Nashville Film Festival Wraps With Patricia Neal, William H. Macy, Al Gore, Vincent D'onofrio, Big Kenny and More; Box Office Breaks Records While &qu
The 39th Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) ended recently, smashing all previous attendance and ticket sales records after once again setting up shop for eight days at the Regal Green Hills Cinemas and spreading out throughout city with over 200 films and dozens of events. Steven Schachter's THE DEAL kicked off the festival on Thursday, April 24 with Schachter and the film's star William H. Macy in attendance. The festival closed last night with Denny Tedesco's THE WRECKING CREW and a party at the Cannery Ballroom. In between, festival goers witnessed Al Gore present the Reel Current Award to Michael O'Connell's MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL; Lyle Lovett give the 2008 Nashville Lifetime Achievement Award to Patricia Neal; and NaFF board president Stacy Widelitz surprise Kimberly Williams-Paisley with the President's Award.
Notable guests and events this year included Vincent D'Onofrio, Joey Lauren Adams, Michele Paradise and Robbie Benson discussing actors-turned-filmmakers; country singer Josh Turner and R&B star Anthony Hamilton treating festival VIPs to a showcase at the legendary Bluebird Cafe; legendary songwriter/producer Dennis Lambert giving a last-minute performance at the Bluebird following the well-received screening of OF ALL THE THINGS; Trace Adkins attending a screening of "Trailer Park of Terror," and country star/humanitarian "Big" Kenny Alphin and his wife Christiev introducing the World Premiere of their new documentary BEARING LIGHT: A JOURNEY TO SUDAN.
South Africa: From the City, To the Slum, To the Savannah.
The big jury award winners were Enrique Begne's TWO EMBRACES, which took home the Nashville Film Festival / Regal Cinemas Dreammaker Award for Best Narrative Feature and Peter Entell's SHAKE THE DEVIL OFF, which snagged the Best Documentary Feature award sponsored by Ground Zero. The audience responded to David Pomes's COOK COUNTY by giving it the Curb Records-sponsored award for Best Narrative Feature, while the inspiring story of the Ochieng' brothers moved festival goers to hand Barry Simmons, SONS OF LWALA the Audience Award For Best Documentary Feature, sponsored By The Documentary Channel. To little surprise, Stephen Walker's moving "Young@Heart" grabbed the Impact of Music Award.
"There was a fantastic vibe at the fest this year that you couldn't miss," says Brian Gordon, NaFF artistic director. "We had some great films that people really responded to. Particularly, some of our Q & A sessions were the most lively and engaging I can remember. Word about films spread fast, too, and we had several sellouts each day. Every filmmaker I spoke with, many of whom had never been in Nashville before, had a great time. They can't wait to come back."
Attendance at the 2008 Festival is estimated at over 22,000 -- a 10% increase over last year. By the fourth day, ticket sales had already surpassed last year's total.
"By the morning of the festival's end, we counted 31 sold-out houses over the course of the event," said Sallie Mayne, NaFF executive director. "The only way we can continue to grow is to add more theatres. Our community partnerships this year were indispensable. We're all beyond thrilled at this year's success."
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