The ninth annual festival – set for Thursday, March 2, through Sunday, March 5 – will showcase a select lineup of 106 student, faculty and professional films from around the world. Competitive categories range from short subjects and full-length features to animated works, music videos and documentaries.
Awards will be presented starting at 7 p.m. Friday, March 3, during a celebration of this year’s festival films and the world-famous “Muscle Shoals sound.” The party will take place at the Keynote Room, 310 N. Pine St., downtown Florence.
“The awards show has become a celebration not just of the films and filmmakers attending the festival, but an evening of true Shoals music, food, and hospitality,” says Jayne Jackson, who co- chairs the festival’s awards-show committee with Bonnie Coats. “It’s a casual evening that guarantees a good time.”
In addition to the presentation of the festival’s annual Golden Lion Awards, the party will include heavy hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar featuring wine and beer, plus live music by Muscle Shoals’ legendary rock-and-soul band, The Decoys, and Muscle Shoals singer, songwriter and guitarist Jason Isbell, best-known as a member of the Shoals-bred renegade rock band, Drive-By Truckers.
Awards will be presented by festival founder Lindsey, a UNA alumnus whose screen career ranges from television’s classic “Andy Griffith Show” and “Hee Haw” to his current role as host of Turner South’s “Liars & Legends,” as well as cast members from “When I Find the Ocean,” a feature film shot in the Shoals last year. Each award presentation will be accompanied by clips from the top films in each category.
“There will be just enough of the winnings films screened to whet your appetite to want to experience the whole festival,” added Jackson, event coordinator in UNA’s Office of University Events. “We’ll have an intergenerational range of both music and film throughout. We truly have something for everyone.”
Admission to the awards party is $10 for adults and $8 for students. Tickets are available in advance at the University Bookstore on campus, the Lori Davis Gallery in downtown Florence or ColdWater Books in downtown Tuscumbia.
Other 2006 festival events include daily film screenings, a wide variety of workshops and panels, plus the gala premiere of “When I Find the Ocean” the evening of Saturday, March 4, at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center in Florence. The film – directed, written and produced by UNA alumnus Tonya S.
Holly – stars Lee Majors, Diane Ladd, Amy Redford, Bernie Casey, Graham Greene, Richard Tyson, Natalie Canerday, Lindsey and Lily Matland Holly. Tickets for the premiere (which includes dinner as well as a concert by rock ’n’ roll legend Little Richard) are $150 and $500.
“We’re showing more films this year than ever before, and we’re expecting more filmmakers to attend than ever before,” Lindsey says. “The premiere of Tonya’s movie, the birth of a homegrown film industry in the Shoals, and the presence of many of the fine actors in her cast just adds an extra dimension to the whole experience. It’s going to be an outstanding festival.”
For details on the awards party or other festival events, call the festival office at (256) 765-4592 or visit www.lindseyfilmfest.com. For more information on the “When I Find the Ocean” premiere, call Cypress Moon Studios at (256) 381-5745, or visit www.cypressmoonproduction.com.
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