"I Will Dance" Tour with Joseph East

It was an incredible trip touring I Will Dance on the Southern Circuit. All of my hosts, as well as the people I was given the opportunity to meet, were welcoming and generous. Below are my top 10 highlights, in no particular order:

1. “I WILL” Cards

At the end of each showing, we handed out cards and invited everyone in the audience to share their stories by writing down a personal commitment. Seeing what people wrote on their cards always touched and inspired me. Here are a few: I WILL live cage free. I WILL strive to be the best I can be. I WILL stand up and stand out. What’s YOURS? 

                      

                                       

2. Central BBQ in Memphis: “Go where the locals go”

I asked them what the best thing on the menu was, and without hesitating the employee said, “you have to try the pork sandwich.” I did. And my tastebuds were happy.

3.The Kentucky Bed and Breakfast

It was unique and antique, with an illuminated stained-glass bed hanging, a trombone on the wall and homemade quiche for breakfast. What’s not to love?

4. The Diversity

One thing I loved about the tour was the wide range of screening venues and audiences. In downtown Memphis, we screened at the beautiful Halloran Centre in their state-of-the-art theatre. The very next venue was an old simple church in a small town. Some audiences were primarily students of color while others were older and white. Every experiences was unique (and terrific!).

5. The Civil Rights Museum

I had an extra day in Memphis, so I decided to spend part of it at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. To stand in that spot was an unforgettable, emotional experience.

                             
                       

6. Live Music

Remember the old church? As part of the pre-film reception, my hosts went all out by including a live jam session! One bucket-list item crossed off the list…

7. Heartwarming reactions

During a Q&A, one woman grabbed the mic and talked about the courage of the kids in I Will Dance to stand up for what they believed in. Choking back tears and with resolve in her voice, she said, “I want to dance with those kids on the bridge.” The showing was only a couple hours from Selma, where the kids are from and her interest in putting her feet to their cause means more than I can simply express.

8. Seeing friends

Since several showings were within a few hours of Selma, some of the film’s subjects joined for showings and Q&As. Their unique voices and perspectives were a HUGE addition to the experience for the audiences and a big support to me.

9. Feet in the Ocean

When I arrived in Bonita Springs, FL, I had about an hour before the screening, and I knew exactly how to spend it.

10. Meeting Future Storytellers

At the showings, I had the pleasure to meet young people who want to tell stories– to become editors, journalists, directors and more. They are the future, and if the story of I Will Dance inspired any one of them to create, question or dream more, the trip was more than worth it for them alone.

Michael Graziano of Resistance visits Union College and The Tennessee Valley Art Association

From Filmmaker Michael Graziano of Resistance:

I've now passed the halfway point on the tour and it's been great.  After Madison, GA I headed, to quote Daniel Day Lewis from "Last of The Mohicans", east toward Kan-tuck-kee to Union College in Barbourville, KY.

Union College is a small liberal arts school tucked into a residential section of an Eastern Kentucky hamlet. Barbourville has a sleepy, all-American feel that is nicely disrupted/punctuated by a number of large murals on the sides of downtown buildings. I especially like this rendering of a wistful, if a bit haggard looking, frontiersman surveying a verdant Appalachian valley (Daniel Boone maybe?). This tile work inexplicably graces the exterior wall of a Subway sandwich shop. Another notable example is comprised of a large silhouetted face off between two founding fathers. I stared at this for a while, wondering about its genesis and why the owner of a blue sedan had chosen to park so closely to it, thereby ruining what could've been a great photo. Lincoln seems to loom (ever so slightly) over Washington. Washington, for his part, appears a bit surprised by this and has an upward articulation that suggests both a 'bowed up' confrontational posture and an unsteady weight-shifted-to-the-back-of-his-heels-I-don't-like-the-looks-of-this-guy attitude. I wonder if this was intentional?  Did the artist intend to give Lincoln (a Kentucky native) the upper head? We may never know...

The screening was on campus and was well attended by members of the school and the broader community. The film played well and we had wide ranging discussion after.

From there I traveled south to Sheffield, AL. Sheffield is part of a cluster of small and medium sized towns in North Alabama including Florence, Tuscumbia (home of Helen Keller) and Muscle Shoals (home to a number of influential musicians and musical acts). The film played in a wonderfully restored old theater in Sheffield called The Ritz. The Ritz, along with all the other theaters in the area, was at one time owned by the Rosenbaum family. A highlight for me and a nice connection to film history was seeing the Frank Lloyd Wright designed former home of said Rosenbaums - family of renowned film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum. The hosts from the Tennessee Valley Arts Association were the picture of gracious hospitality and the screening unfurled accordingly. I have three stops left and will report back on those soon.

Chris Simon & Maureen Gosling of THIS AIN’T NO MOUSE MUSIC! - Western Carolina University, Robinson Film Center, & Union College

From filmmakers Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling of THIS AIN’T NO MOUSE MUSIC!:

CULLOWWHEE, NC

We interrupted our Tour to make a brief trip to Austin for SXSW where we joined others from the Les Blank film family to celebrate the opening of A Poem is a Naked Person, a film the late documentarian made 40 years ago on rock star Leon Russell. Maureen spent two years living at Russell’s rural Oklahoma studio compound, working with Blank as an assistant and sound recordist. After Les’ death, his son resurrected the film and miraculously convinced Leon Russell to let it be released. It was an event neither of us could possibly miss. The opening was fabulous, with Leon Russell in attendance, as well as many family and friends, and the celebration lasted – well, too long!

Maureen on stage at SXSW

After 2 hours of sleep, Chris flew back to Atlanta, leaving Maureen to further celebrations, and drove to Cullowhee, NC. What was supposed to be a three hour drive was more like five, but she got there, exhausted, in time. The screening was at Western Carolina University and there were young student filmmakers, as well as musical members of the community. As usual, it was a real pleasure to talk to the folks afterwards.

Chris with some questionable barbecue on the way to Cullowhee

Coffee was very much needed on the five hour drive to WCU!

SHREVEPORT, LA

We made it to Shreveport with little time to spare on Thursday afternoon, enough to briefly check in at the fancy casino hotel. We headed to the impressive Robinson Film Center, where the screening room was set up with chairs, and a hot string band trio performing and singing for people as they arrived. During the screening, we had a delicious dinner across the hall in the classy bistro. The audience loved the film and there turned out to be among them a more than usual number of record collectors, historians and music aficionados. They not only knew a lot about the music in the film, but reminded us of Shreveport’s place in US music history, such as being home to the famous Louisiana Hayride and the legendary Leadbelly. Archivist and historian Chris Brown played a musical sample for the audience from a 78 recording of a local musician whom Arhoolie Records’ artist Black Ace gave credit for his slide guitar style. Post screening, we had drinks with Chris, his wife, Board of Directors member Jeff Hendricks and other music aficionados. It was nice to have the time to chat at length. We were sorry not to have time to make a pilgrimage to Leadbelly’s grave, but next time.

Trio playing as people arrived

Robinson Film Center's electronic billboard

Film Reel Art

Drinks with Chris Brown, Jeff Hendricks, and others

BARBOURVILLE, KY

Up and out early next morning, we flew to Knoxville, TN, where we rented a car to drive north into Kentucky to Barbourville for our last screening of the Tour. Finding our way to the correct highway from the Knoxville airport and then finding the airport again later proved to be one of the most stressful parts of our trip – thank God for GPS! Chris swore off paper maps after that one. But otherwise it was a nice, partly foggy drive to Barbourville, where the screening was held at Union College. The venue, once again, was a re-purposed church hall that housed a theatre and portable movie screen. We were pleased at the almost full house, made up of many students who’d been encouraged by their instructors to show up. That meant more young folks. During the screening, the new local and very popular Italian restaurant kindly squeezed us in, though we had no reservation (plus it was Saturday night) and we discovered that Barbourville is “dry”, so we couldn’t bring in our celebratory bottle of wine. Back at the theater, the Q & A was hosted by Union College professors and folklorists Hugo Freund and Susan Isaacs. They lead the questions and offered their own, making it a pleasingly in-depth experience for the audience who stayed till the very end. Our hosts provided treats for all afterwards. We were very satisfied with the ending of our wonderful Southern Circuit Tour. Chris headed home the next morning and Maureen went on for an overnight trip to nearby Harlan, KY, where she had lived for four years as a child.

Folklorists Hugo Fruend (left) and Susan Isaacs (right) with Chris and Maureen (middle)

Reception

Maureen with Daniel Boone

FINAL THOUGHTS

We really congratulate the hosts in each town we visited for their hard work in promoting the arts and keeping the arts vibrant in their communities. It’s clear that the Southern Circuit Tour is a great contribution to that. We were very impressed with the win-win that the Tour affords both us as filmmakers and the community audiences we were able to share our film with. An exhausting, but richly rewarding experience! Long live South Arts!

Hao Wu, The Road to Fame - Robinson Film Center, Union College, & Ritz Theatre

From Filmmaker Hao Wu of The Road to Fame:

The first leg of my Southern Circuit tour was intense; two flights each day, and one to two hours of driving to get to most screening venues. Exhausting, but what a trip! As an immigrant who had lived in six American cities over fifteen years, I had never stepped foot in the south. Not that I didn't want to - kids of my generation grew up in China reading Gone With The Wind, but somehow I never managed to. Now I'm able to have a fast and furious immersion of southern hospitality, all thanks to South Arts.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping my The Road to Fame is bringing a little China to the south. Most of the audience members have never been to China. So naturally, I was apprehensive about how the audiences would receive such a subtitled film from a faraway land.

Surprisingly, however, many came up to me after the screenings, saying the characters in the film didn't feel foreign to them. At the Robinson Film Center and Union College, students completely identified with the dreams, the anxieties over potential failures, and the pressure from family and society that the Chinese students experienced in the film. Those with ambitions in the arts felt the resonance the strongest.

Meanwhile, older audiences tended to be more interested in what China is like and how it is changing. At the Ritz Theater in Sheffield, AL, several audience members had visited China a long time ago, and it was eye opening for me even to learn about the country they knew that had been erased by recent developments. After the screening, they queried me about the one-child policy, the performance arts industry in China, and what I thought where China is going. It was extremely rewarding for a filmmaker to be able to move audiences with a universal story, and to act as a cultural ambassador for his home country at the same time.

All three screening venues so far - Robinson Film Center in Shreveport, LA, Union College in Barbourville, KY, and the Ritz Theater in Sheffield, AL - are beautiful. No hustle and bustle of the big city or the local multiplex. Stepping inside them was like being transported back in time, when film watching was once cozy and communal. My hosts - Meghan Hochstetler in Shreveport, Diana Mills at Union College and Jim Berryman in Sheffield - lavished their attention and care, for which I'm immensely grateful. I'm eagerly looking forward to the second leg of screenings in North Carolina and Georgia, and will report back soon.

Shelli Ainsworth, Stay Then Go - Barbourville KY, Sheffield AL

The latest update from filmmaker Shelli Ainsworth touring Stay Then Go on the Southern Circuit:

Now with two more screenings in the rental car rear-view mirror: objects are closer than they appear, yep to that. Our memories of these experiences are so vivid, close to the heart. My heart.

The Southern Circuit program has provided us with an opportunity to get beyond, to expand the oft-tread and diminishing path too often the fate of small independent films. To have that fourth wall, to have an audience in a different community every night is a great = fresh, illuminating, inherently creative experience.

Thank you to Union College, Barbourville KY – with its red-walled twinkly jewelry box of a theater, its awesome projection booth, and the gracious, erudite, inquiring people we met and connected with. Such hospitality, and a great engaged audience.

Fine folks at Union College, support staff, faculty. L to R:
Diana Mills, Shelli Ainsworth, Denny Liford, Tara Alan, A.J. Peterkin, Virginia Gay Candy, Christine Marley-Frederick, Kim Yeager

Union College Little Rectory Theater

Thank you to the Tennessee Valley Art Association for the warm welcome, the utterly delicious snacks! at the reception, and for the consideration, respect, and thoughtful curiosity you showed our film, and us. And what a theater! 1929, called the Ritz! Lovingly restored! With a big screen!

Marquee outside the splendid Ritz Theater, downtown Sheffield, Alabama.

If I'm dreamin', don't wake me.

Next stop: Cullowhee, NC!

Francine Strickwerda, Oil & Water - Shreveport, LA & Barbourville, KY

The latest update from filmmaker Francine Strickwerda, touring her film Oil & Water on the Southern Circuit:

Bloodshot Eyes, Full Heart  - Can’t Lose

After days packed with plane flights, long car drives, and film screenings, I head home to Seattle, Wash. today, but find myself wishing I could stay on this wild ride that is the Southern Circuit. My eyes are bloodshot, but my heart is full.

At Robinson Film Center in Shreveport, La. on Thursday night, I met with lovely students from Centenary College (I’m talking about you, the sweet filmmaking kid who flattered us by calling yourself “fanboy”!) and was part of a lively panel discussion with university professors Dalton Gossett (biological sciences) and David Hoass (economics), as well as Oliver Jenkins, Shreveport City Council member and president of Phillips Energy.  Thanks so much to these gentlemen and to the Robinson Film Center’s Meghan Hochstetler and Alex Kent, for structuring such a thoughtful conversation around OIL & WATER. Alex and Meghan charm the birds out of the trees with their passion for film and their commitment to promoting the well being of the Shreveport community. And the fact that they are both former newspaper reporters (like me) endeared me to them all the more. To top it all off, Meghan and Alex took me to the Center’s own restaurant for some delicious seafood gumbo. There’s a lot to love about the Robinson Film Center!

Then things got a little crazy. After a cancelled flight and a rental car mix up on Friday, I got lost on my way to Barbourville, Ky. Just when I started to really panic, I got a call from Diana Mills, foundation relations director at Union College, and she calmly filmmaker whispered me to campus. She and Union College President Marcia Hawkins welcomed me warmly to their newly updated theater for a screening that was big, but also, because everybody knows one another in this small town, intimate.

I was heartened by the kindness and enthusiasm of the audience, and enjoyed a conversation that was steeped in the community’s shared history. I was intrigued by the parallels that were drawn between the struggles of the Cofan people in OIL & WATER, and those of the people of Appalachia dealing with the coal industry. At the reception following the screening, I got to really dig in with some townspeople who shared their own stories of history and their pride of place, including one woman’s film project about local legend, Daniel Boone. I found myself falling for these people, and wondering how I could manage to find my way back to Barbourville.

As the evening wound down, Diana packed me a plate of leftover deserts from the screening and took me to “Scholar Holler” where the college put me up in my own apartment. There I ate my sweets and fell asleep watching an old Mae West film on TV. It was another magical night on the Southern Circuit.