by Kahwit Tela and Hannah Cron | Oct 3, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
[Photo taken by Hannah Cron] The 52nd Nashville Film Festival kicked off last Thursday with the red carpet premiere of the documentary Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road. The documentary, directed by Brent Wilson (no relation) and named after The Beach Boys’ 1971 hit, reflects on the long-lasting yet tumultuous career of legendary musician and Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson. “(Brian)’s one of the most important artists of the 20th century,” Wilson said. “I mean when you list Beethoven, or you list Mozart or you list Picasso, you can very easily put Brian Wilson in that exact same category. And if you’re someone who loves art, if you’re someone who’s just affected deeply by any art form, Brian belongs in those categories. I’ve always seen him that way — I see Brian as an artist, and not a pop musician — and that’s the way we approach the film, with that kind of perspective.” Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road is told through a myriad of never-before-seen archival footage and photos from Wilson’s past, multiple interviews with musicians influenced by Wilson from Bruce Springsteen to Nick Jonas, and intimate conversations between Wilson and his longtime friend, Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine. Various news outlets throughout the Nashville area, including Lumination Network, were present on the red carpet premiere, where the documentary’s director and Fine were present. Lumination also had a chance to speak with Wilson and Fine about Brian Wilson’s life outside of The Beach Boys and how those not familiar with his music could relate to the story of the film. “Brian’s story is also a story of mental...
by Cory Woodroof | Oct 6, 2014 | News Slider
To co-curator Ted Parks, Lipscomb’s documentary screening series HumanDocs means far more than an earned chapel credit. Now, students who attend an installment of the series, typically nestled in a time-friendly slot on a Wednesday night, do earn a credit, but like most chapel opportunities, the impact goes far beyond the met requirement. The HumanDocs film screening series aims to teach its attendees about issues facing our world through the art of the documentary, which fits right in with the genesis of the documentary form. “My sense is that documentary has always been a form that has had an alternative distribution to commercial film,” Parks said, “and it’s always, from what I know about it, been used to raise consciousness about issues.” Parks says that at the beginning of the documentary, filmmakers were more able to pursue the issues and topics that they were passionate about because of the leniency of not working within the confines of commercial requirements. “Documentary filmmakers are not in it to make a buck,” Parks said. “They’re in it because they want to tell a story that they think will impact the world, and I really like that part of documentary film in contrast with commercial filmmaking.” Parks, an associate professor, said that HumanDocs was born out of his Hispanic Cinema class. He would have students volunteer at the Nashville Film Festival as part of the course, which got Parks wondering if Lipscomb could forge a more formal bond with the festival. “I wanted to try to develop a closer relationship between Lipscomb and the Nashville Film Festival, so talking to my colleague and...
by Aaron Schmelzer | Apr 10, 2014 | News Slider
The credits will roll in Shamblin Theatre on Apr. 11-13 at 7:30 p.m. each night for the first ever Five-Minute Film Festival. The event is presented by the Film and Creative Media Graduate Program, and SGA is sponsoring the event, so students’ tickets are free. Faculty tickets are $10 and $15 for individuals. Mike Fernandez, chair of the department of theatre, explained why the film festival was created. “We just launched the Film and Creative Media Graduate Program, and it’s essentially a film school,” Fernandez said. “We felt like if we were going to have a film school that’s worth anything, we need to have a film festival.” The winner of the film festival will be decided by seven judges, who are from the “professional scene,” according to Fernandez. The winning film will receive a $500 grand prize and a spot in the Nashville Film Festival. Second place will win $250. The victor will be announced on the last day, Apr. 13. There were 14 submissions, 11 fiction and three documentaries, for the film festival. Fernandez said that all of them will show. “We’ve gotten some really creative pieces, and we’ve decided, at the film festival, we’re going to show all fourteen,” Fernandez said. The screen time for each night will last for one hour, and the showings are split into two acts. The first act consists of seven films, and the second act will show the remaining seven. Students, and anyone interested are encouraged to come. There will also be concessions served at the showings. “For [our] first year I think we’re off to a really good start,”...
by Cory Woodroof | Apr 28, 2013 | News Slider, Opinion
The Nashville Film Festival concluded its run on Thursday, and here’s a recap of the four films I saw from the midpoint of the festival to its close. MAGIC CAMP A kindly documentary if there ever was one, Judd Ehrlich’s Magic Camp takes a look at the week-long journey of five aspiring magicians as they try to hone their craft at the legendary Tannen’s Magic Camp. The film offers five strong subjects – a seasoned camper who hopes to once again claim the week’s competition prize, a nine-year-old budding magician who takes his talent very seriously, a teen that uses his magic skills as a way to honor God, an enthusiastic young female magician who tries to stand out in a field of guys and a magician suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome. With Magic Camp, Ehrlich offer up an earnest look at a gifted group of youngsters who use magic as a way to socialize, deal with personal issues and fulfill lifelong dreams. It’s a documentary that champions the idea that kids need outlets like magic to truly be their original selves – a praiseworthy message if there ever was one. A good documentary leaves you hopelessly invested in the focal points, and thankfully, the five kids in Magic Camp were such strong hinges to hang the film’s message on, this documentary is able to elevate itself above what I expected a feature about a magic camp would be like. Simply put, Magic Camp was one of NaFF’s stronger documentaries. THE LAND OF EB A smaller feature that screened at the festival, The Land of Eb took the prize for...
by Cory Woodroof | Apr 23, 2013 | Opinion
The Nashville Film Festival is still currently underway at the Green Hills 16 Theater by school, and I’ve been given the chance to see a few movies as the semester winds down. Here’s a few thoughts on the films that I’ve been screening. LUNARCY! In the chipper documentary Lunarcy!, filmmaker Simon Ennis showcases individuals who, in some way, shape or form, gear their lives in accordance to the moon. Among the film’s many subjects, we spend a great deal of time with Christopher Carson, a lunar devotee with a dream of getting a one-way ticket above, Alan Beam, a former astronaut who now prefers to paint about his time in the sky and Dennis Hope, the supposed ‘President of the Moon.’ For much of its runtime Lunarcy! is a sheer joy to watch. It’s clear that Ennis is fascinated by his subjects, regardless of how naïve or silly their aims may appear. It’s easy to initially write-off the focal points as hollow daydreamers, but Ennis digs deep into why someone would hang their aspirations on something as far-fetched as living on or owning something that’s hundreds of thousands of miles away – which works wonders for the end product. Instead of being a novelty, Lunarcy! turns into something more – an intimate portrait about why we dream. The film fights for the idea that no matter how unobtainable your aims are, they’re justified because they’re a part of you. Lunarcy! is a gem that deserves mainstream attention. DIE THOMANER: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE ST. THOMAS BOYS CHOIR LEIPZIG Die Thomaner: A Year in the Life of...
