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WORLD PREMIERE OF “AMERICANIZING SHELLEY”
TO CLOSE NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL

OSCAR-WINNING SHORTS; PROFILE OF FISK JUBILEE SINGERS DIRECTOR
AMONG ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS ANNOUNCED

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – March 7, 2007 –  The World Premiere of AMERICANIZING SHELLEY, a film by director Lorraine Senna (Sopranos; Northern Exposure) featuring Beau Bridges and a star-making performance by Namrata Singh Gujral will close the 38th Nashville Film Festival. Senna’s film, which opens nationwide in May 2007, will provide the perfect triumphant close to the festival, which takes place April 19-26, 2007 at the Regal Green Hills Cinema in Nashville and opens with the previously announced World Premiere of MY SECRET RECORD or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Biz, a documentary focused on singer-songwriter and international recording star Rob Thomas.
 
Meshing Hollywood and Bollywood, AMERICANIZING SHELLEY is a “Pygmalion”-like romantic comedy set in Los Angeles about a wanna-be Hollywood player (Brad Raider) who attempts to “Americanize” an Indian girl (Gujral) from the Himalayas. Cultures clash and eventually give way to unity, understanding and love.  A soundtrack boasting cuts from country stars Rascall Flatts, Steve Azar, Blondie and Indian artists Muuna Bhaii Mbbs and Main Hoo Naas further adds to the film’s stylistic mix. Namrata and Bridges from Los Angeles and Rascall Flatts and Azar from Nashville are all scheduled to attend.

The 2007 Oscar-winning short films will also be screened at the festival. Torill Kove’s THE DANISH POET (Best Animated Short Film) follows Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, on a holiday to Norway to meet the famous writer, Sigrid Undset. Ari Sandel’s WEST BANK STORY (Best Live Action Short) is a musical comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing falafel stands in the West Bank.
 
“We are extremely pleased to conclude the Festival on a joyous, musical note,” says Brian Gordon, NaFF Artistic Director. “This year’s edition is our most diverse lineup yet. We look forward to Middle Tennessee eagerly responding and the film world taking further notice of our Festival.”

Part of the festival’s trademark “Music Films in Music City” program will include MATTHEW KENNEDY: ONE MAN’S JOURNEY by director (and Matthew’s daughter) Nina Kennedy, a documentary about the life and incomparable work of the retired Fisk Jubilee Singer director. Both Nina and Matthew Kennedy are scheduled to attend the screening, which will include a performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, on Saturday, April 21, at 3:00 p.m. The screening will be followed by a reception honoring Black Filmmakers.  

MOTIVES 2, the new thriller about the corruption and deceit surrounding the characters in the original MOTIVES, will screen at 6:45 p.m. Producer Rob Hardy, executive producer of the current hit STOMP THE YARD, will be in attendance.  

PURCHASING TICKETS

Tickets go on sale online at nashvillefilmfestival.org on March 19, 2007, including the ALL-FESTIVAL LAMINATE (good for all films, panels/workshops, opening and closing galas and the awards reception), tickets to individual films, workshops and panels, as well as ten-pack and three-day passes.,

MEDIA CREDENTIALS
Members of the media interested in attending the Festival and applying for media credentials should fill out the media credentials request form available in the press room at nashvillefilmfestival.org.

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Nashville Film Festival is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and receives funding from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, H. Franklin Brooks Philanthropic Fund, William N. Rollins Fund for the Arts of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, The Frist Foundation, The Memorial Foundation, Nashville Metro Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Ragsdale Family Foundation, Target Stores, Tennessee Arts Commission, The Cal Turner Family Foundation, and its generous patrons and sponsors.