TV & Film
Nashville Film Festival highlights include William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet
By JOE LEYDON
• Follow Joe as he blogs from the Nashville Film Festival
The 40th annual Nashville Film Festival kicks off April 16 in Music City, and will continue screening dramatic features and documentaries through April 23. Highlights of the attractions include:
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison — On Jan. 13, 1968, Johnny Cash recorded his legendary live album at Folsom State Prison in California. Forty-one years later, the album hasn't lost a bit of its power. Cash's children, his former colleagues, and even some ex-prisoners and guards look back at that famous concert behind bars in Bestor Cram's acclaimed documentary. (5 p.m. April 19, 3:45 p.m. April 20)
William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet — Filmmakers Patrick Buckley and Kevin Layne document the transformation of William Shatner's surprise hit CD Has Been — featuring songs co-written by country music star Brad Paisley, pop-folk artist Aimee Mann, and many others — into a ballet by noted choreographer Margo Sappington. Shatner — the cover boy for C&I's April issue — is expected to attend the Nashville Festival premiere, along with Paisley, Sappington, musician/record producer Ben Folds and the film's directors. (7:15 p.m. April 17, 1:30 p.m. April 18)
• William Shatner: C&I story and photos
The film William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet documents the transformation of the actor/singer's surprise hit album Has Been into a ballet.
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That Evening Sun — Academy Award nominee Hal Holbrook makes another bid for Oscar glory with his excellent performance in Scott Teems' brooding drama as an aging Tennessee farmer who goes AWOL from the nursing home where he's been consigned by his son — only to find that his land has been leased to his oldest enemy. (6 p.m. April 18, 12:15 p.m. April 19)
Noble Things — Dan McMellen's filmed-in-Texas drama focuses on a struggling country music artist who must return to his home town to confront his imprisoned brother, his dying father and the demons he left behind. Real-life country music star Lee Ann Womack makes her film acting debut as a police deputy who figures into the plot. (9 p.m. April 18, 2:45 p.m. April 19)
Hal Holbrook in That Evening Sun
Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes — A free-form, intimate look at a private man in the public spotlight: Garrison Keillor, arguably America's foremost humorist and commentator, takes his skits and jokes, music and monologues across the country in his traveling radio show. (2:30 p.m. April 19, 1 p.m. April 21)
