2022 Indie Memphis fest announces lineup of films

An up-close examination of Zach Randolph’s eight seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, a New York drama with Anthony Hopkins and Anne Hathaway, a special presentation of a hundred-year-old movie about witches and a documentary investigation of the Black revolution in 1970s cinema will be among the highlights of the 25th annual Indie Memphis Film Festival, organizers said Tuesday.

Close to 50 feature films and dozens of shorts and music videos from Memphis, the Mid-south and around the world will be screened during the festival, which runs Oct. 19-24.

“Once again, I hope that the films in our line-up represent a collection of some of the best films of the year,” said Indie Memphis artistic director Miriam Bale, citing the “landmark” status of the silver anniversary of an event that in its earliest incarnations was held in coffee shops and Beale Street bars.

The closing night film will be “Is That Black Enough for You?,” a documentary by film critic and scholar Elvis Mitchell that takes a comprehensive look at the groundbreaking Black cinema of the 1970s, from the action-exploitation hits of the era to the social-realist dramas of independent auteurs such as Charles Burnett.

The documentary will be followed by a screening of Gordon Parks’ “Shaft” (1971), a foundational work of the “blaxploitation” cycle that earned a Best Original Song Oscar for Memphis’ Isaac Hayes.

A longtime supporter of Indie Memphis who once introduced a screening of “The Blues Brothers” at the Levitt Shell, Mitchell will attend this year’s festival, and will answer questions after his film.

As previously reported, the festival’s opening night film will be director Phil Bertelsen’s “The Picture Taker,” a documentary about Ernest Withers Jr., the longtime photographer of Black Memphis news and culture who after his death was revealed to have been an informant for the FBI. Bertelsen also will be in Memphis for his screening.

With Indie Memphis executive director-to-be Kimel Fyer in attendance (Fryer formally takes the reins Oct. 3), organizers announced the festival lineup Tuesday night during a free public “preview party” at Black Lodge, the movierental and live-performance space at 405 N. Cleveland near Crosstown Concourse. The gathering represented a hopeful return to tradition after two years of Zoom-abetted preview “parties” that were online-only events, in deference to the COVID pandemic.

Similarly, the 2022 festival will be more festive than the 2021 event, which represented a cautious return to public screenings after the mostly online 2020 festival, which restricted its group screenings to outdoor venues.

This year, films will be screened Downtown and in Midtown, at the Halloran Centre, the Crosstown Theater, Playhouse on the Square, Circuit Playhouse and the Malco Studio on the Square. Some films also will be available online, for those who can’t make the screenings or remain wary of public venues due to COVID-19.

Presented by Duncan-williams, Inc. and Duncan-williams Asset Management, the festival will be augmented with numerous panel discussions, parties and other events. Many filmmakers are expected to be in attendance, as well as film critics and other industry notables. In a signature feature of the festival, musicians will perform in every venue before every screening.

According to an Indie Memphis press release, the 2022 festival will showcase “an intensely varied international lineup of new films, most of which with filmmakers in-person, as well as revival screenings that celebrate Memphis’ rich cultural history, and incredible restorations of film classics.” Some of these films will include:

h “50 for Da City,” directed by Michael Randolph, a documentary about “Z-BO,” Zach Randolph, the power forward who defied the naysayers to become one of the most productive and beloved players in Memphis Grizzlies history.

h “The Return of Tanya Tucker,” a documentary with Brandi Carlile that celebrates the recent re-emergence of the country music superstar.

h The Cannes Film Festival selection “Armageddon Time,” the new semi-autobiographical movie by director James Gray (”The Lost City of Z”), with Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway, “Succession” star Jeremy Strong and Jessica Chastain as Maryanne Trump, sister of Donald.

h French director Mia Hansenløve’s “One Fine Morning,” which stars Léa Seydoux as a woman coping with a seriously ill father, a young daughter and a new lover.

h Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues’ “Will-o’-the-wisp,” a fantastical musical romance.

h “Butterfly in the Sky,” a documentary about the PBS series “Reading Rainbow,” with Levar Burton.

h Memphis director G.B. Shannon’s “Show Business Is My Life - But I Can’t Prove It,” a career-celebrating documentary about the once ubiquitous comic Gary Mule Deer.

h “Jookin,“by Howard Bell IV, a drama that takes place within Memphis’ energetic and innovative street-dance culture.

h Nikyatu Jusu’s “Nanny,” with Anna Diop as an immigrant nanny in New York whose already high stress level is amplified by a supernatural presence.

h “The ‘Vous,” director Jack Porter Lofton’s look at Memphis’ most iconic barbecue restaurant, The Rendezvous.

h Revivals of Craig Brewer’s debut feature, “The Poor & Hungry”; a 10th anniversary screening of Chris Mccoy’s “Antenna,” about Memphis’ storied punk rock club; and “Haxan,” the legendary silent film about witchcraft that this year marks its 100th anniversary, and which will be accompanied by a new live original score composed by Memphis musician Alex Greene.

Individual tickets go on sale Sept. 20. Festival passes with various levels of access are available, ranging from $250 to $25. The full schedule of films and information, indiememphis.org.