3 Cabarrus County films highlight this year's Modern Film Fest

Posted September 3, 2012 at 11:15pm

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- Three Cabarrus County made movies will be featured in this year’s Modern Film Fest, held Oct. 5-7 at the historic Gem Theatre, Kannapolis.

The spotlight movie for the 4^th annual Modern Film Fest will be, “Jimmy” which screens at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6. Burgess Jenkins, who plays the villain Jake Garner, is scheduled to attend the festival. Tickets are $4 for each movie.

“Jimmy” features Jenkins who has also been in ….. Modern Film Fest patrons may also recognize him from the 2010 screening of the racing movie, “Red Dirt Rising.” Kelly Carlson, of “Nip/Tuck” is also in the movie with Bob Gunton, who played the warden in, “The Shawshank Redemption.”

The movie tells the story of a mentally-challenged teenager who interacts with supernatural beings he calls, “Watchers.”

In addition to, “Jimmy,” which filmed in downtown Concord and used the Cabarrus County Courthouse for scenes, this year’s Modern Film Fest also features the documentary, “Martin Hill: Camera Man.”

Directed by Joanne Hock, who filmed one of last year’s film fest favorites with, “Redneck Roots” tells the story of Midland resident, Martin Hill.

Martin Hill has been collecting the artistic tools of master filmmakers. His story is one of passion and preservation, obsession and compulsion, expectation and disappointment. In “Martin Hill: Camera Man," Hock takes a six year journey with Hill through his dilapidated bowling alley, where he buys, houses and hoards an array of historic film equipment. His priceless treasures include classic motion picture cameras that were used to create some of Hollywood’s most iconic movies including “Star Wars," "Gone with the Wind," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Ten Commandments”.

“Martin Hill: Camera Man” screens at 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, right before, “Jimmy.”

The final Cabarrus County made movie at the festival will be a rescreening of the Cannon Mills documentary, “Stitched In Time.”

The Cabarrus County made movie, “Stitched In Time” tells the story of Kannapolis and Cannon Mills. Created by Leadership Cabarrus, a program of the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce, the documentary will screen at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7. The screening will also include a Q&A with A.L. Brown High School teacher and director Jonathan Greene and Robin Scharding with Leadership Cabarrus with others from the documentary. Leadership Cabarrus, representing a diverse group of businesses in the region worked with faculty and students at A. L. Brown and Concord High School; as well as staff and volunteers from Historic Cabarrus, Inc. and Kannapolis History Associates.

This year’s Modern Film Fest kicks off Friday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. with the 30^th anniversary screening of, “Star Trek: Wrath of Khan” with director Nicholas Meyer presenting a Q&A after the movie. For more information visit www.modernfilmfest.net

Tickets are $4 per movie screening. There will also be a free discussion panel at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, featuring local extras from, “The Hunger Games” which was partially shot in Cabarrus County.