The 20222 Indie Memphis Film Festival is in full effect on Saturday, with a crowded lineup of films from all over the world.
French director Alice Diop has gained acclaim for her documentaries. Her latest film Saint Omer is her first narrative feature. It tells the story of a young journalist covering the trial of a horrific crime who is forced to come to terms with her own traumatic past.
Directors Jack Porter Lofton and Jeff Dailey dig into the past and present of a Memphis institution. The ’Vous is a documentary about Memphis’ most famous barbecue restaurant, The Rendezvous, which has been a hub for culture and tourism Downtown for 70 years. The 2:50 p.m. screening will be preceded by a reception at Playhouse on the Square.
If you’re looking for some snack-sized docs, there’s the Hometowner Documentary Shorts Competition bloc at 3 p.m. at Circuit Playhouse. Five Memphis directors bring stories of courage and shine lights on injustice with these moving and challenging films.
If you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, odds are you remember Reading Rainbow. In Butterfly in the Sky, directors Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason put the spotlight on LeVar Burton, the beloved host who taught millions of kids to love books. Oh, and did you know he was also in Star Trek: The Next Generation?
Eighty-four-year-old Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski has had a rich and varied career as a writer, actor, and director. His latest film has an unlikely star: a donkey. EO is a reimagining of Robert Bresson’s 1966 film Au Hasard Balthazar, which tells the tale of a lowly farm animal’s travails as he is passed from one owner to another. This one’s a real heartstring-tugger.
For something completely different, Indie Memphis has a new program. A subcategory of Departures, which houses the more experimental short subjects, Travels showcases the mid-length films that often get left out of shorts programs. The four films include “Nosferasta: First Bite,” Bayley Sweitzer and Adam Khalil’s story of Oba, a 400-year-old Rastafarian vampire.
The Art of Eating: The Life and Appetites of M. F. K. Fisher is a biography of the legendary travel and food writer who was once called “the best prose writer in America.”
And finally, if your rock doc appetites were not satisfied by Antenna on Friday night, there’s Meet Me In The Bathroom, the documentary about the 2000’s indie rock scene in Brooklyn which produced The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, and Interpol, among others. This is an exciting and well-made doc with some incredible performance footage and a soul-bearing interview with rock goddess Karen O.
