More music docs, more foreign films and more dramatic features with distribution already in place—these are among the expected announcements in coming weeks as the Nashville Film Festival locks down its 2005 schedule. The eight-day fest starts April 14 at Regal's Green Hills megaplex, and several prime films are still in negotiation, including three movies that made waves at the just-concluded Sundance film festival. Also up in the air is this year's slate of visiting celebs and filmmakers—the source of the festival's annual double-digit-percentage increases in attendance.
But if you liked last year's mix of mainstream and esoterica, polished commercial films and ragged indies, the few titles announced so far continue the balance. From Knoxville by way of Cannes and Toronto comes The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, director-star Asia Argento's adaptation of the cult JT Leroy novel about a boy's hellacious childhood with his junkie stripper mom. Early reviews strictly love it or hate it, usually a sign of something interesting—and any cast that includes Winona Ryder, Peter Fonda, Lydia Lunch, Marilyn Manson and rockabilly wildhair Hasil Adkins has to be worth a look.
Another high-profile item is The World, the latest film from Jia Zhangke, the Chinese director who's been hailed in recent years as an emerging master. Like his superb Unknown Pleasures, it's a study of disaffected Chinese youth adrift in a world set on fast-forward: his setting is a theme park stuffed with replicas of the world's landmarks. Advance word is excellent.
Of the music docs, a must-see is Cowboy Jack's Home Movies (Or, Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan), in which directors Morgan Neville and Memphis music writer Robert Gordon sift through the legendary Jack Clement's 30 years of bizarre and brilliant home movies. Here's hoping it includes the one of Johnny Cash wearing a pig snout.
Other films of note include:
♦ Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt, director Margaret Brown's affectionate documentary portrait of the songwriter's songwriter.
♦ Loggerheads, a Sundance selection that entwines three stories about estranged North Carolina families, with Bonnie Hunt and Tess Harper and music by Patty Griffin.
♦ Men Without Jobs, a well-reviewed comedy by writer-director Mad Matthewz about two black slackers who go to outlandish lengths to avoid the rat race.
♦ Missionary Positions, a profile of the two California pastors who decided to combat pornography addiction by starting the web site www.xxxchurch.com and going on "porn patrol" through red-light districts around the world.
♦ Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice, in which documentarian Stanley Nelson (The Murder of Emmett Till) explores the history of the activist a cappella singing group.
NFF artistic director Brian Gordon also expects to add more films from his recent Sundance trek to the lineup, as well as some bigger attractions for the opening and closing-night slots. "Word is getting out about the festival," Gordon says, "because [distributors] are starting to contact us."
The full list won't be available for several weeks. In the meantime, advance tickets go on sale March 24. For more information, visit www.nashvillefilmfestival.org.
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