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The Southern Appalachian International Film Festival returns to Pellissippi State Community College in early November for its second year, bringing in dozens of new documentaries, short films and features from the U.S. and around the world.

The festival is Monday-Friday, Nov. 2-6, with screenings at the Goins Building Auditorium on the Pellissippi Campus on Hardin Valley Road, as well as at the Division Street Campus, Magnolia Avenue Campus and Blount County Center.

The event is free and open to the public, and films will be shown from morning through evening.

This year’s SOAPIFF offers an eclectic mix of films, from documentaries and features shot in Appalachia to foreign films of Europe and Asia. More Spanish-language films have been added, as well as French films. An Iranian film also will be shown, a first for the festival.

“We are serving two audiences—students and the community,” said Michael Tomlinson, an assistant professor of Web Technology who has been instrumental in organizing the festival at Pellissippi State. “We showed about 60 films last year. These are films from professional filmmakers worldwide.”

Pellissippi State faculty members plan to integrate the films into courses to further the college’s international education curriculum, with support from the co-sponsor of the event, Tennessee Consortium for International Studies at Pellissippi State.
Pellissippi State student films will run during the day in the Bagwell Center for Media and Art.

In addition to the film screenings, there will be several related presentations in the Pellissippi Campus’ Goins Building Auditorium, among them:

• Filmmaker Lance Weiler speaks at 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, following a reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Rotunda. Weiler’s presentation topics include the Workbook Project and the future of filmmaking.
• “Filmmaking as a Career,” a panel discussion by women filmmakers, is set for noon Friday, Nov. 6. The participating filmmakers will be present for an 11:30 a.m. reception in the Rotunda.

The festival wraps up on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. reception and screening of “Le Pacte des Loups” (“Brotherhood of the Wolf”). The film will be introduced by Joan Easterly, Pellissippi State French professor, as part of French Film Friday. It will be followed by a viewing of the Best of the Festival for 2009.

Films have been scheduled every afternoon and evening to make it easier for the public to park on campus. For more information, visit www.pstcc.edu/filmfest or call (865) 694-6400.

Join the Peace Corps and bring help to the developing world. It sounds like something for only the young. Just don’t tell the 55-year-old retired bank president or the 60-something retired couple—they recently spent two years in Romania with the Peace Corps.

So did LaShawn Smith, 34, a former Pellissippi State Community College student and teacher.

Smith will talk about his Peace Corps experiences Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. in Room 118 of the college’s Division Street Campus, 3435 Division St. The public is invited to attend.

Smith loves to discuss what life was like in Romania. While there, he attended university conferences and had three articles published in Romanian academic journals.

According to him, Eastern Europe has a significant problem in human
trafficking, in which boys and girls are enslaved and prostituted, and he also taught high school students how to avoid becoming its victims.

“It was a wonderful experience,” he said, “and I want to encourage more individuals to join the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps has no age limits—it’s an opportunity that is open to everybody.”

Smith lived on $500 a month, which had to cover his expenses.

“You don’t join to get rich,” he said, “but there are opportunities that people might not know about. For instance, the Peace Corps provides a readjustment allowance when you come home, funding for graduate school at approved universities and help getting a noncompetitive government job.”

Smith already had a lot of living under his belt before he went to Romania. He had been around the world with the Marines: Kuwait, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Australia.

During his time in the military, he developed a strong interest in sociology, and he earned a master’s degree after being discharged. Smith’s passion for sociology—why crime, poverty and racism are more prevalent in some places than others—was lived out in Romania. He already had a master’s in sociology when he joined the Peace Corps and now plans to begin doctoral work in January.

To learn more about Smith and the Peace Corps experience, contact the Pellissippi State Division Street Campus at (865) 971-5200.

Art has taken Paula Clendenin to England, France and multiple states throughout the U.S. Now it will bring the West Virginian to Knoxville for a November exhibit at Pellissippi State Community College.

Clendenin grew up in the small Appalachian coal-mining town of Cedar Grove, W. Va., and she uses the inspiration of her childhood surroundings as the primary source of her art. That makes her a perfect fit for an exhibit staged in conjunction with Pellissippi State’s Common Academic Experience, a program in which one book—the Common Book—is selected each academic year to serve as a common denominator in developing curricular and co-curricular activities.

As the 2009-2010 Common Book, “Storming Heaven” by Denise Giardina is required reading for many Pellissippi State students. It is the centerpiece for activities ranging from author presentations to film viewings. All activities have in common the themes found in the novel, which explores the negative impact of a coal company on a small West Virginia town in the early years of the 20th century.

Clendenin’s artwork is evocative of environmental concerns about coal mining and mountaintop removal.

“I have always been interested in things that require a closer look in order to be appreciated,” said Clendenin. “Multiple layers and layered meanings distill into a singular visual thought, into a form that evokes an inner recognition, a form that suggests the resonance of a certain land, of neglected surfaces, of the passing and absorption of time.”

The artist, whose works have been shown in collections ranging from the Library of Congress to London’s International Art, Ltd., has been the recipient of prestigious resident fellowships in France, Vermont and New Hampshire. Clendenin’s art is mixed media, making use of everything from enamel, latex and oil paint to graphite, metal and even coal dust.

An opening reception with the artist is set for Nov. 6, 5:30-8 p.m. The reception and exhibit are in the Gallery of the Bagwell Center for Media and Art, located on the Pellissippi Campus on Hardin Valley Road. Both events are free and open to the public.

Clendenin’s work will be on display through Nov. 19. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

For additional information, contact Sydney Gingrow at (865) 694-6445.