By LAURIE G GUILLAUME

MISSISSIPPI TODAY

Ryan Parker, executive director of the Mississippi Film Society, is passionate about two things, cinema and serving the Mississippi community. Spending his childhood in Brookhaven, Parker traces his interest in film to the Westbrook Cinema 4 and the ‘80s and ‘90s blockbusters that played there.

An English major at Mississippi College, a film and literature course there deepened his appreciation for the genre. After two graduate school degrees, Parker moved to Los Angeles from the academy to the industry, embarking on a career in film publicity and marketing and consulting that spanned a decade in Los Angeles and continues to this day.

In 2022, Parker and his wife Amy moved back to Mississippi. Along with his work film publicity and producing, he founded the Mississippi Film Society in 2023.

Leveraging his connections to distributors and independent filmmakers, Parker began offering free preview screenings of upcoming theatrical releases or screenings of smaller films that would not ordinarily have a theatrical release in Mississippi. Another goal of the Film Society was to bring another film festival back to Jackson.

This goal came to fruition on April 10, as the Mississippi Film Society launched its first film festival, Stranger Than Fiction (strangerthanfiction.eventive.org), which will run through Sunday, April 13 at the Capri Theatre and Fondren Yard in Jackson. The Stranger Than Fiction Film Festival will showcase eight feature-length films, two Mississippi-produced short films, an Introduction to the Film Industry Workshop, and two after parties.

The festival kicked off on Thursday with the opening night screening of Secret Mall Apartment, an unbelievable true story of a group of artists in Rhode Island, who build a secret apartment inside a new mall and lived there for four years. On Friday night, the festival hosted another documentary feature, Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, which profiles musician Jerry “SwampDog” Wiliams and highlights his influential yet under-the-radar-career. This screening was preceded by a Mississippi produced short film, Country Punk Black about Jackson musician Twurt Chamberlain. The night concluded with an afterparty at Fondren Yard, where Jackson artist DJ Young Venom live scored the silent black-and-white horror classic, The Monster (1925).

Saturday, April 12, is a full day of events at the Capri Theatre and Fondren Yard, starting off with a preview screening of the upcoming A24 family-friendly film, The Legend of Ochi, which will also include a breakfast cereal buffet and coffee courtesy of Northshore Coffee Company. This will be followed by an Introduction to the Film Industry Workshop, co-hosted by the Mississippi Film Office and the University of Mississippi Department of Theatre and film. This will be followed by two more documentary features: at 3:30 p.m., 23 Mile presents a portrait of Michigan residents during pivotal events in 2020 and will be followed by an in-person panel conversation with director Mitch McCabe; and at 6 p.m., Kim’s Video pays tribute to an iconic video store and its legendary film archive. The night will conclude with movie trivia in Fondren Yard beginning at 8 p.m.

Sunday, April 13, features another full day of programming starting at 1:30 p.m. with a screening of Mississippi filmmaker Anthony Thaxton’s Eudora, which will be preceded by another Mississippi produced short film, Jason Bouldin: Corporeal Nature, directed by University of Mississippi student Tanner Goodeill. At 4 p.m., Cajita (written by Belhaven film production professor Rick Negron) is an intimate tale that follows an immigrant laborer who fled his country by shipping himself to the United States in a crate. This screening will be followed by an in-person Q&A with Negron. The festival will close with a 6:30 p.m. screening of the comedy Lady Parts, which will be followed by an in-person panel conversation and Q&A with producer/writer Bonnie Gross and local physician, Dr. Kimberly Zachow of The Woman’s Clinic.

Thanks to generous partnerships with Visit Mississippi, Volunteer Mississippi, the Mississippi Humanities Council, and the Mississippi Film Office, the Film Society can offer attendees a variety of ways to engage the festival including a $25 weekend pass (priority seating at all screenings and free drink coupon), $12 individual screening tickets, and free screenings. Visit The Stranger Than Fiction Film Festival site (strangerthanfiction.eventive.org) for more information on the films and to purchase passes or tickets and to register for any free events.