UA Documentary Featured in Theatres It’s common for films produced for the big screen to play on TV, but a UA documentary originally produced for TV began playing in select theatres recently. “Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour” was featured at two prestigious film festivals during March and April. Produced by the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio (CPT&R), the documentary was selected from over 1,000 films from around the world.
The Memphis International Film Festival premiered the documentary on March 25 to an enthusiastic audience that included twenty members of the late R. L. Burnside’s family. Burnside, a prominent blues musician who died in September 2005, was interviewed in the documentary. Also in attendance were John Lowe, who collaborated with Johnston on the development of a unique cigar box guitar, and Dennis Brooks, who encouraged Johnston to enter an international music competition which he won. Both appear in the documentary. Johnston and CPT&R producer/director Max Shores attended the premiere screening as well. One week later on Saturday, April 1 the documentary was featured at the Crossroads Film Festival in Jackson, Mississippi. After the screening Shores answered questions from the audience and later in the evening, Afrissippi, a band featuring Kinney Kimbrough performed. Kimbrough is interviewed and performs with Johnston in the documentary. The Tupelo Film Festival has announced that it has selected the documentary for screening on Sunday, May 21 at the Lyric Theatre in Tupelo, Mississippi. Johnston will perform at the theatre in Tupelo on Friday, May 19 to promote the screening. The documentary will also be shown at the Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza at the Flying Monkey Arts Center in Hunstville, Alabama on Saturday, May 20. Johnston is the headline performer at the event which will also feature performances by John Lowe and Ben Prestage who appear in the documentary. "Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour" will also be broadcast on Alabama Public TV Wednesday, May 24th at 9:00 p.m. The University’s Center for Public Television & Radio produces programming for Alabama Public Television and provides a training ground for students to get practical experience on high quality productions. For more information contact Max Shores at 205-348-8626 or visit his web site at: www.MaxShores.com. |
The film tells the story of Richard Johnston, a blues musician who found his muse in a remote north Mississippi juke joint. When the juke joint burned, he took its music to the sidewalk in Memphis, Tennessee where he performed as a one-man-band.