The I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium on the campus of South Carolina State University will present the third annual museum film series, the Southern Arts Federation's Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, at the Stanback.

Screenings are free, and each filmmaker will engage the audience in a discussion about the film and the director's work as a filmmaker. A reception with the filmmaker will immediately follow each film.

Films and filmmakers featured in the 2008-2009 tour are:

* Thursday, Sept. 25, at 5:30 p.m. -- "Ripe for Change" with Jed Riffe, producer

This documentary explores the intersection of food and politics in California over the last 30 years, highlighting debates over agriculture and sustainability that have profound implications for all of America.

* Thursday, Oct. 30, at 5:30 p.m. -- "Counting Backwards" with Aprill Winney, director

A narrative feature about a man diagnosed with leukemia, "Counting Backwards" tells the story of Joe's inner struggle to change his life to embrace romance and passion in the time he has left to live.

* Thursday, Nov. 20, at 5:30 p.m. -- "The Meaning of Tea" with Scott Chamberlin-Hoyt, director and producer

This film takes viewers on an exploratory journey around the globe to divine the true meaning of tea by looking into the role it plays in various cultural rituals throughout the world.

* Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009, at 5:30 p.m. -- "Member of the Club: A New Orleans Cinderella Story" with Phoebe Ferguson, director

This documentary tells the story of a debutante who has been groomed to be a New Orleans Mardi Gras Queen since she was an infant. "Member of the Club" uses the story of Marisa Mitchell to explore black social clubs of the South, as well as issues of race, class and the desire of an American family to belong.

* Thursday, April 2, at 5:30 p.m. -- "All About Us" with Christine Swanson, director, and Michael Swanson, producer

This film tells the story of Ed and Stacey Brown, two young black filmmakers struggling to make it in Hollywood. Their plan to succeed takes them to Mississippi, where they are confronted with a reality that inspires the healing of family rifts.

* Thursday, April 23, at 5:30 p.m. -- "A Man Named Pearl" with Scott Galloway, director and producer

"A Man Named Pearl" is a documentary that imparts the tale of self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar and shows what one person can achieve when he allows himself to share the expression of his humanity.

The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a program of the Southern Arts Federation, a nonprofit regional arts organization. Southern Arts Federation is supported by funding and programming partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts and the state arts agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. For more information about the Southern Arts Federation and its programs, visit www.southarts.org.

For more information about the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, call the I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium at 803-536-7174.

Special to The T&D

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