CLARKSDALE, MISS. (December 29, 2022) — Lights, camera... Clarksdale! Thirteen years in the making, the Clarksdale Film & Music Festival returns next month with another stellar weekend of movies, music and Mississippi. Lineup and more at www.clarksdalefilmfestival.com.
This year's pop-up theater venue is the new Shared Experiences headquarters at 121 Delta Avenue in historic downtown Clarksdale (sharedexperiencesUSA.com). Events are thanks to the generous support of Visit Clarksdale Tourism, the Mississippi Film Office, Clarksdale Public Utilities and the City of Clarksdale. The festival also thanks lodging partners Clark House, Delta Digs/Hooker Hotel/Squeeze Box and Travelers Hotel.
"As always, the Clarksdale Film & Music Festival is exactly that — a cool, curated mix of blues movies and Mississippi-connected films topped off with live music performances and very special guests," said co-founder Roger Stolle. "Unlike big city festivals, ours is what we like to call 'small but mighty,' and as a result, it offers nonstop opportunities to make those super special memories that Clarksdale known for."
This year's featured films include a remastered edition of what Stolle called "quite possibly the greatest blues documentary of the past 30 years"—Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads. Filmed partly in Clarksdale, the festival screening will be introduced by its creator Robert Mugge. The award-winning director will also present a special two-hour cut of his Blues Divas concert film—an unprecedented weekend happening captured for posterity just down the street at world-famous Ground Zero Blues Club in 2004 with the help of Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman and club co-owner Bill Luckett.
Other featured blues music films include the Mississippi premieres of Bonnie Blue: James Cotton's Life in the Blues (presented by executive-producer Judy Laster and co-producer/acclaimed blues musician James Montgomery), Tail Dragger (presented by the legendary Southern-born Chicago bluesman himself, James Yancey Jones a.k.a. "Tail Dragger," and special guest Tamara Jackiw), and Harmonica Bean (presented by Emmy/Oscar award-winning director Ted Reed, editor Nolan Dean and the Mississippi bluesman himself, Terry "Harmonica" Bean).
Plus, as part of the Mississippi Film Office's 50th anniversary, office director Nina Parikh and marketing manager Carey Miller will be onhand to present the new Juliette Binoche/Morgan Freeman/Frank Grillo thriller Paradise Highway. Principal filming for the new R-rated feature by Norwegian director Anna Gutto took place in Clarksdale over the summer of 2021.
Additional screenings at the Shared Experiences HQ include brand-new features and shorts by Clarksdale's Will Goss, Helena's Nolan Dean and Nashville's Tim Hardiman.
"And that's not all," said festival co-organizer Nan Hughes. "We also offer plenty of what Clarksdale does best. Real-deal blues music. Live and in-person."
Clarksdale Film & Music Festival blues performances include such Mississippi favorites as Anthony "Big A" Sherrod, Terry "Harmonica" Bean, Libby Rae Watson, Sean "Bad" Apple and Lucious Spiller. Plus, Clarksdale will, of course, feature its normal live blues in the clubs and jukes every night after the films have gone silent.
The Clarksdale Film & Music Festival: "Mississippi gets its close-up... to celebrate the Magnolia State's films and filmmakers." (Garden & Gun Magazine)
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IMAGES ATTACHED (media can email roger@cathead.biz for additional images):- film festival poster
- Deep Blues social media
- Robert Mugge/Jack Owens (Deep Blues)
- Blues Divas promo
- Bonnie Blue poster
- Tail Dragger poster
- Harmonica Bean poster
      
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