World Premiere of “William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet” One of Early Highlights of 40th Nashville Film Festival
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on February 11, 2009 under Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) | 
Be the First to Comment
Star Trek icon and Boston Legal star William Shatner will join composer Ben Folds at the world premiere of WILLIAM SHATNER’S GONZO BALLET, a film chronicling the quest to create a new ballet based upon Shatner’s critically acclaimed album, Has Been, when the Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) takes place April 16-23, 2009 at Regal Green Hills Cinema.
Celebrating its 40th Anniversary, the Festival will include several world premieres, among them FLYING BY by director Jim Amatulli, starring Billy Ray Cyrus, Heather Locklear, Olesya Rulin (High School Musical) and 2008 NaFF Lifetime Achievement recipient Patricia Neal, and the documentary THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LENS by Reed Cowan (USA). Joining a multitude of US and Southeastern US premieres will be a special screening of a restored print of the classic film EASY RIDER, starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, which also celebrates its 40th anniversary.
Festivalgoers will also be privy to early festival-circuit showings of TRUE ADOLESCENTS (Craig Johnson, USA), starring Academy Award nominee for Best Actress, Melissa Leo, and THAT EVENING SUN, filmed in Tennessee and starring Academy Award winner Hal Holbrook, with Ray McKinnon, Walton Goggins, Dixie Carter and Mia Wasikowska (”Alice” in Tim Burton’s upcoming adaptation of Alice in Wonderland).
“It’s astounding to me that the longest-running film festival in the South is now 40-years-old, and we’re still growing,” said Sallie Mayne, NaFF Executive Director. “We said last year — after smashing all previous attendance records — the only way we could grow was by adding additional theatres. Now with two additional theatres, we’ll be able to celebrate our 40th Anniversary, and better serve festivalgoers, with more films, more events and more screenings.”
To mark the Festival’s 40th Anniversary, artistic director Brian Owens has programmed a special retrospective of notable films that have screened at the Festival back to its days as The Sinking Creek Film Celebration. Included in the retrospective are NIGHT ON EARTH (Jim Jarmusch, Germany, 1991), CLERKS (Kevin Smith, USA, 1994), Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, Netherland, 1982) and Crumb (Terry Zwigoff, USA, 1994).
“This is a festival built on 40 years of dedication to both the craft of filmmaking and the diverse interests of this community,” said Owens, who is programming the Festival for the first time. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to program the Festival, and what a fantastic year to do it, when I can honor both its past and present commitment to great film.”
WILLIAM SHATNER’S GONZO BALLET, directed by Bobby Ciraldo, Andrew Swant and Kevin Layne, chronicles famed choreographer Margo Sappington’s quest to create a new ballet based upon Emmy and Golden Globe award-winner Shatner’s critically acclaimed album, Has Been. Produced by Ben Folds and recorded in Nashville, the album includes songs co-written by Shatner and contributions from Folds, Henry Rollins, Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann and country superstar, Brad Paisley. The completed ballet, “Common People,” set to six songs from “Has Been,” was captured on film when it debuted in 2007 with the Milwaukee Ballet.
Other notable documentary screenings at this year’s Festival include the US premieres of EMPRESS HOTEL (Allie Light, Irving Saraf, USA) and CITIZEN JULING (Kraisak Choonhavan, Ing K, Manit Sriwanichpoom, Thailand), and the Tennessee premiere of director Kimberly Reed’s PRODIGAL SON (USA).
Narrative features in competition include AFTERSCHOOL, by director Antonio Campos (USA), which stars Paul Sparks, Rosemarie DeWitt, Emory Cohen and Ezra Miller. It will make its Tennessee premiere with Campos in attendance.