Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers coming to Clayton Center

Aug. 2, 2019

Six independent films are coming to the Clayton Center for the Arts in 2019-20, as part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, a program of South Arts that brings the best of new independent film to communities across the South. Southern Circuit screenings are funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased on claytonartscenter.com or at the Clayton Center Box Office. Admission is free for Maryville College students. All screenings will begin at 7 p.m. in the Harold and Jean Lambert Recital Hall and will include a Q&A with the filmmaker after the screening.

Sept. 17, 2019: “Same God”
In 2015 a black, female professor at a prominent Christian college wore a hijab and said that Christians and Muslims worship the Same God. The firestorm that followed exposed the rifts among evangelicals over race, Islam, religious freedom…and Donald Trump. Director: Linda Midgett
www.samegodfilm.com

Oct. 30, 2019: “Wrestle”
Hoop Dreams goes to the mat in this intimate, coming-of-age documentary about four members of a high-school wrestling team at Huntsville’s J.O. Johnson High School, a longstanding entry on Alabama’s list of failing schools. Teammates Jailen, Jamario, Teague, and Jaquan each face challenges far beyond a shot at the State Championship: splintered family lives, drug use, teenage pregnancy, mental health struggles, and run-ins with the law threaten to derail their success on the mat and lock any doors that could otherwise open. Filmmaker and director: Suzannah Herbert
www.wrestlefilm.com

Nov. 20, 2019: “Float”
This intriguing documentary, with its stunning cinematography, chronicles the small but dedicated scene of competitive model aviation. Filmmaker and director Phil Kibbe.
www.floatdocumentary.com 

Feb. 18, 2020: “The Infiltrators”
A rag-tag group of undocumented youth DREAMers deliberately get detained by Border Patrol in order to infiltrate a shadowy, for-profit detention center. Filmmaker and director: Darren Dean
www.infiltratorsfilm.com 

March 3, 2020: “Light From Light”
A single mom and sometimes paranormal investigator investigates a possible “haunting” at a widower’s farmhouse in East Tennessee. The independent film that was filmed in Knoxville, Tenn., premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Stars Jim Gaffigan and Marin Ireland. Filmmaker and director: Paul Harrill
www.lightfromlightfilm.com

April 22, 2020: “Little Miss Westie”
Little Miss Westie follows the life of two siblings: Luca McCarthy (a 14 year old transgender boy) and his little sister Ren (an 11 year old transgender girl). Before transitioning Luca had participated in the Lil’ Miss Westie beauty pageant, which is a local rite of passage in the small town of West Haven, Connecticut. Now, it is Ren’s turn; in the first year following her transition, she will compete in the pageant with Luca’s expert guidance. Filmmaker, co-director and editor: Joy E. Reed
www.lmwdoc.com

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”