“Woodpecker,” a film directed by Alex Karpovsky, will be presented by the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts at ETSU on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the D.P. Culp University Center’s Martha Street Culp Auditorium. This film is the third to be screened at ETSU as part of the South Arts Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.

Following the screening, Karpovsky will engage in a discussion about the film and his work.

A reception will take place afterward.

In “Woodpecker,” fanatical birdwatchers have descended upon a small town in the Arkansas bayou in hopes of finding the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Declared extinct in the 1940s, the bird has reportedly been spotted by numerous experts.

Enter amateur birder Johnny Neander, portrayed by Jon E. Hyrns, who is convinced he will be the one to find the elusive woodpecker. The ensuing chaos divides the small town between believers and non-believers, rabid environmentalists and opportunistic entrepreneurs.

Much like the bird itself, “Woodpecker” manipulates the viewer’s notions of documentary and narrative techniques within a tragic comedy about hope, perception, and some very strange birds.

Karpovsky has been selected by Filmmaker magazine as one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film.”

A formidable actor, he played the voices of several Russian gangsters in “Grand Theft Auto IV” within the past year. His newest film, “Trust Us, This is all Made Up,” premiered at the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival in March 2010.

The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a unique, interactive program that brings independent filmmakers and their films into communities throughout the nine-state region served by South Arts, a not-for-profit regional arts organization.

Founded in 1975, South Arts is supported by funding and programming partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts and the state arts agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Special support for Southern Circuit is provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Mary B. Martin School of the Arts was created in February 2009 with a donation from James C. Martin in memory of his late wife, a graduate of ETSU and a supporter of the arts.

The school works with arts programs on campus and in the community, and schedules performances, exhibitions, lectures, film screenings and other activities.

The film screening, discussion and reception are free and open to the public.

Donations of canned food items will be accepted for distribution to a regional food bank or other charitable organizations.

For more information or special assistance for those with disabilities, contact the Martin School of the Arts at (423) 439-TKTS (8587) or artsinfo@etsu.edu, or visit www.etsu.edu/cas/arts.

For more information on South Arts and its programs, visit www.southarts.org.

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