The Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton recently agreed to become an official screening partner of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers for its 2024-25 season.
The SCTIF is a program through South Arts, an Atlanta-based, nonprofit, regional arts organization that partners with the National Endowment for the Arts. According to the South Arts website, for nearly 50 years, SCTIF has connected independent filmmakers with communities throughout the South for screenings and conversations about compelling stories, important topics, and the art of filmmaking.
The program is nationally lauded as an innovative alternative model for indie film distribution and impact that bucks the trends of media consolidation and individualized streaming in favor of celebrating the community-building potential of the film screening experience.
Only 21 venues in the Southeast have been selected as screening partners, placing The Plaza among an elite group. Later this month, The Plaza will become the only theater in the Middle Georgia region where people can see these SCTIF films. The Plaza will show a series of six films throughout this fall and next spring:
• “Bulls and Saints” (Sept. 25, 2024) traces an undocumented family deciding to return home to Mexico. Set between the backdrop of the rodeo rings of North Carolina and the spellbinding Mexican hometown they long for, it is a love story of reverse migration, rebellion, and redemption.
• “LIFT” (Oct. 22, 2024) shines a spotlight on the invisible story of homelessness in America through the eyes of a group of young homeless and home-insecure ballet dancers in New York City.
After performing all over the world, ballet dancer Steven Melendez returns to the Bronx shelter where he grew up to give back to his community. He offers a New York Theatre Ballet workshop to children.
• “Family Tree” (Nov. 20, 2024) tells the story of two Black family forest owners in North Carolina. It tracks their triumphs and struggles historically and today.
The Jefferies sisters, Nikki and Natalie, struggle with their estranged father, Sidney, to clear the overgrown thicket of underbrush on their property.
Meanwhile, the Williams family cultivates an award-winning tree farm.
• “Home is a Hotel” (Feb. 18, 2025) is a feature-length documentary that looks at inequality in San Francisco through the experiences of five residents as they fight to stay housed.
The film features a mosaic of strangers bound together by their reliance on this system of single-room occupancy hotels to keep a roof over their heads and prevent homelessness.
• “This World Is Not My Own” (April 3, 2025) tells the story of artist Nellie Mae Rowe, whose life spanned the 20th century. For most of her life, Rowe made art in obscurity, propelled by a force she viewed as a God-given gift. As the daughter of a sharecropper and former slave, she made art from whatever she could find.
As an adult, she transformed her home into her “Playhouse,” an imaginative oasis filled with vibrant drawings, handmade sculptures and dolls, and collected objects.
• “North Putnam” (April 16, 2025) is a special initiative of The Castle, a nonprofit organization in Putnam County, Ind., that partners with local schools to provide learning experiences for students where they feel seen, heard, valued, and empowered and to support teachers in the county in creating environments that spill over with joy, creativity, relevance, rigor, and authenticity.
Because of the partnership between The Plaza Arts Center, South Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, and Visit Eatonton, the film screenings will be completely free to the public.
However, while all tickets are free, The Plaza asks that patrons sign up online before attending each show.
Each film will be screened at 7 p.m. on its respective night. At 6 p.m., before each film plays, there will be Q&A sessions with directors, actors, or other creatives within each film’s space.
Most of the films also include an educational component, so The Plaza will be working with area schools to provide a unique experience for students as well.
For more information on South Arts or the Southern Circuit of Independent Filmmakers, visit southarts.org. For more information on Visit Eatonton, go to visiteatonton.com, or for more information on The Plaza Arts Center, visit plazacenter.org.