Down in the Valleyfest

Last year, Knoxville had its own blockbuster movie event—and it had nothing to do with rockets flying around October skies. Nope, it was even better: Valleyfest debuted. As the very first independent film festival to be held in Knoxville, nobody knew what to expect. Would it be cool? Would anyone come? Would the movies suck? As it turned out, Valleyfest kicked ass. Not only were the selections mostly excellent, but Knoxville's film buffs came together in a festive atmosphere to celebrate the insanity of making your own movie. It was a fun time.

And now it's back: Valleyfest number two is set for March 9-12 at Regal Cinemas Downtown West theater. And the organizers at Euphoric Productions promise it'll be bigger than last year's, with global selections of indie features, shorts, animations, and documentaries. For those who have an interest in filmmaking itself, there will also be several workshops on March 11 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel on Market Place Lane: "The Role of Agencies and Screen Actor's Guild" with Juanelle Walker from Talent Trek; "Writing/Screenplay" with Knoxville writer/director Paul Harrill; "The Business of Film—Emphasis on Rights and Clearances" with Philadelphia entertainment attorney Alexander Murphy; and "Independent Production" with Academy Award-nominated producer Peter Wentworth. More workshops may be added later.

Of course, good parties are another key to the success of any film festival, and Valleyfest has several. The Kickoff Party is at Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria on Wednesday, March 8 at 8 p.m. (tickets are $15—pass holders attend free). Barley's is providing a pizza buffet and choice of beverage while The Knoxville Blues Society will be presenting Slow Blind Hill to entertain. A Filmmakers Mixer will be held on Thursday, March 9 at 9 p.m. at Cinema Grill in Homberg Place with a special screening of the short film Nausea—a project shot entirely in Knoxville using local cast and crew (tickets are $6—pass holders attend free). The festival's "crowning glory" is its Awards Dinner and Ceremony on Sunday, March 12 at Fairbanks Roasting Room. Keynote speaker at the dinner will be Wentworth, who produced Whit Stillman's 1990 directorial debut, Metropolitan.

The most economical way to attend all these auspicious events is to buy a $50 pass, allowing entrance to the whole shebang. These can be purchased three different ways: 1. Call 577-7711 or 567-0881. 2. Go to the Downtown West Theater between 3 and 8 p.m. on Feb. 12, 19, 0r 26. 3. Go to any Cat's Records location in Knoxville or Oak Ridge. Screening and workshop schedules can be found on the Valleyfest website, www.valleyfest.com, or by calling 971-1792.

Zippy says: If you like independent film, support this festival. It's already made a good reputation for itself in indie filmmaking circles, and it'll only get better if the natives participate, making Valleyfest something we can all be proud of.

Grand Debut

Knoxville will soon have a new music venue, Three Nineteen, which will cater to all manner of performance and visual arts.

The owners hope the club—located at 319 Gay St. across from Regas—will end up hosting and encouraging a variety of community arts events, hosting things like a weekly bluegrass night, creative writing workshops, student film festivals, and Saturday afternoon all-ages punk shows, says part owner Kristen Chapman.

Chapman and the other proprietors met at open-mic nights at the recently defunct Bird's Eye View. As such, the club will be friendly to singer-songwriters looking for a stage to bare their souls on. But they also hope it will get used by anyone who needs a place to perform art, she says.

"We're going to just try to maximize the use of the space," she says. "The idea is to develop not just the arts in the community but community life."

Demonstrating this desire, the traveling art gallery Chroma Art District will make Three Nineteen its latest home, Chapman says.

The space is owned by Robert Shagan's Commercial Realty, who has agreed to let them use it in exchange for labor that one of the owners will be doing, Chapman says.

Three Nineteen has applied for a beer permit.

The club was set for a grand kick-off show this Saturday, but there was a snafu getting all the approvals it needs from the city's codes department. Chapman says she can't name an opening date, but promises the club will be open by March.

For more information, call 523-9153.

Live Shot

A small but hardy throng of emo/indie rock devotees skipped out on the Super Bowl festivities (as if!) to witness last Sunday's performance by The Anniversary at Knoxville's most fashionable venue, The Tomato Head.

The show got off to a late start and the crowd was somewhat lacking in numbers, but those in attendance got what they came for. Opening act Your Secret Admirer (a.k.a. Joe Davenport) kicked off the festivities with a brief selection of his original songs. An adept songwriter, Davenport played acoustic renditions of tunes that stand on their own, sans electric accompaniment and drums.

Davenport's wit, charm, and just a dash of humor combined to make his set shine brighter than the usual morass of introspective singer/songwriter types. Keep your eyes peeled for this kid, because he's obviously got what it takes to be an upcoming mover and shaker on the local scene.

By the time The Anniversary had their equipment set up, the crowd had swelled to all of 30 or 40: not enough for a chaotic rock show but an adequate amount to make the show not seem so, ahem, intimate. It was easy to predict that the band would fall somewhere in the emo category judging by the lead singer's frail, waifish looks alone. Luckily, the guy had the charisma to back up the pose.

Break Out

Thursday: Jag Star at Moose's Music Hall. Local chick-fronted rock with fiddle hits The Strip.

Friday: Dry Branch Fire Squad at Laurel Theatre. Bluegrass with no modern taint.

Saturday: Jacqui and the Tumble Kings at Manhattan's. Still Southern after all these years.

Sunday: Knoxville Jazz Orchestra at Fairbanks. Some of the top talent in town, jazzin' for your enjoyment.

Monday: Used to be Bitter at McGhee's. A new sound for K-town, half-way between folk and testosterone angst.

Tuesday: Ponder. Meditate. Drink. Whatever.

Wednesday: Johnny Dilks and the Visitacion Valley Boys at Barley's. West Texas honky-tonk meets "Behind the Barn."

—Zippy "Football, Schmutball" McDuff