Vivienne Roumani - Hanceville, Serenbe, Louisville

The latest update from Vivienne Roumani, who recently completed touring her film Out of Print:

Birmingham's one night stop on the way to Hanceville, AL

Welcome to southern hospitality. After a short stroll I found myself at Brick & Tin, a warm and casual restaurant where I had a delicious Rio Grande Panini (wilted kale, queso fresco & pickled peppers) and an autumn vegetable salad with lots of root vegetable – hungry just thinking about it.

The (not-just-a-bookstore) Jim Reed’s Bookstore attracts visitors from all over the world.

This is a place where books and memories live side by side.

Jim has done it all: arts, films, writing, and more. Books should be displayed the way you see books at home, he says, not alone but amidst “your favorite blanket” and things.

Across the street at the Museum of Art for a brief tour and the Rushton Annual Concert with Antonio Polpa-Baldi.

I love good piano music.

Just one evening of beautiful lodging, great art and architecture -- basking in all the senses before heading to Hanceville.

Hanceville, AL

Serenbe – An idyllic place, where people are “conscious” and engaged, caring about each other, the arts and the environment.

It was wonderful staying in Clare Martorana's beautiful home.

With my wonderfully hosts, Julie and John Kappas.

Serenbe’s artists and their clever rendition announcing the event at the Blue Eyed Daisy Bakeshop.

Delicious food as well as friends dropping by to join you or leave you to your work.

Ever present Serenbe audience.

Serenbe Q&A moderated by the eloquent Sam Harrison, a creativity in business expert.








Last stop: Louisville, KY

Hopping Carmichael’s Bookstore on a Sunday.

Q&A at the Clifton Center.

The magical grand finale, the Brown Hotel.

Mint Julep in Bourbon City.

Cheers and thank you for an informative, inspirational trip. Thank you Southern Circuit and all my wonderful hosts, for the opportunity to be reminded that individuals transcend all preconceived notions.

Vivienne Roumani - Winder and Augusta

Here's the latest update from Vivienne Roumani, currently touring her film Out of Print:

Great to see musicians and composers Jerry and Marlene Tachoir, parents of Erica Tachoir, a major contributor to Out of Print. Talent runs in families. Gallatin, TN.

I am bringing my film, my story to places in the South where I have never been, and I am receiving stories from the fascinating people here, about themselves and their cities and architecture.

Long story short: Screening at the Winder Cultural Arts Center, Winder, Georgia.

Don Wildsmith, my host in Winder, is a founding member of the Winder-Barrow Community Theatre and has been very active in all things theatrical, from education to technology, design, acting, directing, dancing –world-wide. This in addition to serving 30 years with the United States Navy.

Chris Childs, moderating the Q&A, is the editor/producer of Winder TV. Chris is a filmmaker and a former New Yorker.

I took Don’s advice and stayed close to the Atlanta airport to avoid morning rush hour in Atlanta.  I was on an early flight to Augusta, Georgia, where, after landing, I asked how much time to allow to get to the airport in the morning.  I was told there was no rush hour.  When was the last time you heard that?

Augusta was a revelation. Take a peek at the glorious Lookaway Inn, and see if you can spot Scarlett. The river walk is unforgettable, especially at this time of year. The city has galleries, the Morris Museum of Art, where the screening was held, and historic homes --and a great bookstore, which was right to the point of Out of Print.

Book Tavern owner David Hutchison is not posing. I interrupted his work and asked for a smile when I stumbled into this little gem. He came to the screening and brilliantly contributed to the discussion.

The glorious Lookaway Inn, Scarlett?

The River Walk

Morris Museum of Art. The audience at the screening at the Morris Museum was an engaged, lively group – a pleasure for Q&As. 

Around the River Walk I found this. Did you guess it? The Marriott Hotel, Augusta, GA.

Next time, I’ll bring my husband instead of just his beautiful anniversary flowers that were waiting for me at the Lookaway Inn.

At Miramar

Here's the latest update from filmmaker Vivienne Roumani, who spent Saturday in Miramar, FL with her film Out of Print.

All In A Day
Out of Print at Miramar, FL.

Bright morning Florida sunshine, a treat to wake up to.

Library at the venue: an active 5-year old campus, with arts, films, library, college.

Q&A after the morning screening for elementary school students and teachers. The questions were quite different from the ones I usually get – more personal about their own reading habits.

Deconstructing the book with the well-known artist George Gadson. 

With Mayor Lori Cohen Moseley, a strong supporter of education, at the Out of Print screening.

To Miramar!

An update from filmmaker Vivienne Roumani, currently touring her film Out of Print:

Never been there, never done that – an expression that marks the beginning of our daily, small creations that enrich our lives, albeit at times accompanied by anxieties about the new and the unexpected. We don’t know what will develop, whom and what we will see, learn, meet. These are life-changing moments, in the smallest or largest ways, and this is how blank pages of the stories to “tell our grandchildren” begin.  I am at a bookstore (there still are some, folks) in the airport on my way to taking my documentary Out of Print to my first stop on the Southern Circuit tour. It will be screened on November 7th at the Miramar Cultural Center, Florida with an Educational Screening at 10:30 am (so glad many of you students will attend), and the Film Festival screening at 7:30 pm. I’m looking forward to meeting you all, and to engage in the Q&As which will be fun and informative.

November Update - New Films and Filmmakers on the Southern Circuit

Happy November, friends! The weather is becoming crisp, leaves are changing colors, and we've got three new filmmakers on the Southern Circuit! Please join us in welcoming Vivienne Roumani (Out of Print), Jeremy Seifert (GMO OMG), and John Beck (Harvest).

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Vivienne Roumani is an independent producer/director based in New York City. She brings to Out of Print a unique perspective gained as a director at the Library of Congress and the UC Berkeley Library, where she led digitization projects. Vivienne's previous documentary, The Last Jews of Libya, narrated by Isabella Rossellini, had its U.S. premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and was subsequently screened at major festivals and other venues around the world as well as on the Sundance channel.

Out of Print draws us into the topsy-turvy world of the revolution that is changing everything about the printed word – and changing us. We find ourselves in the midst of the riveting debate over the future of ideas when anyone can find out almost anything about any topic, anywhere, at lightning speed. Filmmaker Vivienne Roumani weaves order as she tackles the questions confronting the modern word industry and shows that much more is at stake than how quickly we can access the latest byte.

Schedule:
Nov 7 - City of Miramar, Miramar, FL
Nov 8 - Palace Theatre, Gallatin, TN
Nov 10 - Winder Cultural Arts Center, Winder, GA
Nov 12 - Morris Museum of Arts, Augusta, GA
Nov 14 - Wallace State Community College, Hanceville, AL
Nov 15 - Serenbe Institute for Art, Culture and the Environment, Chattahoochee, GA
Nov 17 - The Clifton Center, Louisville, KY

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In 2010, Jeremy Seifert completed his debut film, DIVE!, Living off America’s Waste. Initially made with a $200 budget, a borrowed camera, and a lot of heart, DIVE! won 22 film festivals worldwide. In 2010 with the release of DIVE!, Jeremy began the production company, Compeller Pictures. He is now a filmmaker and activist, traveling the country and speaking on humanitarian and environmental issues. Jeremy’s second film, GMO OMG, tells the hidden story of the take over of our food supply by giant chemical companies, an agricultural crisis that has grown into a cultural crisis. He has once again found the heart of the project in his own journey and awakening. Jeremy and his wife, Jen, live in North Carolina with their three children, Finn (7), Scout (4), and Pearl (2).

GMO OMG director and concerned father Jeremy Seifert is in search of answers. How do GMOs affect our children, the health of our planet, and our freedom of choice? And perhaps the ultimate question, which Seifert tests himself: is it even possible to reject the food system currently in place, or have we lost something we can’t gain back? These and other questions take Seifert on a journey from his family’s table to Haiti, Paris, Norway, and the lobby of agra-giant Monsanto, from which he is unceremoniously ejected. Along the way we gain insight into a question that is of growing concern to citizens the world over: what's on your plate?

Schedule:
Nov 11 - East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
Nov 12 - Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC
Nov 13 - Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Nov 14 - Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC
Nov 15 - Link Centre, Tupelo, MS
Nov 17 - Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, GA
Nov 18 - The Arts Council, Gainesville, GA
Nov 19 - Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Nov 20 - Indie Memphis, Memphis, TN
Nov 21 - Haley Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, SC

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Bay Area filmmaker and journalist, John Beck splits his time between directing and producing documentaries, shooting promotional video and writing freelance journalism. For the past 15 years, he has worked as a journalist in Sonoma County where Harvest is set among the vineyards. It was while on assignment to capture footage of a night harvest at Foppiano Vineyards in 2010 that he stumbled upon the behind-the-scenes drama and sacrifice that go into every bottle of wine. That's when he decided to follow all walks of life - rich, poor, winemaker, grape picker - through next year's harvest of 2011. It would turn out to be the worst harvest in Sonoma County in at least 50 years. His previous films, the feature-length Worst in Show, and shorts Stringers and Drag King, have won numerous film festival awards. His print stories have won national awards from the Society for Features Journalism and the Association of Sunday and Features Editors. Beck was born in Nashville, Tennessee and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area

Shot entirely in Sonoma County, the feature-length documentary Harvest reveals the blood, sweat and tears that go into every bottle of wine. There is no swirling, no sniffing, no sipping or quaffing. This is all about back-breaking manual labor and night picks at 2 a.m. with only tiny headlamps. Over the course of three months during Harvest 2011, the film follows five family wineries - Robledo, Rafanelli, Foppiano, Harvest Moon and Robert Hunter. This is the story behind the wine you drink.

Schedule:
Nov 12 - The City of Suwanee, Suwanee, GA
Nov 13 - Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, Madison, GA
Nov 15 - City of Hapeville, Hapeville, GA
Nov 16 - Banners at McNeese, Lake Charles, LA
Nov 18 - Vermilionville Living History Museum, Lafayette, LA
Nov 19 - Arts Council of Central Louisiana, Alexandria, LA