a chance to meet with students at the Madison County High School where we talked about sustainable agriculture, what food means, and how cultural identity and food are so closely connected. When the bell rang, ending our time together and my time in Madison, I was set to leave, but was stopped by members of the Madison County Future Farmers of American and given one of the coolest shirts I’ve ever seen and one I will wear with pride, a Madison County FFA shirt with their logo emblazoned across the front “Getting’ Dirty Since 1928.”

Hapeville, Georgia

One of my favorite aspects of the Southern Circuit is how varied the venues for the screenings are from one town to the next. In Suwanee, we were in a brand new, state of the art movie theater where the latest summer blockbusters were playing on the other screens in the theater. In Madison, we were in an old and beautiful school auditorium where the audience sat in classic wooden theater seats and watched as the film was projected from a small upper gallery.  And then in Hapeville, we found ourselves in a meticulously restored Episcopal church on the edge of peaceful park in the middle of town. 

Before the screening, the good people of Hapeville, led by Charlotte Rentz and Allie O’Brien who organized the event, dined on fried chicken, collard greens, macaroni-and-cheese, and miniature pecan pies provided by Buttersweet Bakery (a must-stop restaurant in Hapeville). 

And then the folks who were chewing and sipping in folding chairs on the grounds of the old church did something I’ll never forget. Discovering that the day of our screening there was also my birthday, they had the band (did I mention they had a band!) play Happy Birthday as the fifty-or-so folks in attendance sang along. They even presented me with a damn tasty chocolate cupcake with a birthday candle on top. 

As if that wasn’t enough, these fine folks piled into the old church and watched the film with great enthusiasm and lots of laughter. Like all the crowds I’ve had the pleasure to meet on the Southern Circuit, the Hapeville audience asked thoughtful questions, made insightful comments and just generally embodied everything a filmmaker would ever hope for in an audience. 

Fall, Film and Football - 2013-2014 Southern Circuit Filmmakers on the Road

Summer is over for all practical purposes, folks. I’m not complaining. Fall ushers in cooler temps (well, not necessarily in the South), our beloved college football and a new season of Southern Circuit! Hard to believe this is the eighth season the Circuit has been a part of South Arts programming. Time flies when you have the privilege of partnering with outstanding filmmakers to present their latest films and working with great screening partners in 23 communities. 

For the 2013-2014 Circuit we have 135 films scheduled (that’s a whole lotta screenings). As is the Circuit tradition (and we are nothing without tradition in the South) filmmakers will be participating in Q&A sessions after their screenings. We encourage audience members to participate – and stick around for after-screening socializing (yet another great Southern tradition) at screening venue-sponsored receptions (sort of like tailgating indoors). Now you're wondering, 'Where do I see these fabulous films?' Fear not, the complete schedule is available on the South Arts website.

We’re kicking (ok, a football reference) the season off with three terrific filmmakers and their remarkable work! Enough of my rambling, it’s time to learn about our September tour. Huddle up, film team!

Morgan Nichols’ brings his feature film, How to Make Movies at Home, to the Circuit. Prepare yourself for a great story, a schooling in film studies and a darn good time.


Morgan’s first feature, Jesus Freak, premiered at The Los Angeles Film Festival in 2003, and won the Milagro Award - Best Southwest Film at the Santa Fe Film Festival. The Little Death followed in 2006, premiering as the closing night gala film at the Atlanta Film Festival and going on to garner awards for best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best cinematography as it traveled the festival circuit. In addition to independent filmmaking, Morgan has worked for various subsidiaries of Viacom, Warner Bros. and Disney. He holds an MFA in Cinema from The University of Southern California and a BA in Theater Arts from Brandeis University.

www.HowToMakeMoviesAtHome.com

Matt Anderson brings his visually stunning documentary, Fall and Winter, to our audiences. A film festival favorite, you’ll leave the screening inspired with a renewed faith in our planet and some determined residents. 

Matt is a Canadian filmmaker. After growing up on a small island off the coast of Vancouver he attended Vancouver Film School and subsequently moved to New York to pursue filmmaking. He has directed countless commercials, music videos and short documentaries. After years of collaboration with a variety of artists and companies he was inspired to his first feature doc. This began a five year journey to make Fall and Winter.

www.fallwintermovie.com

Documentary filmmaker Joe York shares his latest film, Pride and Joy. You’ll learn about the importance of Southern food and community in this beautiful travel log of stories, tastes and tradition (yes that word, again). 

 

Joe was born and raised in Glencoe, Alabama. In 1999 he received a degree in Anthropology from Auburn University, worked as an archaeologist for a few years and then moved to Oxford, Mississippi, in 2001 to pursue a Masters degree in Southern Studies. After focusing so hard on his academic pursuits that it took him four years to complete a two year course of study, York began working at the University of Mississippi's Media & Documentary Projects where he is now a Senior Producer of Documentary Projects. Over the eight years that he has worked at the University York has produced over three dozen short films in association with the Southern Foodways Alliance, a non-profit organization at UM focused on documenting and preserving southern food culture, and directed several feature-length documentaries including Mississippi Innocence and Pride & Joy. 

http://prideandjoythemovie.wordpress.com/