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Indie Memphis Day 7: A Bloody Good Time

Charisma Carpenter gets bloody in Girl In Woods

After a fantastic weekend filled with great films and events in Overton Square, Indie Memphis returns to the Orpheum Theatre’s Halloran Centre tonight with the documentary Breaking A Monster. Director Luke Meyer followed Unlocking The Truth, a talented metal band of 12- and 13-year olds whose talent and verve got them a record deal and thrust them, unprepared, into the swamp of the 21st century music industry. 

Indie Memphis Day 7: A Bloody Good Time

The second film at the Halloran Centre is Jeremy Benson’ horror tour de force Girl In Woods. You can read about the harrowing production in my interview with Benson in last week’s Flyer cover story. 

Indie Memphis Day 7: A Bloody Good Time (2)

Also tonight at the Halloran Centre is one of the many great panel discussions that Indie Memphis has been hosting this festival. If you’re a woman who works in video production or has interest in filmmaking, come out the Women Filmmakers In Charge panel with Indie Memphis Hometowner Feature Award winner Joann Self Selvidge; Orion: The Story Of The Man Who Would Be King director Jeanne Finlay, who is in town from Nottingham, England; veteran producer/director Sarah Fleming, who shared the Short Documentary award with Self Selvidge this year for “Viola”; and producer/director/editor Laura Jean Hocking. 

Back at Studio On The Square, there are two encore presentations. The first is Barge, this year’s Best Documentary award winner, and the second is the wild comedy Tangerine, which played on opening night of the festival. 

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Indie Memphis 2015, Day 1: Tangerine Dreams

It’s time! Indie Memphis 2015 kicks off tonight at the Orpheum Theatre’s Halloran Centre. You can read my cover story about the annual festival here.  The opening film The Keepers is sold out, but as of this writing, there are still tickets available for Tangerine, director Sean S. Baker’s action comedy that was the talk of Sundance this year. Set in Los Angeles, and shot entirely on an iPhone 5S, the movie traces one very eventful day day in the life of Sin-Dee Rella, a transsexual sex worker who gets out of prison to find that her boyfriend/pimp has been cheating on her. 

Indie Memphis 2015, Day 1: Tangerine Dreams

Watch this space for daily Indie Memphis updates. See you at the festival! 

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

The Keepers to Open Indie Memphis 2015

Memphis filmmakers Joann Self Selvidge and Sara Kaye Larson’s  documentary The Keepers will be the opening night film for this year’s Indie Memphis Film Festival. The film focuses on the people who keep the nationally acclaimed Memphis Zoo running, and their complex and sometimes heartbreaking relationships with the animals in their care. 

Carolyn Horton in The Keepers

The closing night feature will also be a documentary. Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, directed by British filmmaker Jeanne Finley, cuts to the origin of the “Elvis Is Still Alive” myth. In the late 1970s, a man named Jimmie Ellis who had a voice that was uncannily like The King’s made a name for himself as a masked singer named Orion, who, rumor had it, was actually Elvis. 

Orion

Among the other movies announced for the festival today are Todd Haynes’ Carol, starring Cate Blanchett, and a 25th anniversary screening of Metropolitan, a pioneering indie production that created a blueprint for countless low-budget ensemble pieces, with director Whit Stillman. The second opening night feature, Tangerine, is a surreal crime drama shot entirely on iPhones by director Sean Baker. You can see clips from all of the announced films in this short video. For more information, go to the Indie Memphis website. 

The Keepers to Open Indie Memphis 2015