Video: Magnolia Independent Film Fest Held in Starkville

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Movie lovers are flocking to Starkville this weekend for a popular Indie Film Festival. It’s a way for local college students and filmmakers from across the country to showcase their work.

“Independent film is an art form and we’re excited to bring filmmakers to the area to showcase their work and to expose it to residents in our area,” says Charlotte Magnussen, the Executive Director of the festival and Tibbett’s widow .

It’s been nearly 20 years since the Magnolia Independent Film Fest began. The late filmmaker Ron Tibbett started the festival after moving to Mississippi from Chicago.

“He had nowhere to showcase his work so he said there’s no festivals in Mississippi. We need to start one. So he founded Magnolia Independent Film Festival in West Point, Mississippi in 1997,” says Magnussen.

Some of the films showcased were “Money 1955: The Emmitt Till Murder Trial”, “Kane” “A Mutual Friend” and “Patterns of Evidence” directed by Tim Mahoney.

“The film that we’ve made has been in progress for a numbers of years. We have been investigating is the story of the bible, the stories in the bible, are they true. We’ve gone into Egypt and talked with archaeologists and Egyptologists and have gone and looked at archaeology. We found some amazing things that people are interested in. That’s why we called the film Patterns of Evidence,” says Mahoney.

The film fest showcased 22 films and will award filmmakers in seven categories including Best Feature, Best Documentary and Best Student Film.