The Nashville Film Festival turns 40—and here's your guide to the life of the party

In human lives, 40 may be the new 30, or so Bowflex salesmen and the staff of Men's Health would have us believe. In the lifespan of film festivals, though, 40 is the equivalent of a century. Forty years ago, "independent film" meant Stan Brakhage, not Juno; Sundance was just Butch Cassidy's pretty-boy pal; and a scuzzy, druggy yet artistically ambitious biker picture called Easy Rider undermined the studios' every idea of what supposedly made a successful movie.

That year, 1969, was when Mary Jane Coleman founded the Sinking Creek Film Celebration on a farm in the community of Tusculum. For decades, even after its move to Vanderbilt's Sarratt Cinema, the pioneers of American experimental film and documentary passed through its ranks—from Scorpio Rising voluptuary Kenneth Anger to the folklore guardians of Appalachia's acclaimed Appalshop.

Times changed, however, and the festival altered with them. In the mid-1990s, as the rise of Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino and others turned "indie" into a brand that essentially meant "mainstream but cool," Sinking Creek ditched its unwieldy homespun name—and its longtime focus on the bleeding edge of cinema—for an ambitious new life as the Nashville International Film Festival. A decade later, the NIFF is the NaFF, and an event that once attracted only several hundred viewers to a college cinema now tops 22,000 at Regal's Green Hills megaplex.

Forty is a transitionary age for everybody. The NaFF is no exception. This is its first year with a new artistic director, Brian Owens, who takes over from the abrupt departure last year of the NaFF's highly visible (and valuable) movie maven Brian Gordon. Gone too is longtime festival coordinator Mandy McBroom. A new logo positions the festival as part of the city skyline—a sign of its ambitions as the NaFF steams toward the half-century mark.

The 40th annual NaFF gets underway Thursday night for a week of movies, workshops, schmoozing, people-watching, parties and hardcore movie geeking at Green Hills. The opening night exemplifies the NaFF's all-things-to-everyone approach: something local (The Lonely, Brent Stewart's behind-the-scenes doc about the making of Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely, with Stewart and Korine in person); something fiction (the Zooey Deschanel-Joseph Gordon-Levitt romantic comedy 500 Days of Summer); something non-fiction (Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary). Over the following week, there'll be music docs, animation, retrospective screenings from throughout the NaFF's first 40 years, and red-carpet arrivals every night.

Below, you'll find capsule reviews of more than 30 features at this year's NaFF, with more available online at nashvillescene.com. (Watch the Scene's blog Pith in the Wind also for festival updates.) We've also provided sidebars on retro screenings, films of local interest, and some of the workshops scattered throughout the week.

We leave you with some tips for getting the most out of the 40th annual NaFF, whether you're a first-timer or an old hand. First, purchase advance tickets ($11, $9 for students and seniors) whenever possible at the NaFF box office, located in the Green Hills downstairs lobby. That goes double for films with visiting celebs or which have only one screening. (The black comedy How to Be with Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson has already sold out one screening, thanks to some timely Internet rumor-mongering; he's not attending, as far as anyone knows.) Also watch the lobby for announcements of last-minute screenings, rush tickets, cancellations and other breaking news.

Arrive at least a half-hour early, as the lines gather quickly. That's a good thing: talking to people in line lets you ride the buzz, or score tips on word-of-mouth favorites you might not have planned to see. Take a chance on a movie you know nothing about, as those are frequently the festival's biggest surprises: one candidate this year is an Irish sleeper called Kisses (screening 4:15 p.m. April 17 and 8:30 p.m. April 21). It could be the subject of a retro screening at the 2019 Nashville Film Festival—where 50 may be the new 40.

* = Strongly recommended

Friday, 17th

SORRY, THANKS
(6:15 p.m.; also 4:30 p.m. April 21)
What is it about dweebish, self-absorbed man-children that so many women find irresistible? The answer: sorry, thanks. Or, uh, something like that. (Awkward pause.) Wiley Wiggins (Dazed and Confused) is the obscure object of desire—or, like, whatever—in this tale of not-that-young-anymore young people adrift in the tepid seas of self-doubt, ambivalent hook-ups and small talk. Lots of small talk. (As one character puts it, "I'm speechy.") Though the tone is a bit uneven, Sorry elicits its share of grimaces—some of them earned—and when the story finally takes shape above all the stream-of-self-consciousness mumbling, director Dia Sokol brings it to a deft and poignant conclusion. STEVE HARUCH

* YOUSSOU N'DOUR: I BRING WHAT I LOVE
(7 p.m.; also 7:15 p.m. April 21)
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's film at times lacks the frame of reference and exposition Westerners might need to truly penetrate the story of N'dour and his controversial album Egypt, but the Senegalese pop sensation's message still comes through clearly. Despite critics' accusations that a pop star—a hedonistic profession in many eyes—shouldn't have released an album so fraught with Muslim subject matter, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, it's truly inspiring to see N'dour's steadfast message of harmony and international understanding eventually bring Egypt enormous critical and commercial success. Perhaps most notably, his relationships with his family, country and religion present challenging, even educational parallels with Western artists and cultural icons. D. PATRICK RODGERS