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Chuck Leavell documentary is year's hot ticket will undoubtedly be Allen Farst's documentary about Macon's Chuck Leavell. "Chuck Leavell: Tree Man" examines Leavell's legendary career as piano player for Gregg Allman, the Allman Brothers Band, the Rolling Stones and other renowned bands, and performers such as Eric Clapton, George Harrison and John Mayer. But Farst's work reaches deeper into Leavell's equally successful work as an award-winning forester, conservationist, community volunteer and family man. e film won the People's Choice Award at the Sedona International Film Festival. Farst will be at the Aug. 13 Macon Film Festival opening to discuss his film. Leavell also is expected to attend. "When you see the work of three years of your life on screen it can be an emotional thing," Farst said. "But I did the film because I love Chuck and wanted his amazing story told. Others love him, too, and I didn't get a 'no' from anyone I wanted to interview for the film, – from Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to Eric Clapton and David Gilmour to Billy Bob ornton." Macon businessman Tony Long is a co-founder of the Macon Film Festival and said Farst's film is in harmony with the festival's bent toward excellent films pleasing to hometown audiences while fostering national appeal. Plus, he said it embraces music documentaries. MACON FILM FESTIVAL Information, schedules, ticketing and viewing is available online at filmfestivalflix.com/festival/macon- film-festival. A subscription for viewing all online films is $19.99. A single film block subscription is $8. Drive-in showings are free but require reservations due to social distancing requirements. Full-dome and Grand presentations are individually priced. Learn more about the festival at maconfilmfestival.com. e story begins Long said that from the beginning, the festival's aim was to honor filmmakers and that attitude has made it more and more attractive to creatives. But how did the festival start? And how did its three founders – Long, Tabitha Lynne Walker of Big Hair Productions and Mercer University art professor Craig Coleman – come together? "Tabitha was looking at apartments that I had a hand in restoring on Mulberry Street," Long said. "We got to talking and she said she was a film graduate from SCAD in Savannah and knew how film festivals worked. I said I loved movies." Long had been thinking a festival would be good for Macon and for what was then the newly re-created Cox Capitol eatre, now Hargrave Capitol eatre. As a businessman and head of the painting company started by his father, A.T. Long & Son, Long helped bring the theater back to life like he has many other historical restoration and painting projects including the Hay House, the Grand Opera House, the Douglass eater and St. Joseph's Catholic Church. "I knew how to organize and raise money. Tabitha knew festival mechanics and what it took to attract filmmakers and Craig knew the judging side," Long said. "I got them together at Nu-Way Weiners and everybody was raring to go. None of us would have believed then where the festival would be in just 15 years with the quality films we draw and guest filmmakers and celebrities who come. We treat filmmakers right and that's always been the aim. We give better prize money than a lot of famous festivals." Guest celebrities have run the gamut from Burt Reynolds to Gabourey Sidibe. Filmmakers have included the likes of "Love, Gilda's" award-winning Lisa D'Apolito; Academy Award-nominated Julie Simone and Vicki Vlasic, who made "Fiddlin'"; and several short films by Middle Georgia's Justin O'Neal Miller, who did art direction for Christopher Nolan's just-released "Tenet." And at 15 years, despite COVID-19 craziness, the festival goes on. "Filmmakers are excited to show here," Walker said. "I've heard back so many thank-yous for finding a way to make this work and let them show their films. No one wanted to deal with something like the coronavirus, but the situation forced us to go online and do something that gives our festival and filmmakers a nationwide audience. ere's a new level of excitement among the filmmakers we selected and we're embracing the changes. We want things back to normal next year, but we'll take what we're learning about doing a virtual festival with us into the future." Walker said that includes not only learning how to present films but how to best conduct Q&A sessions, workshops, awards presentations and film discussions while fulfilling the mission to promote independent filmmaking nationally and bringing great movies to Macon and Middle Georgia. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 | maconmagazine.com 77