Macon Film Festival: “Most Successful Yet”

The 2011 Macon Film Festival was an international affair this year. Filmmakers from as far as London and Japan were in town to celebrate all things film, with the locals. Although the movies were from dozens of different genres, there was a common theme among the filmmakers: they love the city of Macon.

“Well, you’ve been “Macon” me feel real welcome!”- Nick Moran, Actor, Filmmaker.

“This is a great festival run by wonderful people.” – Scott Seeke, Screenwriter.

“Macon is a fantastic town!” – Jo Bastarache, Filmmaker.

“It might not be the biggest festival in the world, but it’s certainly the friendliest.” – Nick Moran

It’s that southern hospitality that brought this year’s festival it’s most creative talent yet. James Kicklighter, who filmed the movie “Followed” here last year, said “This is the 3rd year that we’ve screened at the Macon Film Festival and it’s such a welcoming atmosphere and there’s such a nice community here that really supports the film festival and really supports filmmakers.”

Dozens of movies, short films, documentaries and narratives took over screens around Macon for the 6th annual festival. Saturday night, it was a special screening of “The Kid” directed by British actor Nick Moran. On Sunday night, the headliner was “Get Low” starring Robert Duvall and Bill Murray. Screenwriter, Scott Seeke, told us why he believes these events are so great for the community.

He says, “This isn’t just a festival for filmmakers, this is a great chance for normal, everyday folks to be exposed to things like get low, like some shorts, that you don’t get to see otherwise.”

On Sunday, there was also a screening for Japanese filmmaker Momi Yamashita, who hopes to see Middle Georgia again soon. “I would love to come back to macon with a project with me, that would be nice.”

Although the four day festival is most certainly a celebration of the arts, it also brings a huge boost for downtown businesses. Event coordinator and promoter Terrell Sandefur said “There are people everywhere, there are people filling all the restaurants, shopping, it’s great.” Sandefur also added that this has been the most successful film festival yet for the city of Macon. In the coming weeks, the Macon film board will meet to go over this year’s highs and lows, to prepare for year number seven.