South Arts Announces Expansive Southern Circuit Season Connecting Transformational Filmmaking with Communities

Atlanta — South Arts announces the lineup of twenty Screening Partner venues and twenty films and filmmaking teams selected for the 2023-2024 Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. This long-running South Arts program connects US-based documentary filmmakers with communities throughout the South for screenings and conversations around important stories and the art of filmmaking. This season, the Southern Circuit embraces a new approach to the circuit model for more intentional connections among filmmaking teams and Screening Partners. Southern Circuit screenings feature conversations between members of the filmmaking teams and local audiences exploring the films’ stories, topics, and filmmaking process.

See the 2023-2024 Southern Circuit season schedule

Selected films include Jon-Sesrie Goff's feature-length directorial debut After Sherman, the Emmy-winning Little Satchmo, and the lyrical King Coal which debuted at Sundance earlier this year. Themes among this season's selections include the preservation of radical culture, justice movements, and climate gentrification.

“The updated circuit model permits inclusion of more filmmaking teams with more focused tours, further empowering our Screening Partner venues to feature films that explore issues and stories of importance to their communities,” shares Jordan Young, program director. “Our partners have never been more unanimously excited about their selections, and our expanded slate of films means we can bring attention to a broader range of powerful storytelling at a critical time of cultural transformation for our region.”

SCREENING PARTNER VENUES

• Birmingham, AL – Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema
• Hanceville, AL – Burrow Museum at Wallace State Community College
• Fort Myers, FL – Lee County Alliance of the Arts
• Miami, FL – O Cinema
• Sarasota, FL – WSLR
• Atlanta, GA – Plaza Atlanta and Fox Theatre, Atlanta
• Hapeville, GA – City of Hapeville
• Lawrenceville, GA – Aurora Theatre
• Rome, GA – Rome International Film Festival and Berry College
• Roswell, GA – City of Roswell
• Bowling Green, KY – Western Kentucky University
• Lexington, KY – The Living Arts and Science Center
• Alexandria, LA – Arts Council of Central Louisiana
• Cleveland, MS – Bologna Performing Arts Center at Delta State University
• Jackson, MS – Mississippi Department of Archives and History
• Raleigh, NC - NC State University Libraries
• Wilmington, NC – University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Cucalorus Film Festival, Working Films, and WHQR Public Media
• Winston-Salem, NC – a/perture cinema
• Clemson, SC – The Arts Center of Clemson and Clemson University World Cinema Studies Department
• Nashville, TN – Global Education Center

FILMS / FILMMAKERS ON TOUR

Visit the individual film tour pages for tour dates and featured filmmakers and film protagonists.

• 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture - Sharon “Rocky” Roggio (Director)
• A Run for More - Ray Whitehouse (Director / Producer / Cinematographer)
• After Sherman - Jon-Sesrie Goff (Director)
• Battleground - Samantha Blakely (Protagonist) 
• Black Barbie: A Documentary - Lagueria Davis (Director / Producer) and Aaliyah Williams (Producer)
• Breaking the News 
• Bridge Builders Series - Zac Manuel (Series Creator / Director of Photography)
• Burned: Protecting the Protectors - Elijah Yetter-Bowman (Director)
• Butterfly in the Sky - Bradford Thomason (Co-director / Editor) and Dava Whisenant (Executive Producer / Consulting Editor)
• Crossing Overtown - Scott Barnett (Director) and Johanna Vega (Executive Producer)
• The Elephant 6 Recording Co. - C.B. Stockfleth (Director / Producer)
• Freedom Hill - Resita Cox (Director / Producer)
• Hollow Tree - Kira Akerman (Director), Monique Walton (Producer), and Chachi Hauser (Producer)
• King Coal - Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Director / Producer / Co-Editor)
• Little Satchmo - John Alexander (Director) and JC Guest (Producer)
• Master of Light - George Anthony Morton (Protagonist)
• One Pint at a Time - Aaron Hosé (Writer / Director / Producer) and Brigitte Hosé (Executive Producer)
• The Only Doctor - Matthew Hashiguchi (Director) and Anjanette Levert (Producer)
• Razing Liberty Square
• ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ - We Will Speak - ᎤᎶᎩᎳ / Schon Duncan (Director), Michael McDermit (Director), ᎨᎳᏗ / Keli Gonzales (Producer), and Jacob Koestler (Cinematographer / Editor) 

Since its inception in 1975, Southern Circuit has brought influential independent filmmakers and their films from around the country to communities throughout the South. The program is made possible through a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Ticketing and schedule information is available through the local Screening Partner venues.

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About South Arts

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, South Arts is a nonprofit regional arts organization empowering artists, organizations, and communities, and increasing access to arts and culture. Our mission: advancing Southern vitality through the arts. In partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the State Arts Agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee — with additional funding from other public and private donors such as the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation — South Arts supports artists and organizations through a rich and responsive portfolio of grants, fellowships, and programs. South Arts believes that the arts elevate the region, increasing connectedness and inspiring meaningful change in the process. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.