As a young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search for himself, a long due conversation with his mother dives the two of them into a quest for acceptance and love.

Will You Look at Me

As a young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search for himself, a long due conversation with his mother dives the two of them into a quest for acceptance and love.

In two US prisons, incarcerated participants in a mental health experiment watch videos of sunset-soaked beaches, wildflowers, and forests on loop, prompting them to reflect on isolation and wilderness.

Blue Room

In two prisons in the Pacific Northwest, incarcerated men and women watch nature videos on loop.

What are the sounds of Guantánamo Bay Detention Center? In 2015, poet Jordan Scott set out to record the ambient sounds of the prison as a means of bypassing its strict media censorship rules. Today, former detainee, Mansoor Adayfi, recalls how sound shaped his experiences there— both of torture and of hope. On the year of the 20th anniversary of the prison, Scott’s field recordings and Adayfi’s memories come together to create a visceral new landscape of this notoriously secret place.

Signal and Noise

In 2015, poet Jordan Scott set out to record the ambient sounds of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp as a means of bypassing its strict media censorship rules. Today, activist and former detainee, Mansoor Adayfi, recalls how sound shaped his experience there.

Shadow of Paradise is comprised of photographs and hand-painted 35mm film depicting my family who are alive, dead, or missing in Iraq. This film is dear to my heart as I come to terms with the country I grew up in being slowly eroded and redacted from history. Shadow of Paradise is a memento mori that captures my obscured, fading memories. Now, 30 years after Operation Desert Storm, this film is at once a snapshot of past, present and future destruction.

Shadow of Paradise

Sahar al-Sawaf, an Iraqi immigrant living in the USA uses photographs and hand-painted 35mm film to depict family who are alive, dead or missing in Iraq, 30 years after Operation Desert Storm.

This is a satirical review of our times. Suzi doll is an ego-warrior. My online avatar, marching to the algorithms of social media. She is lit by temporary outrage. A trending indignation. A passion that is fashion. A politics of the popular. Her activism is abstract. Her help is hypothetical. We know many girls like Suzi, and many times we are her: vacuous virtual voices, echoing injustices.

Virtual Voice

Suzi is the (virtual) voice of her generation.

This film is a reflection on descendants and ancestors, guided by a 50 year old audio recording of my grandmother learning the Pechanga language from her mother. After being given this tape by my mother, I interviewed her and asked about it, and recorded her ruminations on their lives and her own. The footage is of our chosen home in Whatcom County, Washington, where my family still lives, far from our homelands in Southern California, yet a home nonetheless.

Kicking the Clouds

This film is a reflection on descendants and ancestors, guided by a 50 year old audio recording of my grandmother learning the Pechanga language from her mother.

Sixty years ago, France decided to establish its space center in French Guiana. Six hundred Guianan people were expropriated to allow France to realize its dream of space conquest. Listen To the Beat of Our Images gives a voice to a silenced population made invisible.

Listen to the Beat of Our Images

Sixty years ago, France decided to establish its space center in French Guiana. Six hundred Guianan people were expropriated to allow France to realize its dream of space conquest. Listen To the Beat of Our Images gives a voice to a silenced population made invisible.

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A selection of festival films will be available from Monday, September 23rd through Monday, September 30th for at-home viewing.  Please note that not all films screening in-person will be made available in the Virtual Cinema and in limited cases, geo-based restrictions may apply to some viewers outside of Tennessee or the United States. Tickets for virtual film screenings can be purchased individually for $14 or are included at no additional cost for certain badge holders.  For more information on accessing and optimizing Virtual Cinema content, please visit Eventive FAQs or contact festival@nashfilm.org..  

Welcome! The 55th Nashville Film Festival includes films ranging in genres from narratives, documentaries, animation, horror and much more!

Here's what's coming up soon. Can't make it? No worries. Many live streams will be available for on-demand viewing as well.