VALDOSTA – South Georgia Film Festival will feature the anticipated documentary highlighting hope in the Southside community.

“The Southside Project” documentary premiere screening is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 3, at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts.

The documentary shares the history of the Southside community and the struggles of its people, while promoting hope and change.

Angela Ward of “The Game Changers with Angela Ward” and Steve Heddon, creative director of Fusion Marketing, co-producers of the film, said they are excited to share their months-long project with supporters and critics.

“The documentary not only tells the real stories of the Southside community but it also shows the contrast of what people see and what people know,” Heddon said. “The film festival gives the documentary legitimacy as well as a diverse audience and platform to bring awareness to the causes highlighted.”

“I am honored to be a part of the film festival. I did not see this happening month ago,” Ward said. “We are highlighting hope through the stories of those that have seen the good and the bad. We are also bringing awareness to the many causes that are being fought on the Southside.”

The Southside Project demonstrates the community’s determination and tenacity to rebuild the vibrancy of the neighborhood and business district on the Southside.

The goal of the documentary is making people outside of the community aware of the problems and how community partners are working to create solutions, according to Ward and Heddon.

With the Sixth Annual South Georgia Film Festival taking place the same week, the documentary is expected to reach audiences from diverse backgrounds with the premiere screening.

“‘The Southside Project’ dovetails what we do with the film festival by showcasing the talent that is in the area and bringing tons of people to South Georgia to discover what our community has to offer to them,” Jason Brown, festival director, said.

“The stories shared in the documentary may be shocking to those in our community as well as others but they are real and should encourage the audience to have challenging conversations.”

Following the premiere screening, Heddon and Ward will be available for a question and answer session.

The following days, the film festival will host an outdoor screening of “CODA,” recently nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and premiere of “American Siege,” a movie filmed in Fitzgerald, starring Bruce Willis.

Screenings of a variety of film projects are scheduled with filmmakers in attendance available for question and answer sessions.

The festival includes numerous presentations throughout the weekend:

– Filmmakers panel to include Jon Matthews, director of “And Motel,” Nathan Bach, director of “No Small Dreams,” Doug Hawley, returning filmmaker and director of “Sweetest Day,” Ole Miss Professor Jonathan Clayton, director of “Oxford: A Place for Art,” and Brinceton Baum and Maggie Rogers of “Monster?”

– Recent recipient of a Southern Documentary Fund grant, Daresha Kyi, Atlanta filmmaker Chatejah George, Honnie Korngold of South Georgia Studios & Film Academy, and Valdosta State University Theatre & Dance alum Myles Grier.

– VSU Mass Media alumni panel with Frank Amoroso of Marvel Studios, podcaster John Brown, Olivia Gregory of West Networks in Gainesville, Florida, and Saige Ashe.

Returning judges and presenters include 2021 Best Fest winner Geena Hernandez, filmmaker Thomas Grant from ABAC, VSU Alum Brantly Jackson, Columbia State professor of film David Smith, founders of Film Impact Georgia Melissa Simpson and Molly Coffee and Chuck Thomas of the AFC Indie Filmmaking Podcast.

The 2022 festival is sponsored by Valdosta State University, Georgia Power, South Georgia Studios and Film Academy, Valdosta-Lowndes County Tourism Authority, the City of Valdosta, the Georgia Film Office, Georgia Beer Company, the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority, the Turner Center for the Arts, Valdosta Main Street, Georgia Production Partnership, Fairway and MUBI.

Brown said the films are available on the online platform Eventive, beginning March 1 and ending March 10. Watch any film block from your home for $5. Attend any day’s films and panels for $15. Access all the panels, films and after parties with a $40 pass. More information: http://sgff22.Eventive.org or http://SouthGeorgiaFilm.com/

For more information contact Brown, (229) 219-1298, or southgeorgiafilm@valdosta.edu