The Nashville Film Festival got more submissions this year than ever before: in excess of 28-hundred movie-makers from points around the globe vied for a spot on the schedule. But as the festival opens tonight, the focus will be closer to home, with movies from Tennessee.
The “Tennessee First” lineup runs the gamut. There are documentaries about a former skinhead and the local roller derby team, plus dramas like the quiet story of a girl giving up her dream of going to college or one that hinges on a mysterious box.
Ernie Park’s “Late Summer” was shot in Nashville. The movie will make its world premiere at the Nashville Film Festival.
There have always been local movies in the festival, but sprinkled throughout rather than bundled together. Artistic director Brian Owens says he wanted to showcase them in part because the quality of Tennessee-made films has shot up in recent years. And he hopes it will be a draw for the local audience.
“By opening with that connection to that community it really I think creates a vibrant energy-we’ll find out soon- but the goal is to create a buzz that will carry us all the way through.”
While the festival does draw attendees from within the film industry, Owens estimates that at least 85 percent of tickets are bought by people from the Nashville area who just want to see some movies.
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