Indie Grits Visiones attracts thousands for groundbreaking programming

Indie Grits, the Southeast’s premier film and culture festival for DIY media-makers hosted by the Nickelodeon Theatre, took place April 20-23, 2017. This year’s festival, with a theme of Visiones, saw a total of 10,200 attendees.

Forty percent of Indie Grits attendees came from beyond Columbia city limits, representing an increase over last year’s out-of-town attendance. The Food Truck Parranda, a free food truck/cart event featuring Latin American food vendors at Indie Grits, drew more than 4,500 attendees. Organizers surveying attendees found that 52 percent of respondents said that this was their first time attending an Indie Grits event.

Indie Grits Visiones explored the influence of the rapidly growing Latino population in the Southeastern United States through art and film. A total of 308 artists participated in this year’s festival.  Indie Grits also featured a robust film competition and screened more than 90 films, including films by filmmakers in Latin American countries and the Southeastern United States.

Additionally, the Visiones artistic cohort brought together artists of Latin American descent to share their work with attendees, including a mural at the corner of Taylor and Assembly Streets by MILAGROS Collective. Other Indie Grits events included Noche de Visiones, a free opening night party on Main Street featuring Curtis Harding and Lambchop, as well as Kindie Grits, Indie Bits and more.

“We are so proud of the way this festival continues to grow, and this year, we brought relevant, timely programming and demonstrated the way that film and the arts can bring cultural understanding,” said Amada Torruella, co-curator of Indie Grits Visiones.

Indie Grits also announces film competition winners:

• Top Grit (chosen by Indie Grits jurors): Cairo in One Breath, directed by Anna Kipervaser.

• Helen Hill Memorial Award (best work by a female filmmaker): Meadow Bridge, by Tijah Bumgarner.

• The People’s Grit (chosen by the public via ballots at each screening): An Outrage, directed by Lance Warren and Hannah Ayers.
• Visiones Award (chosen by Indie Grits jurors as the best in regards to our theme, Visiones): The Room of Bones, directed by Marcela Zamora.
• Reel South Short Film Award (Sponsored by SCETV, UNC-TV and the Southern Documentary Fund, the best short film representing the new American South): La Comida de los Cocineros, directed by Victoria Bouloubasis.
• Animated Grit (best animated film as decided by jury): Fear, directed by Dawn Dreyer and Andrea Love.
• Big Grit (best feature-length film): Your Ride is Here, directed by Fraser Jones.
• Experimental Grit (best experimental film): Blua, directed by Carolina Charry Quintero.
• Local Grit (best local film): Crass, directed by Micah Troublefield.
• Short Grit (best short film): White Death, directed by Robert Collio.
• Young Grit (best student film): Seriously Not Funny, directed by Charles Fairbanks, Forest Bright, Charlotte Norman, David Blakeslee, Lillian Burke, Odette Chavez-Mayo and Ellie Burck.

For more details on 2018’s festival, stay tuned to www.indiegrits.com or contact Seth Gadsden, festival co-director at [email protected], (803) 254-8324. Follow @IndieGrits on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.