The Magnolia Film Festival will feature films from seven Mississippi directors this year.
These filmmakers include a Starkville High School student, two Mississippi State University students and veteran director Michael Williams, all of whom have films that will be shown at the festival, according to festival chair Angella Baker.
The festival begins today with a reception for filmmakers followed by the first screening, which begins at 7 p.m. It will take place at Hollywood Premier Cinemas.
“We’re thrilled that we got such a good representation from the state,” Baker said.
The Magnolia Film Festival was started by journalist and filmmaker Ron Tibbett in 1997, according to the Starkville Area Arts Council’s website. It was the first such festival in the state. Since its beginning, other film festivals in Mississippi have started, a trend which encourages potential filmmakers to enter the film business and make connections among other directors and producers in the state, according to director Michael Williams. Williams added that while many independent film festivals grow and change dramatically over the years, Magnolia is still a “tight knit” festival in which all participants and audience members can see every film shown because no two films screen at the same time.
“Magnolia’s kept its heart,” Williams said.
This is Williams’s eighth year as a participant in the festival. His film “Ozland” is about a man in postapocalyptic America and his discovery of a copy of the book “The Wizard of Oz.” The film’s screening will take place Friday during the Hollywood Premiere Cinema Screenings from 7 to 10 p.m., following a short film by Tupelo director Casey Pernell, “A Horror Movie.”
Though the festival features work by national and international filmmakers, it also contains films by Starkville students, Baker said.
MSU students Johnny Weichel and Hilda Queiroz directed “Current State” and “Acroamatic,” respectively. Starkville High School student Preston Booth’s short film, “Worse Case Scenario,” will also appear in the festival.
“It’s cool,” Weichel said about being in the festival. “I think the arts are a very important part of the world we live in.”
Weichel is a senior studying broadcasting at MSU. In a phone interview with The Dispatch, he praised the Starkville Arts Council for its promotion of the arts and said he looked forward to meeting other filmmakers and making connections in Mississippi’s small but growing film industry.
Weichel described his film, “Current State,” as a vignette in which two friends meet for coffee and are forced to interact with a group of college students at another table. His film, along with other student films by Queiroz and Booth, will screen Saturday.
Film genres range from science fiction and horror to comedy and experimental, according to Baker.
In addition to 17 films, the festival will include a filmmaker forum at 929 Coffee House and a filmmaker’s workshop. The festival will conclude with the presentation of awards on Saturday night at 9 p.m.
To see the festival’s entire schedule, go to starkvillearts.net.
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