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.