According to Thomas Burton, one of the Meridian Rails to Reels Film Festival founders, “Our local film festival continues to grow. This year there will be 38 films shown, out of 55 submissions, on the big Temple Theatre screen, in just two days.“

Personally, I am not surprised about the high number of entries included in this year’s festival, with a Mississippi connection and I am certain you are not as well. We Mississippian’s thrive on thinking outside the box in an artsy way. Our culture, today and in the past, seem to drink and breathe creativity as if the water and oxygen were characters in a film or songs in the air. It is all a natural way of life for us.

I just like to think of it as performing from the soul; such is the uniqueness that sprouts from the deepest crevices of our being and this uniqueness is intertwined within all facets of creativity. Yep, hard to explain, yet it continues.

Therefore next weekend at the beautiful and historic Meridian treasure, known to us as the Temple Theatre, Meridianites and those from across the state, are privileged to enjoy the “first viewing” of a potential movie blockbuster.

The films featured are the work of independent film makers from across Mississippi and Alabama. For this year’s festival the movies are shown in blocks of three on Saturday and Sunday will feature five films. Tickets for Saturday are $15 and Sunday is $25. A two-day pass for the entire festival is only $35.

Categories include: short/feature documentaries and narratives, music videos, animation and experimental. With the documentaries, the film must feature a railroad theme.

Yes, the movie-making business in Mississippi found its feet in 2004. I was fortunate to be seated in the Capitol’s gallery when Mississippi legislators voted new film tax incentives, which were passed in order to encourage filmmakers to come to the Magnolia State.

Before then, filmmakers had already discovered Mississippi’s natural scenery and unforgettable residents/characters, with such movie hits as “My Dog Skip” and “O Brother Where Art Thou.” But after the 2004 incentives were in place, many more movies were made in the state. One in particular was “The Help.” This blockbuster added more than $3.4 million to Mississippi coffers, and I admit I’ve seen the film eight times. Yes, I love it.

According to http://watchdog.org, during the years of 2010 and 2011 eight films were shot on location in Mississippi. The end result was 1,602 jobs and $22.9 million dollars for the state. Recently “Get On Up,” the movie sensation centered on the life of James Brown, was shot in Natchez and Jackson.

If you want to know more about Mississippi’s movie industry, there is a website: www.filmmississippi.org Many films have been based on the written works of our Mississippi authors: Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, and Willie Morris are just a few.

Visit Rails to Reels FB page and check out their website: www.railstoreels.com. To order tickets: info@railstoreels.com

So Meridianites next weekend as you walk downtown streets or eat in a local restaurant, please extend your warmest southern hospitality to all visitors, as you always have, because there is a very good chance a future big-time film maker is getting their start right here in the Queen City. Then you must hurry along to the beautiful Temple Theatre and become a part of history.

Anne McKee is a Mississippi historian, writer and storyteller. She is listed on the Mississippi Humanities Speakers Bureau and Mississippi Arts Commission’s Performing Artist and Teaching Artist Rosters. See her web site: www.annemckeestoryteller.com.