UNA Pressroom

First Night Of Film Festival To Be All Alabama

Feb. 28, 2011



Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@tootsierocha.com, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - The George Lindsey UNA Film Festival will kick off Thursday night at 6:15 with a full slate of films made at least partially in Alabama. The Thursday-night screenings include both documentary and narrative films from a diverse group of filmmakers. Documentary subjects include "Open Secret," Melanie Jeffcoat's film re-enactment of vital parts of the 1901 Alabama Constitutional Convention. Adam Schwartz, R. Todd Campbell and Robert Clay's "Torch" focuses on Birmingham's Vulcan statue and its one-time use as an announcement of traffic deaths in the city. "Sloss: Industry to Art" is Christopher Holmes' record of the transition of the Sloss Furnaces plant in Birmingham from an industrial site to the focal point for the Contemporary Cast Iron Movement in art. Spencer Lenzie's short, "Grease Junkie," is the only narrative film of the evening. The student film tells the story of a future when hamburgers are illegal and police must hunt down "burger lords." Ending the Thursday screening lineup is "The Secret to a Happy Ending," Barr Weissman's feature-length documentary about the Drive-By Truckers. All of the these films are in competition for the prestigious Clyde "Sappo" Black Sweet Home Alabama Award, which carries a $2,000 prize. The award will be announced at the Annual Awards Show and After Party Saturday night. All films will screen at the Zodiac Theatre, 416 N. Court Street in Florence. Screenings are free and open to the public. The 14th annual George Lindsey UNA Film Festival will be held March 3-5 in Florence. It is one of the few film festivals hosted by a university. The event was founded in 1998 in part by UNA alumnus and celebrated actor and entertainer George Lindsey. Lindsey's own film career has included several important roles, including the character Goober Pyle on "The Andy Griffith Show." For more information on the 2011 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, visit www.lindseyfilmfest.com, or contact the film festival staff at lindseyfilmfest@tootsierocha.com or 256-765-4592.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: tootsierocha.com and tootsierocha.com/unaworks/.