Madison-Morgan cultural center continues film series with short films that explore diverse stories, filmmaking styles
Published 8:00 am Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center continues its independent film series on Monday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m., presenting three short films by producer/director Brad Jayne – The Song of Pumpkin Brown, Search, and Le Croisment. The screening is the second in a series at the Cultural Center that is part of the Southern Arts Federation’s Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. Following a screening of his short films, Jayne will engage the audience in a discussion about the films and his work as a filmmaker. A reception with the filmmaker is scheduled after the discussion. Tickets are available for $5 in advance or at the door.
Brad Jayne has been a visual storyteller for the last 15 years, beginning his career as an award-winning still photographer with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Now based in Charleston, South Carolina, Jayne has taken the reins as writer, director, and producer on a variety of national and regional commercial and television projects, always striving to learn more about the craftsmanship of filmmaking. This wide-ranging experience has proven integral to his development as an imaginative, well-informed, and knowledgeable filmmaker:
Song of Pumpkin Brown is permanently installed in the American Jazz Museum. It has screened at the Charlotte Film Festival and received the Best Short Award at the Kansas City Filmmaker’s Jubilee. The film is set in 1961 South Carolina, when ten-year-old Pumpkin Brown is taken from his rural South Carolina home after the death of his father, a preacher. Once he arrives at the real-life Jenkins Orphanage, the shy, lonely boy discovers the jazz trumpet as a way to deal with his growing grief.
Search was screened at the 2008 Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, NC. Set during the winter of 1989, Search is a thought-provoking commentary on death and dying through the eyes of a lonely African-American housekeeper, Sonora (Ruth Ann Oliver). As the quiet woman becomes drawn to the plight of a missing autistic boy, Gabriel (Khari Lucas), a strong connection grows as the fate of the child grows more desperate.
Le Croisment was shot in Charleston, SC with a cast of non-French speakers trained specifically for the project. It is a unique homage to the visual and emotional sensibility of foreign language cinema. Set in a small town in southern France, Kourina, the young prostitute, crosses paths with the Poet, unknown and penniless, aching for validation in the shadow of his own mortality. Over the course of one day, Le Croisment will lead one to an ultimate destiny and the other to the cusp of hope.
The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a program of the Southern Arts Federation, a not-for-profit regional arts organization. Southern Arts Federation is supported by funding and programming partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts and arts agencies from several states. Special support for Southern Circuit is provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center is proud to be a screening venue for the films selected for the tour. The Cultural Center is a non-profit performing and visual arts venue offering an array of exceptional events and exhibits each year, all of which are open to members and non-members. For more information about the events at the Cultural Center, please visit www.mmcc-arts.org. For more information on the Southern Arts Federation and its programs visit www.southarts.org.