“Giants Chronicles: The Incredible Story of Charlie Conerly” was a film that could hit home to many in Clarksdale and also create interest throughout the country.
The film was played at the New Roxy during the Clarksdale Film Festival on Saturday and highlighted Conerly’s life in Clarksdale, his 14 years as the New York Giants quarterback and the time he fought in the South Pacific during World War II.
Film director Michael Collins, Lulu Maness of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and family member Perian Stribling participated in a question-and-answer session following the completion of the 23-minute film.
“I’ve been producing this television show for the Giants for the past 10 years,” Collins said. “My boss, he’s about in his 60s and he’s a huge Charlie Conerly fan. So this has been on our radar the past couple years and it finally came together.”
Collins said someone got in touch with Maness and the film could not have been completed without her. One day was spent in Clarksdale and another was spent in Oxford during the production.
Film festival co-founder Roger Stolle said everything went “fantastic” throughout the festival held Friday and Saturday in Clarksdale.
“We really lucked out on the weather for one thing, so people could walk around, explore our town,” Stolle said. “The Clarksdale Film Festival, like many of the other events we put on, is really just a magnet to get people to come to Clarksdale. We give them that and other things to do. They walk around, explore businesses, museums, clubs, as well as the festival.”
Stolle said some of the popular films that played at Grandma’s Sports Bar were “Horn from the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story” and the unseen footage of blues musician Junior Kimbrough. He said “Betty Davis: They Say I’m Different” was a popular film at the New Roxy.
Events during the festival went well beyond showing films.
Robert Birdsong, as he has been doing since the Juke Joint Festival began in 2004, gave a bus tour of Clarksdale. He has worked with Frank Brinston, who drives the bus, the whole time.
The bus tours during the Clarksdale Film Festival are more focused on old movie theaters.
“We added the Harlem theater this year,” Birdsong said. “That was owned by Fitz Farris. It was shaped like a pizza pie. We grew up with it as Kalli Mae’s Club on Fourth Street.”
According to Birdsong, every Wednesday night Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm had a standing show at the Harlem theater.
Local filmmaker Coop Cooper presented his annual workshop.
Cooper discussed setting up and shooting YouTube videos and finding the best ones to create for the situation the filmmaker has.
For the first time, Cooper included podcasts in his workshop and what it takes to set them up.
“One interesting thing is what types of YouTube podcasts are difficult to do and what kinds are easy,” Cooper said. “Some people have made a lot of money doing prank videos. Now, that’s fairly easy to do, unless you’re worried about trips to the hospital or something like that, but some things are harder to do, like short films, music videos, anything with a narrative.”
Tourists from other parts of the country enjoyed themselves at the Clarksdale Film Festival.
Laura Cleveland, who lives in North Alabama, has in the past attended the Film Festival, Juke Joint Festival, the Deep Blues Festival and the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival.
While the Juke Joint Festival is her favorite, she said she likes all the events.
Cleveland took Birdsong’s bus tour this year for the second time.
“There’s so much history in Clarksdale about any of the arts — Tennessee Williams, plus the blues music,” she said. “It’s just interesting to hear him (Birdsong) tell, as a native, about the history of Clarksdale.
“You come for the music and you stay for the people. It’s like a southern model.”
Pattiey Buttaccio, from New York, came to see her husband, Patrick, who works in Cleveland.
From there, she learned about the film festival through a Google search.
“I’m from New York, so this is kind of cool to see all this,” she said.
“I just like the history of the music, the blues, all the interesting people.”
