10th Annual Macon Film Festival Kicks Off with "Mavis!" (****)

Mavis Staples stars as Mavis Staples in her documentary called "Mavis!" (Staples).

“I’ll stop singing when I have nothing left to say… and that ain’t gonna happen.” That’s our introduction to Mavis Staples in the Jessica Edwards' documentary “Mavis!” Mavis is a wildly compelling and gregarious 76-year-old with a voice that booms like thunder. The exclamation point that end caps the title of the film is so perfectly befitting—it’s a wonder she doesn’t simply spell her name that way; the title is screaming at you with a smile and a buoyancy that floats you through the film. Mavis is without a doubt, the living, breathing, heart-pumping definition of an exclamation point, radiating a charisma and earnestness so vivid and loud that it nearly knocks you out of your chair.

Macon Film Festival: 2015 Award Winners

Sara Casasnovas and Jesús Lloveras star in "Day Release (Tercer Grado),"
winner of Best Narrative Feature and Excellence in Directing awards.

The tenth anniversary of the Macon Film Festival saw its most high profile guest yet (Burt Reynolds), its highest attendance yet and—in the honest opinion of this annual attendee and film critic—its best programming yet. While special screenings of "Deliverance," "Sharky's Machine," "Slow West" and opening night presentation "Mavis!" have garnered the most attention, the entire lineup is glittered with exceptional films across the board.

Several selections won two awards—"Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou" took home the Best Animated Short and Excellence in Editing awards, "Forced Contact" was awarded both Best LGBT Short and Excellence in Cinematography honors, and "Day Release (Tercer Grado)" received awards for Best Narrative Feature and Excellence in Directing.

The festival wraps up today and Audience Award winners will be announced tonight. Check out the complete list of winners after the jump.

2015 Macon Film Festival Complete Lineup Revealed

This year's Macon Film Festival is bound to be the biggest event yet. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Macon announced last year that it would move the four-day event from February to July, coinciding with the city's annual Bragg-Jam Music Festival—creating a ten-day mega event in downtown Macon.

Kicking off our annual coverage of middle Georgia's premiere film event, we are pleased to showcase the entire lineup! Several great films are to be showcased this year, including many Georgia features and shorts, several films that also played the 2015 Atlanta Film Festival ("Divided Time," "Frame by Frame," "Old South," "Wildlike") and some very special presentations to be attended by #GAfilm icon Burt Reynolds.

OPENING NIGHT:

MAVIS!

USA (Director: Jessica Edwards) – Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers inspired millions and helped propel the civil rights movement with their music. After 60 years of performing, legendary singer Mavis Staples' message of love and equality is needed now more than ever.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:

Special Screening of DELIVERANCE (1972) 

USA (Director: John Boorman) – Burt Reynolds scheduled to attend a Q&A following the screening of this iconic Georgia film. 

HOW SWEET THE SOUND: BLIND BOYS FROM ALABAMA
USA (Director: Leslie McCleave) – Directed and Produced by Leslie McCleave Filmed over the course of ten years, How Sweet the Sound tells the story of The Blind Boys of Alabama. They met as children in the 1930’s at a state-run segregated vocational school and would become one of the last great gospel quartets, traversing the famed “gospel highway” and beyond. As the surviving band members recount their unlikely success story, we see a rare, frank view of life on and off the road with these renowned performers, now in their 70’s and 80’s.

LIVE FROM NEW YORK!
USA (Director: Bao Nguyen) – "Saturday Night Live" has been reflecting and influencing life in the United States for 40 years. Live From New York! goes deep inside this cultural phenomenon exploring the laughter that pulses through American politics, tragedy and popular culture.

Special Screening of SHARKY’S MACHINE (1981) 

USA (Director: Burt Reynolds) – Reynolds scheduled to attend a Q&A following this Closing Night screening. 

SLOW WEST

United Kingdom/New Zealand (Director: John Maclean) – "Slow West" follows a 16-year-old boy on a journey across 19th Century frontier America in search of the woman he loves, while accompanied by mysterious traveler Silas. The film stars Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

WESTERN
USA (Director: Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross) – For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, TX, from Piedras Negras, MX, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life.