Much ado this weekend with the arrival of the Rome International Film Festival. This is already the 5th Anniversary of the festival, and its success has been tremendous.
Rome is now known amongst the film community to have one of the most respectable festivals in the Southeast. The festival kicks off tonight with the Opening Night Film, War Eagle, Arkansas, at the City Auditorium, followed by the Opening Night Gala down the street at the Forrest Ballroom.
Films will show at multiple venues all week long with the exception of a break in screenings for the RIFF Awards Ceremony at 5pm on Saturday at the City Auditorium. Following the ceremony, there will be a screening ofthe silent film The Phantom of the Opera, with the Alloy Orchestra providing the soundtrack. The Alloy Orchestra is world reknown for their accompaniment to silent films. The trio features Roger Miller from Mission of Burma, one of the most influential post-punk/indie rock bands of all time.
Friday night brings the final First Friday Concert of this years season with The Zoots, a previous FF favorite, as well as music at other downtown venues.
The Rome Area Songwriter’s Association will provide original music from twelve of their finest members Saturday night in the Schroeder’s Courtyard.
In previous years filmmakers and film fans have been disapointed when looking for something to do after the Saturday night screenings. These guests will be glad to see that Saturday nights no longer shut down at midnight. The night should be vibrant given Thunderbolt Patterson at Harvest Moon, The Dry County Band at McCrobie’s, and more.
Vanaja takes place in rural South India. It has been selected for a RIFF award nomination, and has won previous awards at other festivals. It shows at 3pm on Friday at Heritage Hall.
Here’s a RIFF recommendation straight from Programming Director Harry Musselwhite. Music fans will especially appreciate this documentary about the unsung legends of rock & roll. The Wrecking Crew will hit the screen at 9pm on Friday in The Forum Riverwalk Room. It’s too bad that it screens the same time as the previous post.
Sometimes at the RIFF you really have to make some difficult decisions when scheduling what films to watch. It’s a pretty good problem to have though considering. No room for boredome here.
Here comes the one many Romans have been waiting for. I don’t know the specifics, but I know that Dance of the Dead was filmed in various locations in Rome and featured many extras and crew workers from Rome. It’s playing Friday night at 9pm at Heritage Hall. It should be a fun one.
The films website is at www.danceofthedeadmovie.com
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that the music for the film should be pretty hot. Here’s some links to some of the artists featured on the soundtrack…
The Defibulators, http://thedefibulators.com
Langhorne Slim, http://myspace.com/langhorneslim
Justin Johnson http://myspace.com/justinjohnsonmusic
skiptracersmovie.com
Yes, I’m looking forward to thr Rome International Film Festival, as said before. There are all kinds of films featured in the festival this year. I’m always a sucker for comedy. Skiptracers will show at 11pm at Heritage Hall on Saturday the 6th. It’s about two brothers who are bail bondsmen/pee wee football coaches in Yellow Hammer, AL. The RIFF is proud to feature the world premier of Skiptracers. The filmmakers will be in attendance. It also features Amy’s Uncle Dan (Daniel Burnley) who has had films in the festival for at least the last three years if not more. Really looking forward to this one.
It’s only a few weeks now until the opening night of the Rome International Film Festival (RIFF). I believe it is one of the most entertaining weekends that Rome has to offer. I have attended every year and seen some amazing films, met some very interesting filmmakers, and enjoyed beating the heat by spending all weekend watching movies. To help publicize the event I thought I’d post some film trailers until the festival begins in order to help you plan your viewing schedule. The first trailer is for “War Eagle, Arkansas.” This film has had success in other festivals and is the Opening Night Feature this year. Check back periodically for more previews of this year’s featured films.
Well hell, if we’re gonna have videos up here might as well show you some not so recent videos of your favorite folks. This is a video of Hugh Jorgen Trio with John Schroeder pulling a Phil Collins.
My good buddy Steve Bailey down at Maximun Nutrition on Broad Street has really been working hard lately making arrangements for the 2nd Annual Roman Classic Bodybuilding Competition. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Steve for several years now. He is a fine example of a Broad Street business owner. His customers are extremely loyal, super friendly, and typically in top shape. He’s got a picnic table right there by the window where customers/friends congregate throughout the day, talking about this, that, and everything in between, telling stories, jokes, and listening to rock n’ roll.
The Roman Classic is an amateur bodybuilding competition open for anyone to compete. The judges are no amateurs. Thats for sure. I enjoyed it last year. There was a martial arts demonstration, aerobic dance demonstration by fitness star Hollie Stewart and a visit from Rome’s own Bodybuilding pro David Dorsey. It was pretty new to me as I’ve not been to anything like that before, but it was definitely entertaining, even if you don’t know a thing about bodybuilding. Most amazing was that the overall winner of last years competition was, I believe, a 62 year old man. Dang, I forget his name right now, but he was pretty funny. He came out in a bathrobe and a walker, then shedded the bathrobe, tossed the rocker aside, and blew folks away with his shape. Pretty funny and seriously impressive.
The show is held at the Rome City Auditorium on Saturday, August 9th at 6pm. The doors will open at 5pm if you want to get in there and beat the heat. You can pick up tickets at Maximum Nutrition’s Broad Street location on the Cotton Block. Check it out.
