With the continuing sponsorship and support of ETSU, and the added support this year of the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies (TnCIS), Pellissippi State Technical Community College (PSTCC) and the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA), the third annual Southern Appalachian International Film Festival (SOAPIFF) is expanding its outreach this November.
The celebration of cinema showcases more than 100 films – some of which are world, United States or Tennessee premieres – as well as related lectures and exhibits.
SOAPIFF 2008 runs Nov. 13-16 in Johnson City, and Nov. 21-23 in Knoxville. All films are free and open to the public.
Included among the offerings are Appalachian films, international and foreign language films, features, documentaries, children’s films, art/experimental films, animation, gender issues and LGBTQ films, classic silent movies, horror films, minority issue films and environmental films.
In Johnson City, films will be screened on ETSU’s campus, at the Acoustic Coffeehouse on West Walnut Street, and at Numan’s on East Main Street. In Knoxville, films will be shown at the KMA and at Pellissippi State’s Goins Auditorium and Clayton Performing Arts Center.
The 2008 SOAPIFF Opening Gala takes place on Thursday, Nov. 13, at The Charles, 308 E. Main St, featuring food and assorted beverages, entertainment with live music, and the announcement of winning films in the 2008 juried competition. Tickets for this 7 p.m. event are $20 at the door.
Among SOAPIFF highlights this year is the popular Appalachian screen, which is showcasing a number of works including the Tennessee premieres of “Egg Fight” and “Thoughts in the Presence of Fear,” plus filmmakers from Appalshop who will speak at ETSU and PSTCC.
ETSU alumnus and current New York resident Daniel Perry’s “Egg Fight” is about nearby Elizabethton’s legendary 185-year-old Peters Hollow Easter Egg Fight.
The documentary mixes interviews of participants with news footage of the event. And although there should be a number of “egg fighters” present for the film’s screening, don’t expect them to reveal any of their secrets about how to win the annual battle where competitors of all ages go toe-to-toe and egg-to-egg.
Filmmaker Herbert “Herb” E. Smith’s “Thoughts in the Presence of Fear” is “a visual companion” to an essay written by renowned Kentucky author Wendell Berry in response to the nation’s tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
His post-911 essay has been reprinted in 73 countries and translated into seven languages. The film features a voiceover of Berry reading from his work, accompanied by music, artwork and “moving images” from Smith’s films over the years. Smith will be on hand to present this Appalshop film on Friday, Nov. 14.
Another highlight of the Appalachian screen is the world premiere of “Holding the Line,” a documentary capturing the struggle of 900 nurses in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia who “hold the line” against their corporate employer to maintain quality patient care.
Director Sue Hagedorn will be in attendance for this premiere as will a number of the nurses involved in the fight on behalf of their patients.
A full slate of International Films features works from Scotland, England, France, Latvia, South Korea, Taiwan, The People’s Republic of China, Canada, Spain, Cuba, New Zealand and Italy.
Now SOAPIFF is hosting the Tennessee premiere of the Scottish film, “Trouble Sleeping,” which deals with past conflicts that come to light within a community of Muslim immigrants trying to start new lives in Scotland.
And in its U.S. premiere, “The New Ten Commandments” – which counts Oscar winner Tilda Swinton among its directors – is a documentary set in Scotland that celebrates the 60th anniversary of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Additionally, SOAPIFF’s Focus on Films in French was fostered by the generous support of the French Cultural Services of the Consultat général de France É New York, Atlanta and others. Francophiles throughout the region will enjoy a number of French films making either their U.S. and/or Tennessee premieres.
As part of this initiative, SOAPIFF celebrates Quebec’s 400th anniversary of its founding with a series of films from the French-speaking Canadian Province.
This year, SOAPIFF is dedicating a screen to new Chinese Indie Films. Through cooperation with the Beijing Film Festival, SOAPIFF has obtained a number of “fascinating” Chinese films which will be making their U.S. premieres.
And SOAPIFF is joining with the International Black Film Festival of Nashville to present its “Best of Fest” films. A representative from the festival will be at ETSU on Friday, Nov. 14, to screen four hours of black film programming from around the world.
Horror Films screening downtown at Numan’s, 225 E. Main St., feature a series of classics from the U.S. and other countries mixed with works making their Tennessee premieres.
Selections include 1968’s infamous “Night of the Living Dead,” and a 1977 Italian classic, “Suspiria,” named one of the top 100 films of the 20th century by Village Voice.
The Acoustic Coffeehouse on West Walnut hosts the Socially Conscious Cinema session Nov. 14-16, highlighting documentary films on the war in Iraq, the conflict in Sudan, Martin Luther King Jr., genetically modified organisms, the death penalty and animal rights.
Included among the Silent Films being featured at ETSU on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 15-16, are Thomas Edison’s 1903 “The Great Train Robbery”; 1920’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” with John Barrymore; Lon Chaney’s classic performance in 1923’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”; 1925’s “The Lost World,” with Wallace Beery; and 1927’s “The General,” starring Buster Keaton.
Kingsport native, ETSU alumna and filmmaker/producer Linda Warden will be back home in the Tri-Cities to present her family-friendly work, “Three Apples Fall,” an award-winning adaptation of an old fairytale which has been picked up for broadcast by PBS stations.
For those who might have missed Johnson City’s annual Blue Plum Animation Festival this past June, SOAPIFF is screening some of Blue Plum’s animated shorts and other children-friendly works at ETSU on Saturday, Nov. 15.
A special exhibition of “Celebrity Photography” by internationally renowned photographer Rae Ann Rubenstein will be on view at PSTCC’s new Bagwell Center for Media and Art from Nov. 17-26. She will speak about working with various celebrities on Friday, Nov. 21, at Goins Auditorium, and her talk will be followed by a reception.
In addition, director and producer Karla Winfrey (Oprah’s cousin) is scheduled to attend the SOAPIFF events at PSTCC to promote her film concerning African-Americans “going into the country music field.”
Individuals who missed seeing a specific film should check out the “Best of the Festival” in Knoxville – Saturday, Nov. 22, at KMA and Sunday, Nov. 23, at Pellissippi State. And International films will be screening again at PSTCC as part of its International Week Celebration.
For additional details on SOAPIFF and a full schedule of films, visit www.soapiff.inflics.com.

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