About

Now entering its 13th year, Indie Memphis utilizes Memphis' rich cultural history to serve as a connecting point for Regional Filmmakers from all corners of the country and provides a showcase for Southern filmmaking, specifically highlighting the work of Memphis filmmakers. While the city is perhaps best known for its musical heritage, the Memphis film scene has early roots in independent film that go back to JIM JARMUSCH's Mystery Train in 1988. FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, MILOS FORMAN and SYDNEY POLLACK have all shot major features in Memphis – not to mention the city's own CRAIG BREWER (Hustle & Flow) and IRA SACHS (Forty Shades of Blue) who both swept Sundance in 2005, winning the Audience and Narrative Jury awards respectively.

Scott Teems, Elvis Mitchell and Ray McKinnon

Named one of the "25 Coolest Film Festivals" in the Summer 2009 issue of MovieMaker Magazine, the 13th annual Indie Memphis Film Festival is set for October 21-24, 2010 in Midtown Memphis, the city's cultural center and home to a plethora of restaurants, bars and clubs. Last year's festival saw an attendance increase of more than 30% for the second year in a row – bringing the overall festival attendance to a record-setting 7,200 attendees. Over 80 filmmakers, industry veterans and special guests from across the United States came to Memphis to screen their work at the 2009 festival, participate in panel discussions, and connect with each other and other attendees, including former New York Times film critic ELVIS MITCHELL (The Black List, KCRW's The Treatment), CRAIG BREWER (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan), PETER GILBERT (Hoop Dreams, At The Death House Door), Cory McAbee and Craig Brewer RAY MCKINNON (The Accountant, The Blind Side), BARRY CORBIN (No Country For Old Men, Northern Exposure), JOE SWANBERG (Hannah Takes The Stairs, Alexander the Last) CORY MCABEE (The American Astronaut, Stingray Sam), HEIDI VAN LIER ("The Indie Film Rule Book") and CHRIS HOLLAND ("Film Festival Secrets"). Other past attendees and special guests have included JOHN SAYLES (Matewan), IRA SACHS (Forty Shades of Blue); GIANCARLO ESPOSITO (Do The Right Thing), ANGELA BASSETT (What's Love Got To Do With It), JOEY LAUREN ADAMS (Chasing Amy), ALBERT MAYSLES (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter), and BOB MONDELLO (National Public Radio).

The Alloy Orchestra at the Studio on the Square

With roots that run deep in the cultural landscape Memphis is most famous for, Indie Memphis is about more than film – and the 2009 festival set new milestones connecting music and film: MEMPHIS MUSICIANS performed live in the movie theater auditoriums before screenings, exposing audience members to true, independent Memphis music; the ALLOY ORCHESTRA performed their acclaimed live accompaniments to silent film classics The General and Man With A Movie Camera; singer / songwriter ROBYN HITCHCOCK performed an intimate solo concert to close the festival at Malco Theatres' Studio on the Square, and ELVIS PRESLEY himself returned to the Levitt Shell for a free outdoor screening of Elvis: '68 Special.

Robyn Hitchcock at the Studio on the Square

But with year-round programs that inspire, encourage and promote independent films and filmmaking in Memphis, with on-going partnerships and collaborations with organizations including Live from Memphis, the Brooks Museum of Art, Common Ground, the Memphis in May International Festival, the Memphis College of Art, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Memphis Chapter of the Recording Academy, the Memphis Music Foundation and the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission.

Indie Memphis is about more than the annual film festival it is best known for,

Of the more than 40 non-festival programs from 2009, highlights included:

Francis Ford Coppola at The Brooks

– A live Q&A session via internet with FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA (which included special appearance by SOPHIA COPPOLA) after a screening of his latest feature, Tetro, at the Brooks Museum of Art. Presented in collaboration with The Brooks, the event was sponsored by the Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission / Memphis ED.

– David Lynch presents Interview Project with a live performance by musician STOLL VAUGHAN at the Brooks Museum of Art, presented in collaboration with The Brooks.

– Screenings of animator BILL PLYMPTON's feature films Hair High and Idiots and Angels, presented in collaboration with the Memphis College of Art at Malco's Studio on the Square. Plympton was in attendance for the screening of Idiots and Angels and held a free lecture at the Memphis College of Art about his work and career.

$5 Cover World Premiere poster

– Essential Art House Cinema screenings presented in collaboration with the Brooks Museum of Art, bringing restored high-definition transfers of Truffaut's Jules and Jim (1962), Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957) and Fellini's La Strada (1954) to The Brooks and a new, restored 35mm print of Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950) to Malco's Studio on the Square.

– Screenings of short films from Chile and the award-winning Chilean feature Machuca, presented with the Memphis In May International Festival, continuing the three-year collaboration between our organizations.

– World Premiere of CRAIG BREWER's $5 Cover at the Malco Paradiso, co-presented by Malco and the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission. The event drew a crowd of more than 1,100 attendees and served as Indie Memphis' Spring fundraiser and the launch platform for our new membership program.