FSFX 2019 PROGRAM by Mike Lopinto

June 16-20, 2019

Sponsors

A word from the expo director: Independent films are most often great labors of love that a filmmaker has willed into existence. These films deserve to be seen every bit as much as the latest Hollywood tent-pole, probably more so. It was with this firsthand perspective and profound belief in mind that I decided to take on FestivalSouth Film Expo. My aim, and the mission of FSFX, begins with this seemingly obvious, yet often overlooked, fact. Independent films are incredibly hard to make, too hard to make to become expensive souvenirs. Their creators should be given the chance to share their work and to have their very real, often very beautiful, at times, even sublime contributions to the arts universe be seen, acknowledged and discussed. Secondly, I conceived FSFX as a way to pay homage to Mississippi’s rich creative culture and legacy (which, of course, includes the likes of Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Sam Cooke and Leontyne Price to name a few notables). As such, this year is especially exciting for me in that we celebrate our state’s contributions to the history of film. The films we share as we spotlight Mississippi’s literary legacy are all written by or based on works written by authors from right here in my home state. I am very pleased indeed to share them with you. On the fiscal side of things, film is a proven economic engine, to be sure, but it is also a vital spoke in the greater wheel of the modern arts and a conduit of social critique, advocacy, and the sheer, healing power of entertainment. It has never been more important, in my view, that we, as Mississippians, demonstrate just how open and all-embracing the creative landscape of our state has been and continues to be. As a Mississippi artist, I feel a duty to give voice to other Mississippi artists and, as a filmmaker, it’s incredibly heartening and humbling for me to have an opportunity to provide other Mississippi filmmakers and filmmakers from around the country and the world a platform to showcase and talk about their films, to network with other filmmakers, and to advertise, in a way, the wonderfully-complex creative power and culture that continues to percolate through our state and her people. I welcome you to the Fifth Annual FestivalSouth Film Expo. I thank you for coming and sharing your time and/or your work with us. You are the reason the arts remain alive. -Miles Doleac FSFX Executive Director

FSFX 2019 Schedule *All Screenings and Events at the Grand Theatre (100 Grand Drive, Hattiesburg, MS) unless otherwise noted.

WEDNESDAY, June 19, 2019

OPENING NIGHT

4:00 p.m.: The State of Mississippi Film Production w/ MS Film Office Director Nina Parikh, President of MS Film Alliance Melanie Addington, Filmmakers Michael Williams, Miles Doleac et al 5:00 p.m., Theater 1: Dusmas Briesmones Huckleberry Finn & the Widow’s Mite God Gave Us Grace Kerosene: Legend of the Shadow Man Bo McGraw and the UFO 6:45 p.m., Grand Lobby: ‘Fosse’ Jazz Class with Rebecca Chandler 7:30 p.m., Theater 1: Game A Son Inherit Dead Winter Ahura Driven 7:55 p.m., Theater 2: All That Jazz, Music in the Movies series 8:15 p.m., Theater 3: Almost Famous, Music in the Movies series

SUNDAY, June 16, 2019

6:30 - 7:30 p.m.: Red Carpet Arrivals and Cocktails (FSFX Photographer will be present for step-and-repeat photos) 7:30 p.m.: King Creole, Music in the Movies series

MONDAY, June 17, 2019 5:00 p.m.: MUSIC VIDEO/DANCE BLOCK: Theater 1: Life Is To Wonder at the World Above Sometime (A Mini-Musical) Exist with us: The Squid and the Whale The Meaning of Us 6:30 p.m.: Shannon Shea on VFX in Jurassic Park 7:30 p.m.: DOC BLOCK, Theater 1 Young Blood: The Mass Shooting Generation Takes Action Always in Season 6:45 p.m., Theater 2: The Last Waltz, Music in the Movies series 9:30 p.m., Theater 1: Hoodies 2 9:30 p.m., Theater 2: Purple Rain, Music in the Movies series

THURSDAY, June 20, 2019

4:00 p.m., Theater 1: The Betrayal Signing Day A Picture and a Gun The Turner Exhibit Just My Type 6:30 p.m., Theater 1: B.B. King: The Life of Riley 9:00 p.m., The Thirsty Hippo: FSFX Awards Show and Concert featuring Quint

TUESDAY, June 18, 2019 5:00 p.m.: Theater 1: Times Gone By Parallel Crisis Act Panda Silver Slipper

7:30 p.m., Theater 1: Alienated Triggered 7:35 p.m., Theater 2: The Dark Crystal, with live orchestration, Music in the Movies series 9:30 p.m., Theater 1: This is Spinal Tap, Music in the Movies series

Meet the Team Miles Doleac - Executive Director MILES DOLEAC, a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is an actor, director, writer and producer in television, theatre and film and a professor of Classical Studies and Film at the University of Southern Mississippi. Miles’ featurelength directorial debut The Historian, starring William Sadler, John Cullum, Colin Cunningham and Glynnis O’Connor won Best First Feature, Best Actor (William Sadler) and Best Supporting Actor (John Cullum) at the 2014 Long Island International Film Expo and, thereafter, received a theatrical release and was distributed in various video, internet and retail outlets in North America and internationally by Devolver Digital Films. Miles’ second feature, The Hollow, a southern noir murder thriller, which he also wrote, directed and produced was released October 7, 2016, by Uncork’d Entertainment in select theaters, on VOD, iTunes and Amazon and can now be found at a Redbox kiosk near you. The Hollow stars James Callis, Christiane Seidel, William Sadler, David Warshofsky, Jeff Fahey and William Forsythe. The Hollow was also shot entirely in Mississippi. Miles won a Best Actor Award at the 2016 Long Island International Film Expo for his performance in the film. Miles’ third feature, Demons, a psychological thriller starring Andrew Divoff (The Wishmaster, Lost), Steven Brand (The Scorpion King) and John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville), shot in the Hattiesburg area, released in theaters and VOD via Uncork’d Entertainment in October 2017 and won Best Narrative awards at both Rails to Reels and Fear Fete Film Festivals. Miles’ latest MS-shot feature, Hallowed Ground, just released in theaters and on VOD/streaming platforms June 7. He begins shooting his next feature, the tentatively-tiled The Dinner Party on July 15 in Hattiesburg. Miles has also directed four shorts in Mississippi, Two Birds (Columbia), Light & Shadow (Meridian), Handsome (Hattiesburg), and Ahura (Meridian). Also an actor, Miles has appeared in numerous television shows and films, including American Horror Story (FX), Banshee (Cinemax), Claws (TNT) Halt and Catch Fire (AMC), Sleepy Hollow (Fox), Treme (HBO), Watchmen (HBO), Breakout Kings (A & E), Complications (USA), Roots (History Channel), Salem (WGN), Underground (WGN), Astronaut Wives Club (ABC), Game of Silence (NBC), Valor (CW), Vacation (with Chris Hemsworth, Ed Helms, Christina Applegate and Leslie Mann), The Magnificent Seven (with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt), Don’t Kill It and Shark Lake (both with Dolph Lundgren), Cat Run 2, Bad Ass 3 (with Danny Trejo and Danny Glover), See Girl Run (with Adam Scott and Robin Tunney), Jake’s Road (with Eric Roberts), Mighty Fine (with Chazz Palminteri and Andie McDowell), The Livingston Gardener, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, director Dustin Schuetter’s Rejects and SyFy Channel Originals Swamp Volcano (with Brad Dourif and Rachel Hunter), Storm War (with Stacey Keach), Mississippi River Sharks, and, most recently, Santa Jaws and the MS-shot indie, Son of a Gun. Miles appeared in the recurring role of “Captain Lee Scott” on the CW’s (and Julie Plec’s) Containment. Miles co-founded New York’s Southern Playwright’s Theatre Project in New York and starred in their off-off Broadway production of Horton Foote’s 1918 and produced and starred in an acclaimed production of Julius Caesar at Los Angeles’ Lillian Theatre. Miles directed recent theatrical productions of Into the Woods, Cabaret, The Wizard of Oz, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Evita The Rocky Horror Show, and Oliver!. As an actor, he has appeared in productions of Les Miserables (as “Valjean”), Jesus Christ Superstar (as “Judas” and “Jesus” on alternating nights), Cabaret (as “The Emcee”), Camelot (as “Arthur”), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (as “Hedwig”), “Macbeth” in Macbeth, “Sheldrake” in White Christmas, “Captain Walker” in Tommy,“Che” in Evita, “Sam” in Mamma Mia, and “Bill Sykes” in Oliver!. He is a member of SAG, Equity, DGA and WGA. Miles is also an impassioned advocate of education. He holds a BFA in Drama from the North Carolina School of the Arts, an MA in History from the University of Southern Mississippi and a PhD in Ancient History from Tulane University. He has studied the history of antiquity all over the world, including at the American Academy in Rome, the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the Goethe Institute in Munich, Germany. Miles serves as an Assistant Professor of Classics and Film Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he teaches courses in Film, Latin, Greek and the history of the Greco-Roman World. Miles’ book on Alexander the Great, In the Footsteps of Alexander: The King Who Conquered the Ancient World, is currently available at various retail outlets.

Lindsay Anne Williams - Associate Director LINDSAY ANNE WILLIAMS comes to Mississippi from Flagstaff, AZ by way of New Orleans, LA. At 5 years-old, Lindsay made her first foray into theatre as a dancing bear in The Greatest Show on Earth produced by her father, and has been enchanted with the stage ever since. Dancing everywhere, from church to the soccer field and all points in between, Lindsay was able to foster her creativity while pursuing her academic and performance dreams. Among the many delights of her stage career, she has had the opportunity to dance with the Newcomb Dance Company, Oklahoma Festival Ballet, and Alvin Ailey II. Lindsay served as costume designer on Historia Films’ feature debut, The Historian, was a co-producer the company’s second feature, The Hollow, a producer on Demons, released in Fall 2017, and costume designer and producer on the recently-released Hallowed Ground. Also an actress, Lindsay has appeared in numerous plays and musicals, including: Oliver! (“Nancy”), The Rocky Horror Show (“Magenta”) Evita (“Eva Peron”), Macbeth (“Lady Macbeth”), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (“Yitzhak”), Cabaret (“Sally Bowles”), The Wizard of Oz (“Professor Marvel/Wizard of Oz”), Into the Woods (“Lucinda”), Jesus Christ Superstar, Camelot, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (“White Witch”), Trojan Women (Athena/Helen), Agamemnon (Elektra), Julius Caesar, and Reckless. On film, she has appeared in every Historia Films project: The Historian (“Dawne”), The Hollow (“Dinah”), Two Birds (“Clara”), Demons (“Kayleigh”), Light & Shadow (“Alice”), Handsome (“Escort”), Ahura (“The Woman”), and Hallowed Ground (“Alice”). Lindsay designs wedding gowns and costuming for film and theatre and also serves on the Executive Board of the Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera, one of the longest continuously operating community theatre organizations in Mississippi. She directed HCLO’s December 2017 production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas and 2018’s Mamma Mia. Lindsay continues to act and produce while pursuing her many other interests. Lindsay earned a Bachelor’s degree in Classics and Anthropology from Tulane University and a Master’s degree in Ancient History from USM. She has been a member of FSFX executive staff since the festival’s inception.

Wesley Chance O’Mary - Festival Coordinator WESLEY CHANCE O’MARY is an actor, writer, director, and producer, from Mississippi, who has worked in most every facet of film and video production. He is the Owner/Operator of WCOfilms and WCOstudios in Mississippi. Wesley was in his first feature film at the age of eight, when he was cast with a principal role in Glory Road making him eligible for membership in the Screen Actors Guild. He has been an actor in over twenty film and video projects, including the Oscar Award winning NYU Student film (Bohemibot.) Wesley trained in New York City for eight months, and worked with student filmmakers and producers at New York University, New York Film Academy, Columbia University, Sara Lawrence College and New York’s School of Visual Arts. It was in New York City where Wesley learned more about the other side of the camera, and truly fell in love with it. Some of Wesley’s acting film credits include: Glory Road, Bohemibot, National Lampoons’s “Snatched”, Shriek of the Sasquatch!, Aberrations, The Green Diamond, Armor, G.I. Joe: Deception (fan feature), Sarah’s Worst Nightmare, Heroes of the Round, and Cagin of Chrysaint. He has been the Host and an actor in numerous Healthy People Now videos for PRCC. He started acting for stage at the age of five, in productions at the Historic Saenger Theater and The University of Southern Mississippi Theatre, and with several community theatre groups. His past theatre performances include Annie (“Rooster”), On Golden Pond (“Billy”), Cinderella (“the Herald”), Medea, The Music Man, The Lady Pirates of Captain Bree, Pageant, OZ, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and others. Wesley also performed in The Nutcracker and The Haunted Ballroom with the Pine Belt Ballet. Some of the feature and short films that Wesley has been involved in are: Mississippi Lawman: Tex (Director), Cornbread Cosa Nostra (1st Assistant Director), Don’t Blink (Sound Mixer and Digital Compositor), The Legend of Zelda: Oblivion Rising (Assistant Editor/Camera Op), and Demons (Visual Effects Supervisor). Wesley most recently produced and served as Unit Production Manager on Historia Films’ Hallowed Ground.

Dr. Mike Lopinto - FestivalSouth Artistic Director DR. MIKE LOPINTO has talents that extend into numerous artistic endeavors including event planning, directing, designing, choreographing and performing music. He currently serves as the PR/Marketing and Event Coordinator for the School of Music where he oversees nearly 400 live events annually. Lopinto brings a new level of recognition to arts programs in Mississippi. While with the acclaimed symphony orchestra at his alma mater, he coordinated events with classical celebrities from Plåcido Domingo and Renée Fleming to pop icons Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle. He has been awarded numerous PR/marketing and service awards at the local, state and national level. In 2014, he was named the artistic director for the Hattiesburg Concert Association and FestivalSouth® that has reshaped summers in the Hub City. He is the creative director of Consult M, a multi-faceted arts development organization that has worked regionally with arts organizations around the country in the areas of brand development, PR, marketing and advertising.

Special Feature:

SHANNON SHEA AND THE GROUNDBREAKING VFX OF JURASSIC PARK MONDAY, June 17 • 6:30 p.m. Grand Lobby Stan Winston student and Hollywood VFX wizard Shannon Shea discusses his role in creating the game-changing visual effects in Steven Spielberg’s classic, Jurassic Park.

Music in the Movies Series: KING CREOLE

SUNDAY, June 16 • 7:30 p.m. Elvis Presley delivers one of his finest early performances in King Creole, playing a teenager named Danny Fisher, who is forced to drop out of school to help support his ineffective father (Dean Jagger). Drawn to trouble like a magnet, Danny is saved from a jail term by New Orleans saloon-keeper Charlie Le Grand (Paul Stewart), who gives the boy a job as a singer. It isn’t long, however, before local gang boss Maxie Fields (Walter Matthau), a shadowy figure from Danny’s criminal past, puts the muscle on the boy, insisting that Danny sing at his establishment. Together with Jailhouse Rock, King Creole is one of the best, filmed examples of the untamed, pre-army Elvis Presley.

THE LAST WALTZ MONDAY, June 17 • 6:45 p.m. Theater 2 Martin Scorsese chronicles the most legendary night in rock history, as an unparalleled lineup of rock superstars, including Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison, take the stage for “The Band’s” 1976 farewell concert.

Music in the Movies Series: PURPLE RAIN MONDAY, June 17 • 9:30 p.m. Theater 2 The iconic Prince plays “The Kid,” a Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, escaping a tumultuous home life through music. While trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his father, the Kid navigates the club scene and a rocky relationship with singer, Apollonia. But, another musician, Morris, looks to steal the Kid’s spotlight – and his girl. Featuring a slew of classic songs, including the title track and “When Doves Cry”, it’s a guilty pleasure not to be missed!

THE DARK CRYSTAL, with live orchestration TUESDAY, June 18 • 7:35 p.m. Theater 2 New York-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, conductor, and producer, Clifton Hyde, takes audience members on a live sonic journey, accompanying the visuals of Jim Henson’s classic, The Dark Crystal, a FestivalFavorite from the Mississippi Bicentennial Celebration in 2017. The mystical film takes place on another planet in the distant past, where a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal, the only hope to restore order to his world.

Music in the Movies Series: THIS IS SPINAL TAP TUESDAY, June 18 • 9:30 p.m. Theater 1 The cult classic is a spoof about a filmmaker making a documentary about a once-famous, now almost forgotten British heavy metal band returning to the United States after 17 years for a concert tour. Directed and co-written by Rob Reiner, it stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer and features a stand-out, satirical soundtrack.

ALL THAT JAZZ WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 7:55 p.m. Theater 1 “It’s showtime!” Director/choreographer Bob Fosse takes a Felliniesque look at the life of a driven entertainer. Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) is the ultimate work (and pleasure)-aholic, as he knocks back a daily dose of amphetamines to juggle a new Broadway production while editing his new movie. The film shows the stiff price that entertaining exacts on entertainers.

Music in the Movies Series: ALMOST FAMOUS WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 8:15 p.m. Theater 1 Writer and director Cameron Crowe’s experiences as a teenage rock journalist for Rolling Stone inspired this coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy hitting the road with an up-and-coming rock band in the early 1970s. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand) is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (Zooey Deschanel) and William (Patrick Fugit). William’s album reviews for a local underground newspaper attracts the attention of renegade rock magazine editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment. Eventually, Williams joins Stillwater on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee). William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a groupie traveling with the band. Almost Famous’ original score was composed by Nancy Wilson of Heart.

B.B. KING: THE LIFE OF RILEY THURSDAY, June 20 • 6:30 p.m. Theater 1

BB King opens his heart and tells the story of how an oppressed and orphaned young man came to influence and earn the unmitigated praise of the music industry.

Shorts: Music Video/Dance Block:

VIVA LAS VEGAS

LIFE IS

SUNDAY, June 16 • 9:30 p.m.

Irene Gracie MONDAY, June 17 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

TO WONDER AT THE WORLD ABOVE

SOMETIME (A Mini-Musical):

Megan Bradberry

Emily Raye Brown

MONDAY, June 17 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

Shorts: Music Video/Dance Block:

EXIST WITH US: THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

THE MEANING OF US

Benjamin Smith MONDAY, June 17 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

MONDAY, June 17 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

Competition Features:

YOUNG BLOOD: THE MASS SHOOTING GENERATION TAKES ACTION

ALWAYS IN SEASON Jaqueline Olive

MONDAY, June 17 • 7:30 p.m. Theater 1

Mattlan Ladner MONDAY, June 17 • 7:30 p.m.

Competition Features:

HOODIES

TIMES GONE BY

Mattlan Ladner

Caleb Haynes

MONDAY, June 17 • 9:30 p.m. Theater 1

TUESDAY, June 18 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

CRISIS ACT

PARALLEL

Caleb Haynes TUESDAY, June 18 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

Alex Gheorge TUESDAY, June 18 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

Competition Features:

PANDA

SILVER SLIPPER

Trent Dickens TUESDAY, June 18 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

Travis Mills TUESDAY, June 18 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

ALIENATED

TRIGGERED Chris Moore

Sandy Parker TUESDAY, June 18 • 7:30 p.m. Theater 1

TUESDAY, June 18 • 7:30 p.m. Theater 1

Competition Features:

DUSMAS BRIESMONES

HUCKLEBERRY FINN & THE WIDOW’S MITE

Ronn Hague WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

KEROSENE: LEGEND OF THE SHADOW MAN

GOD GAVE HIM GRACE Will Durham WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

Will Durham WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

Competition Features:

BO MCGRAW AND THE UFO

GAME

Jon Miller

Jeannie Donohoe

WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 5:00 p.m. Theater 1

WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 7:30 p.m. Theater 1

A SON INHERIT

DEAD WINTER

Michael Williams WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 7:30 p.m. Theater 1

WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 7:30 p.m. Theater 1

Allison Hogue

Competition Features:

AHURA

DRIVEN

WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 7:30 p.m. Theater 1

Glenn Payne WEDNESDAY, June 19 • 7:30 p.m. Theater 1

THE BETRAYAL

SINGING DAY

THURSDAY, June 20 • 4:00 p.m. Theater 1

Competition Features:

A PICTURE WITH A GUN

THE TURNER EXHIBIT

THURSDAY, June 20 • 4:00 p.m. Theater 1

JUST MY TYPE

E.G. Fendler THURSDAY, June 20 • 4:00 p.m. Theater 1

FSFX

AWARDS SHOW & CONCERT

JUNE 20 9PM FEATURING

@ THE THIRSTY HIPPO