Congrats to the Capri Theatre!

Southern Circuit is very happy to announce that the Capri Theatre has raised all of the money it will need to stay alive in this growing digital world. The Montgomery landmark for independent cinema began a Kickstarter campaign in order to convert from 35mm to DCI in March of 2013. In just about a month it succeeded in reaching its fundraising goal and now Montgomery audiences can hope to have the digital equipment up and running by the fall. Thanks to everyone for helping out our friends at The Capri! Here is a message from Martin McCaffery, Director of the Capri Theatre, upon the the success of the campaign:

"We did it!
We have reached the funding goal of $80,000.
Thank you for your support of the Capri Theatre. It means a lot to us.
With 12 days left in the campaign, I hope we'll be able to hit some stretch goals for the extra things we can do around the theatre.
More updates will come later, I just wanted you to know we did it and thank you again for your belief in the Capri and it's mission."

- Martin McCaffery, Director, Capri Theatre

Heart of Stone ventures into the heart of Alabama

plaque outside First White House of the Confederacy

Wed - April 16,2013

Drove from Madison to Montgomery , AL

So happy to be staying in the peaceful Lattice Inn, a b&b and homey it is. Welcomed personally by the owner with a cold drink and a snack.

Immediately went downtown & checked out the First White House of the Confederacy,

To wit: the home of Jefferson Davis.

A stately mansion which was preserved by Davis' widow. Then to the impressive Greek Revival gold domed State Capital with paintings of the Governors lining the hallways. I was curious to see Gov Wallace's painting in a prominent position in the rotunda since his history is etched in my upbringing . Then I walked to the riverfront. After a top dinner near the Inn I'm heading in for an early eve looking forward to tomorrow's screening and maybe fit in a tour of Scott & Zelda Fitsgeralds home first!

Took the Fitzgerald tour and am now primed for the up and coming film on The Gatsbys. It was a most informative tour. A spectacular "summer" day. On my way to sound check.

- Beth Kruvant

Fitzgerald House

The Capri Marquee

Here is the front of the Capri

The Capri Theater needs your help

"Misadventures of the Dunderheads" played the Capri Theater in Montgomery Thursday, March 21. This is a beautiful and good sized theater in the Art Moderne style popular in 1941 when it is was built. Martin who runs it gave Bruce and our Assoc. Producer, Janellen, a wonderful tour of Montgomery, including the state capitol buildings and all the strangely wonderful and unusual that only a native knows. 
The Capri desperately needs to put in digital cinema projection equipment. 35mm film prints are only going to be produced in this country for about another year. Since the Capri is an art house theater (the only one in the Montgomery area, maybe as far as I know the State of Alabama) and a non-profit they have started a Kickstarter program to raise the money to convert their projection room to digital. You can access it here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/729375914/dci-or-die-the-capri-theatre-goes-digital

Please contribute!

After our screening, a local psychologist and trauma counselor, stayed around to talk about how well the issues of abuse are documented in the story of "Misadventures....". We find we get a lot of interest and acclaim from professionals who deal with abuse and trauma when they see the film. This is one of the joys of fiction art film. People can enjoy a dramatic comedy "story" and at the same time learn something about life since the depiction of the psychology and behavior is uncannily accurate. 

As Picasso said: "Art is the lie which reveals the Truth."

The TRUST Cake

It’s a long darned drive from Montgomery, Alabama to Gallatin, Tennessee.  My mother and I had to smile at a sign we passed on Highway 65 – “Go To Church or the Devil Will Get You.”  Both Martin from the Capri Theater and Jim, our host at the Lattice Inn where we stayed in Montgomery, told us to keep our eyes out for it.  It was hard to miss.

I dropped my mother off at my sister and brother-in-law’s house in Huntsville, Alabama, and zoomed past Nashville to Gallatin, which has made a huge effort to revive its historic downtown, starting with fixing up and opening the Palace Theater.  My host, Donna Belote, Executive Director of Greater Gallatin, said that twenty some years ago when they started trying to bring the downtown back to life, someone said that the only way the downtown would come back to life was to knock it down and replace it with a Home Depot or a Walmart.  As someone who made Downside UP www.downsideupthemovie.org a documentary about the revitalization of my home town North Adams, Massachusetts I was happy to be part of an event in an up-and-coming downtown, with businesses and restaurants, and bars with live music.

Pharmacy repurposed to a bar in Gallatin

Sugar Paper!

This is the first year Gallatin has hosted Southern Circuit filmmakers and Donna has a nice group of people who get together to support the screenings – the mayor and a member of the city council attended and after the screening, they had a nice reception that included a special TRUST cake.

Photo: Amy Braswell, © Kelly+Yamamoto Productions 2010

I’ve noticed that in these Southern Circuit screenings, unlike any other TRUST screenings I’ve attended, members of the audience want to know how the Albany Park Theater Project (APTP) supports itself.  Chicago has a great tradition of the city and foundations supporting the arts and supporting theater and David Feiner, artistic director and co-founder, spends a lot of time fundraising, as do members of his board.  They get their fantastic space from the Chicago Parks Department.

At the end of the discussion with the audience, Paige, the MC, excitedly announced that Gallatin has been invited to take part in the 2013 – 2014 Southern Circuit.  I wish I had had more time to spend in Gallatin, the little taste of music I heard was terrific.

Intersections

Intersections

Martin McCaffery

If Martin McCaffery, Director of the Capri Theater in Montgomery, AL, ever offers to take you on a tour of Montgomery, say “Yes!”  I said yes on behalf of my mother Ginny and myself and was glad I did.  I used the Montgomery screening as an excuse for a family reunion, and met my mother, who lives in Venice, Florida, at the Atlanta Airport as I drove from Madison, GA to Montgomery.

As with the other stops on the tour so far, I have never been to Montgomery.  I knew the city was an epicenter in the Civil Rights movement, but I had no idea how close one place is to another: Martin Luther King Jr.’s church is just a block or two down the street from the Alabama State Capital where the march from Selma to Montgomery ended and is precisely across the street from the Alabama Supreme Court building.  The church is also within a few blocks of where slaves were sold before the Civil War, after being brought in from the river. 

As we were getting out of his car in downtown Montgomery, Martin asked whether we liked monuments.  I am not crazy about looking at monuments, but I just followed him up the marble State Capitol steps and across its manicured grounds to a monument to the Confederacy’s three flags, something I never would have stopped to examine without him. Martin is very sharp about pointing out the difference between what is being said and what is going on behind what is being said - and explained in his dry, humorous way that although the Confederacy lasted only four years, it had three flags.  The first, it was decided, resembled the Union flag too much.  The second had the St. Andrews Cross in its upper left hand corner and the rest of the flag was white.  It was decided that when this flag was unfurled, it looked too much like the flag of surrender.  So it was replaced by yet another flag.  Never having spent any of my adult life in this region, I was fascinated. 

Next we visited the three statues on the grounds of the state house: Jefferson Davis, a legislator, and the father of modern gynecology, who, Martin pointed out, was doing his work prior to the Civil War and must have experimented on female slaves to learn what he learned. 

And then, a very short walk from the state house, near the Southern Poverty Law Center, is Mya Lin’s Civil Rights Memorial. Carved into a vertical piece of black granite is a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., “Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” In front of that is a unique fountain in which water flows over a flat oval shaped table like surface in which significant dates in the Civil Rights struggle are carved in a pattern radiating from the center. 

Hank Williams and his ex-wife are buried on top of a hill in a Montgomery cemetery.  People go to his grave to watch the sunrise. Did you know there is a typo in his ex-wife’s head stone? 

And then, as if there needed to be more juxtapositions of present and past ironies, Martin then took us to the intersection of Jefferson Davis Avenue and Rosa Parks Avenue. 

It was kind of a thrill to see TRUST on the Capri’s marquee that night.  My niece Ami DuBois, who is a Ph.D. candidate in physics at Auburn University and is preparing to defend her dissertation this fall, drove to Montgomery with her boyfriend Adam for the screening.  

Nancy with Cheryl Hardley from STAR

Cheryl Hardley from Standing Together Against Rape (STAR), the Montgomery counseling center, joined us for the screening and discussion with the audience.  The discussion after TRUST often ranges widely, from the transformative power of theater to prevention of child sexual abuse to filmmaking. But when someone from a local rape crisis center joins us, there are always questions about trauma and sexual violence, and it always feels like people in the audience learn something new. 

Some film school students in the audience were very complimentary of a structural device we used in TRUST – returning several times in the course of the film to APTP’s sacred story telling circle where Marlín tells her story to the company.  This was an idea Kenji had after he input the footage of Marlín telling her story when she spoke for an hour and forty five minutes.  Kenji’s idea was to structure the film so that Marlín told her story in parts and when each part ended, the audience would think the stakes couldn’t get any higher, and then, when we cut back to Marlín telling her story, the stakes in her story would get higher. 

Martin made our visit to Montgomery a lot of fun – and an education.  

Drivers Wanted: 02 Montgomery's Oldest Taxi Driver

"You don't want to get in a cab smelling bad," says Marshall Lane, Montgomery's oldest taxi driver.  "I am the only cab driver dressed professionally 7 days a week.  I wear a suit and a necktie."  At 64 Marshall has been through a lot of firsts "My company was the first black owned cab company in Montgomery.  I am the first black cabbie to be allowed to pick up at the airport and the first to have A/C in my cab."  Marshall saved Freedom Riders by taking them to the hospital in a cab after they were attacked in Montgomery.  Living through race riots and segregation, Marshall says all that does not bother him.   "In my cab, race never meant anything to me, because money is always green."

When not driving Marshall likes to watch Samford and Sons.  "It is still on TV in Montgomery.  Every chance I get I want to look at it."

Wow how the days go by....Suwanee, Madison, Montgomery, Gallatin.  Pulled into Montgomery on last Wednesday night and ended up at the Railyard drinking a nicely made Montgomerian IPA and a burger.  On tv were probably 2 of the worst teams in the NBA, so obviously there were things better at the bar to talk about.  I met two guys who work at a junk yard and they invited me over the next day.  I threw a hard hat on my head and met people junking 20 fridges at a time, and getting $3 per pound for copper, 55 cents per pound for aluminum radiators, and 45 cents per pound for sheet metal.  Some of it stripped out of foreclosed houses and some found the old fashion way.  Multiple junkers told me that they suspect up to 70% of it is stolen.  Who knows but the more that junk is worth, the more a broken iron or tv is worth more than the walk to the curb. Did everyone realize that Sanford was a also a junk dealer? It all goes together.

Another example of things cast off that have found new use are the amazing movie theaters on the tour, the Capri in Montgomery and the Palace in Gallatin remind you that for a long time the local cinema was a temple to the moving image.

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You've Got to Hank It

There is a part of me that gets little love on the Left Coast of California -- Christopher Rufo, country music fan. In fact, in the Bay Area, there isn't even a single country station on the radio.

So I've been pretty spoiled here in Montgomery, Alabama, which has a solid selection of country music radio stations. Plus, I was able to make the pilgrimage to one of country's holiest sites: the grave of Hank Williams.

My faithful tour guide was the director of the Capri Theater, Martin McCaffery. Martin was kind enough to take time out of his day to show me Hank's grave, the Hank Williams Museum (they've got the car where he took those pills!), Martin Luther King Jr.'s church, and the State Capitol.

Quite a fun trip, especially with Martin's irreverent take on the politics of Alabama. He had me laughing with his stories about going up against the mayor, governor, and state Supreme Court justices while working for the Alabama ACLU.

The show last night was great -- beautiful theater, enthusiastic crowd, and the AARP was a huge help promoting the event.

I'll leave you with a picture that's a kind of Wheel of Fortune puzzle. Like to buy a vowel?

SAHKANAGA - Days 6 thru 9

#6 CLEMSON - The Greenville, SC, airport is a strangely soothing place. The approach is beautifully landscaped, reminiscent of the entrance to the Biltmore Estate. (I'm not kidding.) The road softly winds past flowers and greenery, ending at a dramatic display of spraying water. Inside, the dining room basks in daylight that filters through lush trees and a wall of windows that stretch upwards of 30 feet. There's also a lovely lunch counter with a killer short-order cook. Poached eggs, bacon and grits - all perfectly cooked. And the best cup of coffee I've had on the entire trip.

This bucolic surprise extends to the Clemson University campus where shiny, happy students traverse wide lawns, tossing footballs while dreaming up a cure for cancer. WHERE AM I?

I met my host, Amy, and some students for a sandwich before the screening. The questions from the students, over sandwiches and during the Q&A, revealed a student body that is curious, discerning and articulate. I tried to convey the importance of recognizing their academic and social privilege so that they can accept the responsibility of using it for positive social, cultural and political change. I could sense a lot of hope and ambition in that room. I even met a woman from the community who asked if she could adopt me, and a gentleman who had traveled to Tanzania where he encountered the burial ritual of leaving a corpse out in the open for hyenas to eat.

The best part is that the car rental company asked if I would prefer a mini-van or pickup truck. They gave me the biggest truck I've ever seen (besides a U-Haul or the equipment truck we drove during filming). The Dodge Ram. I almost returned it because it was too much truck for me, but I tamed that beast over twisting mountain roads to my Uncle David's cabin in the DuPont State Forest.

#7 MONTGOMERY - Uncle David is the Forest Supervisor at one of North Carolina's crown jewels - the DuPont State Forest. Over 10,000 acres of mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and trails. Unfortunately, I was only able to spend the night because I had to leave before sunrise to catch a flight to Montgomery.

The Capri is an old theatre in the Cloverdale neighborhood, and a rarity among smaller American cities - a bleeding heart indie/art house cinema.

Next time you find yourself in Montgomery, please catch a flick at the Capri, and grab a drink at a phenomenal new bar behind the theatre - Leroy.

This leg of the journey was made extra special by my longtime friends Janet & Jason driving down from Birmingham to spend the afternoon with me. I met Janet at summer camp when we were 14-years-old, and besides being an amazing friend and musician, Janet put her life on hold to assist our Production Designer, Kay Lee, during the shoot. She was my bunkmate, my unofficial on-set therapist, and I love her to pieces.

They're also the type of friends who can spend the afternoon relaxing in a park, talking or not talking, bare feet on warm grass, enjoying the effortless comfort that is the reward after years of friendship and shared experience.

I definitely hit a wall of exhaustion in Montgomery. After the screening, we returned to Janet's parents' house and I literally felt like gravity was pulling me forward. I couldn't even stay up to chat. Southern Circuit Zombified!

#8 ALEXANDRIA - I cannot, under any circumstances, recommend the Econo-Lodge in Alexandria, LA. By far the most disastrous Hotwire reservation ever, I entered the Econo-Lodge (inexplicably awarded two stars on Hotwire) parking lot which was completely deserted except for a white mini-van with no hubcaps and two blown-out tires, and a little girl standing outside the entrance with her back to me. Across the parking lot at the neighboring hotel I saw three men escort a woman in a tiny yellow dress into one of the rooms upstairs. The little girl had a blonde ponytail and she wore jean shorts with a rainbow-striped tube top. She seemed to be absorbed in an iPhone or something. When I approached the door she turned around revealing about 8-months of pregnancy. I don't know how she stayed balanced since her stomach was equal in size to her entire person. I checked in and drove around back to find my room. Shirtless dudes congregated in back of the hotel, sitting on the curb, waiting for... the woman in the yellow dress?

The door to my room wouldn't open so I gave it a little kick and it snapped forward, the light from the hall spilling into darkness as a roach scurried across the wall and an oppressive stale smokiness pushed itself out, as though the air was trying to flee the confines of that sad room. The baseboard had been ripped from the wall, plaster and all. Tiny specks of daylight blazed through the holes. I decided to take a quick shower and head to the venue, taking all of my belongings because it just didn't feel safe.

Alexandria is a mid-sized city in the center of Louisiana, and it reminded me a lot of Chattanooga, TN, in the '80s, before the revitalization efforts of the '90s which transformed Chattanooga into a vibrant tourist destination. Positioned along the Red River, Alexandria has great potential, and most astonishingly it's home to a gorgeous, state-of-the-art, huuuuuuuge arts complex - the Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center. By far the most pristine projection on the entire tour, the film looked and sounded great, though it was surreal to watch the movie in a 615-seat theatre with 30 people.

Afterwards I met my saviors, David & Nicole Holcombe. Transplants from San Francisco and Brussels, they have lived in Alexandria for over 25 years. They found out I was staying in the Econo-Lodge, and since David works for the Department of Public Health he's privy to the hotel's bedbug infestations, so they insisted that I check out and stay with them for the night. Passionate art collectors, their house is filled with funky, colorful pieces from all over. The next morning we got to share a relaxed breakfast al fresco with greek yogurt and local strawberries before I returned to the airport. I love the Holcombes. They quite possibly saved my life.

#9 THOMASVILLE - On this trip I've been spending a lot of time in the Atlanta airport, and I've been surprised by the number of people I've seen in tears. At one gate I sat next to a large man in a white suit who broke down while talking on the phone to someone he loved but felt manipulated by. At another gate a tan woman in tight jeans and a sequined Harley-Davidson t-shirt sat across from me and revealed, through multiple phone conversations with her son, mother & lover, that she had applied for a domestic violence grant in Miami so that she could qualify for a free trip to an undisclosed rehab center in the Appalachians. She had acquired too many "jail points" as a prostitute, so she needed to go away for 30-90 days and get clean. She asked her son not to forget her. She asked him not to get married until she was able to come home.

Thomasville, on the other hand, is a charming town in south Georgia, where people seem pretty darn happy. The Thomasville Center for the Arts  is housed in an old school that has been beautifully restored, on par with any renovation/repurposing I've seen in New York. They decided to pair the SAHKANAGA screening with an art opening featuring the works of Carol Christie and Karl Zerbe.

The evening began with a wine & beer reception (amazing homemade poppy bleu cheese thumbprints with raspberry preserves!) and live upright bass from a young Tallahassee musician who plays with the Zach Bartholomew Trio. I really enjoyed chatting with everyone, and afterwards at the dessert & coffee reception I met a teacher who brought his class to view the Karl Zerbe exhibit, which features a series of paintings inspired by the Civil Rights movement in Albany, GA, and one of his black students pulled him aside and asked, "Does this museum ever show paintings by black artists?"

This tour has me thinking a lot about the lack of integration in the arts, which should be one of its greatest advantages - the ability to communicate diverse cultural experiences and bridge social gaps through exchange and understanding. But that is not often the case.

As a filmmaker I'm hoping to tell stories about communities that are not represented often or well in movies, but beyond that, I'm interested in figuring out ways to bring independent film to communities with little or no access to the art form. This is the goal of the Southern Circuit Tour, certainly, but there's a lot more work to be done if we're going to cross boundaries within each town. The New Orleans Film Society recently raised money to purchase a projector that they can take directly into neighborhoods. If the audiences won't come to us, we should go to them. Unconventional, forward-thinking models. An aspiration. A possibility.

Marching on the State Capitol

After a good night's sleep at the wonderful Lattice Inn, I headed to the State Capitol, arriving just as the first marchers were arriving.  The drizzling rain didn't seem to dampen the high spirits of the crowd.  Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson were up on stage to welcome them, and a gospel group rant out with an awe inspiring "I'm gonna let nobody turn me round..." as the crowd gathered.  How amazing to bear witness to this momentous day.



Later, Martin McCaffery, Director of the Capri Theater, also took me to see the Civil Rights Memorial, the Rosa Parks Museum, and Hank Williams' grave.  I was glad to see all of these, especially Maya Lin's awesome installation,  but my heart drew me back to the demonstration still going on downtown.  I returned there just in time to see Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, and many other leaders gather on the steps of the capitol and sing the iconic and still deeply meaningful, "We Shall Overcome".

- Anne Makepeace

Notes from Montgomery

On Day 7 of the Southern Circuit tour,  I pulled out of Montgomery airport in the early afternoon into pure gridlock. What was all the traffic at this hour?  I noticed groups of people walking along the road, many looking Hispanic or Native American, some carrying flags or banners.  They were converging on a big tent and thought, is this a pow wow?  How amazing!  

Then I noticed the signs and t-shirts that read, Stop HB 56, We are the 99, Proud to be Union, I Am a Man, We Are One.  I stopped and talked to a man named Samuel who told me that the people marching along the road had just walked all the way from Selma to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.'s march 47 years ago that day, and to protest the draconian Alabama anti-immigrant law HB 56, in particular its potentially devastating effect on voting rights.  Near the end of their march, they were gathering outside Montgomery to prepare for the march to the State Capital the next day.

To see the interview with Samuel, click the video above:

That night, as I screened We Still Live Here at the Capri Theater downtown, I thought about the marchers a few miles away, their heart and determination to honor Dr. King and to keep fighting for a better world.  At first these thoughts made what I was doing seem insignificant - screening a documentary to a few people - but my passion for this film and its story soon rose up  and replaced that feeling with a sense of history and purpose.  Aren't we all fighting for the same thing?  A more just world where the word freedom has deep personal meaning, where diversity is honored and valued and the many unique communities in our midst are appreciated and prized as part of the rich fabric of our country , and then I felt part of the marchers with their banners saying, We Are One.

Further On Up The Road with World’s Largest

Another storied Carolina University, Hank Williams’ hometown and a quintessential small southern city were the next stops on World’s Largest’s Southern Circuit journey. The trek to Clemson took one canceled flight, four airports and eleven hours, but I was able to squeak in under the wire for the Q&A. The students’ thoughtful, production-related questions made me glad that I did. Add a visit to a real neighborhood bar with faculty Amy Monaghan and Jonathan Beecher Field, and all road weariness was vanquished.

I got to Montgomery, AL right on schedule and in plenty of time for Capri Theatre director Martin McCaffery to take me sightseeing. And to exactly my kind of sights – offbeat attractions like the aforementioned Williams’ grave and a proud civic monument to the “father of modern gynecology”. But the highlight of the tour for me was actually the Capri itself. The classic mid-century American cinema is a gem of a venue - where true film buffs want to go and filmmakers want to screen.

I went from a big city to a small one with a Sunday matinee in Winder, GA. Downtown Main Street looked like a shot from World’s Largest – sleepy historic buildings, chain store sprawl still held at bay by the railroad tracks running through town. It also belied the modernity of the Winder Cultural Arts Center. The state-of-the-art facilities were an impressive reminder of how harnessing technology is one way rural communities can remain relevant. The importance of that continuing relevance was a constant of the discussions both on stage (expertly moderated by WTV21 producer Christopher Childs) and at the post-event reception.

It's not over till it's over...

...just like some joker said...
Driving out of Montgomery in the predawn light. Watching the fog roll off fields like they were on fire and the traffic change from school buses to semi trailers. Trying to make it to thomasville in time to teach a class. Listening to vic chessnut and feeling very southern.

The week is almost done

On one hand I feel like I've been on the road for a month...on the other hand I'm a little sad to be coming close to the end.
We have had audiences of all different sizes...but all have been really excited about the film. Tonight I got to speak to a perspective future film student as well as some of the great film supporters here in Montgomery.
But before the screening I git a quick tour of Montgomery...and it is a town rich with history...and rich with some strangenesses too. They have seven buildings that look like the white house. They have a statue to the father of modern gynocology. They have a corner where Rosa parks and hank Williams share opposite sides of the same historical marker.
Jim deserves a huge thanks for putting me up at the lattice inn...amazing place...and for the scrabble welcome...and Martin for showing me around!
Seriously though, the lattice inn is fabulous. Stay here when you are in Montgomery.
Now, sleep for four hours...then back off to thomasville at 5 am!

Scrappers in Montgomery/Jackson

I’m writing on the road from Montgomery to Jackson, just crossing the Chunky River in the deep deep green of the Black Belt. Ben was kind enough to do another timelapse so you can see for yourself, also featuring some Spanish moss we picked up last week in Savannah so we could ride in style:


Scrappers #2.5 from scrap movie on Vimeo.


We had the pleasure of screening at the second theater on our tour, Montgomery’s 1941 art-deco Capri:



















The Capri Community Film Society is lucky to have a charismatic Director / Programmer / Fundraiser / Foreman Projector / House Manager / Ticket & Concession Salesman and all-around Crusading Knight Templar of Independent Cinema for Alabama wrapped up in Martin McCaffrey:


















If Martin has an analogue in Chicago, it’s in the shadowy figure of James Bond, walking encyclopedia of film projection, who physically keeps independent cinemas all over the nation running. And who, un-coincidentally, sold the Capri its 35mm and 16mm projectors, still going 20+ years later. A Montgomery ode to you, James:












Martin took us on an excellent, freewheeling tour of the… if I may?... psycho-geography of the city of Montgomery. Civil War, Civil Rights, integration, disintegration, revitalization. There were crosses on the lawn:













Space missions:













A fountain spewing pink water,
Interventions from the heirs of Hank Williams:













And, of course, plenty of information about the tragically lost histories of movie theaters in Montgomery, Alabama, and the USA.

The tour ended near the quixotic intersection of Jefferson Davis and Rosa Parks Avenues..











And did I mention that today is the 150^th anniversary of the first salvo of the Civil War?

About 25 friendly Montogomerians came out and talked with us afterward.Lest this sound small to your big city mind, Martin slipped us data to prove that Scrappers at the Capri out-grossed nearly all the nearby multiplex films for the night, including:

Soul Surfer / Insidious / Arthur / Hanna / Diary of a Wimpy Kid / Your Highness / Limitless / Source Code / The Lincoln Lawyer / Red Riding Hood / Rango / Sucker Punch / HOP / Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son / Battle: Los Angeles / Paul … and The King’s Speech

Southern Circuit for the win!

Since I'm a little late actually getting this post up, let me also thank Melissa and all the students, faculty and community members who came out to our screening at Millsaps College in Jackson. It might sound like I'm repeating myself at this point in the trip, but we had one of the lengthiest and best discussions so far -- traversing cinematography, economics, ethics, and the reasons why anyone should either make or watch documentary films. As well as some after-hours conversation with our gracious hosts Conner and Scott about the Jackson Volcano. Thanks to all, and keep it up!