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Micropolitan Film Festival Returns to Downtown Marion on Saturday September 6th! The Micropolitan Film Festival is back at the Marion Train Depot on Saturday, September 6th from 2pm to 8pm, with a fun, film-filled afternoon and evening hosted by Arietta Clark, returning as emcee for the eighth year in a row. The event features local craft beer, non-alcoholic refreshments, free popcorn, and a lineup of independent short films from across the Southeast, plus Q&As with the filmmakers and a chance for the audience to vote for their favorite during the awards ceremony. Additionally, all proceeds made from concessions and ticket sales directly benefit our local arts council, McDowell Arts Council Association. “This festival has aged like fine wine. It gets better every year!,” shared local filmmaker Aaron Shirley, a past participant and panelist. Fittingly, this year’s featured sponsor is Mica Town Brewing, a longtime supporter of local arts and culture. Their craft brews will be available throughout the event, and the celebration will continue, after the awards are handed out, upstairs at The High-Dive, Mica Town’s dive bar, where the official after-party kicks off at 8:00 pm. “What I love most about this festival is that it makes space for everyone; serious, silly, personal, strange, true, and everything in between. You don’t have to go somewhere else to be celebrated. This is a place where small-town artists get to share big ideas, be seen, and maybe win a tiny trophy.” shared Anna Branam, Festival Director. At 2:00 pm the festival will kick-off with a free screening of Stranger with a Camera, a 2000 documentary by Elizabeth Barret, that explores the 1967 killing of filmmaker Hugh O'Connor in Jeremiah, Kentucky. O'Connor was in the region filming rural Appalachian communities as part of the “War on Poverty” initiatives. O’Connor was shot and killed by local landowner Hobart Ison. Barret, herself an Appalachian filmmaker, revisits this tragedy to delve into questions of media representation, responsibility, and the potential for exploitation when documenting unfamiliar communities. What power does a camera have? What violence can representation and misrepresentation create? How do these issues persist today? A conversation gauged towards filmmakers and creatives will be facilitated by Jordan Laney, Phd., following the screening. This screening is presented as part of the Beyond 1842 Project, a McDowell County oral history initiative dedicated to telling our own stories, in our own words, and on our own terms (www.beyond1842.org). After taking a break for dinner, the doors at the Marion Depot (45 Depot St) will open for box office at 5:00 pm. Promptly at 5:30 pm the short film screenings will begin. Featured titles include: Cold Blood — directed by Dragon Emotional Support Demon — directed by Dave Harlequin Above the Mountain Majesties and We Begin Again at 9:30 — directed by Beth Davison My Sister Got Shingled — directed by Silas Rowland Warp Weft Water Weeds — directed by John Rash The Encounter — directed by Shaun Rogers A Real Life — directed by Quincy Moorer Following the screening of each film, each filmmaking team will be invited to the stage to share about their film, current projects and participate in a Q&A with the audience. After all films have been screened there will be a brief intermission before resuming for awards ceremony (including vote for audience choice) and closing remarks. Close to 8:00 pm the party will move three blocks north to The High Dive at Mica Town Brewing (25 Brown Dr, Marion, NC 28752). Tickets to Micropolitan Film Festival are on-sale now in-person at McDowell Arts Council Association (50 S Main St. Marion, NC) or online at mcdowellarts.org for $12 General Admission
