Memphis gets a bad rap. Perhaps that’s deservedly so in some aspects if you ask our good friend and resident native, Steven McCash. As we walked down a relatively empty Beale Street on a Thursday night in November, McCash was quick to add, “…but if you look around, you’ll see signs of life all around you.”
I feel we’re talking about an underrated city here, and it’s primarily because of its reputation. Growing up in Nashville, we never spent much time in the Bluff City. In fact, I can remember being younger and seeing the disdain my fellow Nashvillians had for the city as a whole. I don’t know how this Memphis-Nashville “rivalry” started, how it carried on for so long, or how it was perceived from the Memphis side of the equation, but it was a real thing. I have fond memories of going to car shows in Memphis when I was a kid, visiting Graceland, and of course, the Memphis Zoo. When I was older, we ventured down for a Memphis Grizzlies game, seeing OJ Mayo hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime, where the Grizzlies eventually upset LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. And, good gracious, I have lost a few dollars down in Tunica.
These are the memories that flood my mind when I think about this city, and they’re the pieces of me that I’ve left along the way in my visits to Memphis. But, I still see the signs of life that McCash is talking about in a city trying to prove it’s more than its reputation. For as much as I love my hometown, Memphis just has a certain character that Nashville just doesn’t.
It had been quite some time since I had visited Memphis, but after seeing the lineup for the 2023 Indie Memphis Film Festival, I raised my eyebrows and thought, “maybe it’s time to head back down and check this thing out.” Our resident film critic, Brandon Vick, agreed. Plus, call us nerdy, but I’ve always found it exciting to cross a new festival off the list. Something about hitting the open road with a box of audio gear and a plan to write an article for a book is just exhilarating to me. 2024 was going to be the year that we crossed ‘Memphis’ off of our film festival bucket list, but after a few days, we were both certain this wouldn’t just be a one-time deal. It’s a festival worth coming back to year after year.
We booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express on Union Avenue, arriving in town on Thursday afternoon. The staff was welcoming, but more importantly, the beds were among the most comfortable hotel beds I’d ever slept in. Most importantly, that coffee was good and fresh the next morning. We were centrally located to activities downtown so we could mosey around Beale Street after a plate of catfish and a bowl of turnip greens at Blues City Cafe. And, we were close enough to where the bulk of our screenings were taking place at Malco Studio on the Square.
We spent our days writing articles and recording podcasts about the films we were seeing. The Indie Memphis team was welcoming and helpful every step of the way. I have to say I was rather blown away by the ease with which the whole experience went off for Brandon and me. We’ve been to festivals that were a little…let’s just say…hard to figure out. That wasn’t the case with Indie Memphis. Getting our press badges was seamless. Parking was never an issue. The screenings went off without a hitch. Any questions we had were answered promptly. I have to tip my cap to that team.
So much of what I love about Memphis was present in the city’s film festival – it’s a little more comfortably paced than Nashville, it was easy, and the stories told on the screen reflected the grit and grind of the city they were shown in. Now, I find myself thinking this festival, much like its host city as a whole, is incredibly underrated. Indie Memphis is undoubtedly one of those signs of life that McCash was referring to that night we walked the city.
Reviews: Recapping the 2024 Indie Memphis Film Festival
It Was All a Dream – Journalist dream hampton takes us back to the 90s for a frontline look at the hip-hop movement featuring some of the biggest names in the game. In reviewing archival footage of hampton’s work for The Source, we’re taken from coast to coast with raw clips of The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, and many others who took the genre to a whole new level in that era. Hampton does a fantastic job of putting the viewer in those moments to feel what a day in the life was like with these iconic figures while also probing the genre itself with important questions from the ground floor of this revolution. The film touches on the inception of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry, misogyny in rap, and the importance music has in the black community. Equal parts home movies and the spirit of journalism, It Was All a Dream is a testament to how this era of rap impacted so many lives. 3.5/5.
Cubic Zirconia – A film that wants to be a mystery/crime thriller but takes the wind out of its own sails through noticeable technical issues and a lack of chemistry between its actors. The sound, script, and emotionless performances are too much to overlook, routinely taking me out of what would’ve been an otherwise fun, albeit basic, plot. 0.5/5.
Boys Go to Jupiter – An artistic animated celebration of the vibrant colors of a Florida sunset, Boys Go to Jupiter is undoubtedly a celebration of the creative spirit. This awkward coming of age story hits some humorous notes, but its strength lies in its visual components and a soundtrack that will make the soberest among us feel stoned. It’s a trip, and while I personally veered between “this is surreal” and “this is bloated,” there’s a common thread of teenage angst throughout the story that we can all latch onto. 2.5/5.
Dory Previn: On My Way To Where – I was unfamiliar with Dory Previn’s catalog prior to seeing this documentary about the musician and her struggles with schizophrenia. But, the synopsis was so compelling that I was hooked. If only the film itself was as engrossing. What I had hoped would be an exploration of how to navigate an intense mental illness felt more like “the life and times of…” Maybe this is a film for Previn’s diehard fans, but it was little more than a cursory overview of the plights of living and performing with schizophrenia. 2/5.
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point – If nice Christmas decorations and vibes are all you need to enjoy a Christmas flick, then by all means, have at it with this one. I felt little tension, laughed less, and caught myself wondering if and when anything was going to actually happen. It felt like sitting in on another family’s Christmas Eve. Boring. 2/5.
Bonjour Tristesse – A beautiful movie at its core, this film teeters between the coolness of elegance and the warmth of raw emotion. A coming of age tale in its own right, this film marinated with themes of processing grief, moving on with your life after a loss, figuring your shit out, and how to cope with change. The witty and thoughtful dialogue is a testament to a powerful script, and the performances are executed upon naturally from a solid cast. The majestic backdrop of southern France certainly makes this an enjoyable film from a purely visual standpoint as well. 4/5.
Dahomey – This documentary explores the tale of 26 returned West African artifacts that had been held in museums in France for decades after being looted from the Kingdom of Dahomey, a land that now resides in the Republic of Benin. It takes a minute to really get going – the film starts off with plenty of footage of the artifacts being boxed up and shipped out. But, once we get to the real heart of it in an impassioned “town hall” type of discussion among students at a university, the film explores the moral complexity of such matters in thought-provoking fashion. 2.5/5.
Memoir of a Snail – Get ready to shed tears, folks. I mean, my goodness…what were they trying to pull off here? Did the filmmakers set out with the intention of making grown adults bawl their eyes out? I don’t even know how to write about what I just witnessed. Memoir of a Snail is a harrowing expression of a hard life spent experiencing loss and facing hardship at every turn. If you push through that, you’re rewarded with a triumphant message of the importance of persevering. The animation is a style all its own. 4/5.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, third on Football & Other F Words, co-host of The Hot Read Podcast, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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