The Southern Arts Federation’s third annual Short Circuit Traveling Film Festival will screen at The Clayton Center on Saturday, Feb. 6, beginning at 1 p.m. 

The festival spotlights short films created by filmmakers living and working in the Southeast and presents a dozen short films selected for their artistic merit by a panel of media arts professionals. The 2009-10 selections range from fiction and animation to experimental and documentary by filmmakers from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee.  

For a complete list of films and the festival schedule visit the Short Circuit Traveling Film Festival at www.southarts.org/shortfilms.

Although this is the third time The Clayton Center has hosted it, this is the first year the Ava Gardner Museum is partnering to help present the films.  Its a natural fit for the Museum, with our obvious connections to the film industry, to participate in Independent Film.

The dozen films will be shown from 1:00-4:00pm (with a short intermission) and afterwards we will host a panel with local film makers Ken Peterson, Todd Tinkham, and Camden Watts.  In the past, these panels have been considered a highlight by many festival attendees since it offers a rare opportunity to actually talk to film makers about the film industry and aspects of film making (which often leads to some interesting “behind the scenes” stories).

To keep the party rolling, after the panel, we will continue the discussion in a more relaxed atmosphere at Mulberry on Main.  Anyone interested in talking to the film makers or simply enjoying the company of other film lovers are invited (food and drink are dutch treat).

Tickets for festival are $2.50, plus service fee. Tickets may be purchased at The Clayton Center Box Office located at 111 E. Second Street in downtown Clayton, by calling 919-553-1737, ext. 2, or online at www.theclaytoncenter.com. 

If you have a friend (or friends!) that would like to come along, print this flyer for Buy One, Get One Free ticket offer.

Although it may seem not that long ago, Monday, January 25th marked 20 years since the passing of Ava Gardner.

Ava Lavinia Gardner died at age 67 in London, England on January 25, 1990. Ava spent the last 35 years of her life abroad, moving to London in 1968. During all her years abroad, Ava continued her film career, making twenty-one motion pictures, two made for television movies (A.D. and The Long Hot Summer), and multiple appearances in Knot’s Landing, a CBS prime-time drama. Ava retained her American citizenship and visited her family in North Carolina as often as possible, until suffering from a stroke in 1987. Ava died in her sleep from bronchial pneumonia, an illness she had been battling for several years; her last words to her housekeeper Carmen Vargas were, "I’m tired."

A graveside service was held on Monday, January 29, 1990 at Sunset Memorial Park in Smithfield, NC, and was attended by over 300 mourners. At her request, she was buried with a simple footstone and was laid to rest alongside her parents and all but one sibling.

Those visiting the Museum on Monday, January 25th, 2010 received a reproduction of the program given to mourners at Ava’s graveside service.  Visit this link for a special feature local television station WRAL did on the anniversary of Ava's passing: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/travel/video/6882347/

In July 2009, a newly redesigned website for www.avagardner.org was unveiled. The new site offers a more modern design while adding considerably to the content and images that were previously found by visitors to the site.

Since that time, the Ava Gardner Museum has increased its online presence by adding a Facebook Fan page and Twitter account. In addition, the Museum has also just launched the Ava Gardner Museum blog http://blog.avagardner.org/. These new media tools allow the Museum to interact with fans from around the world and continue the mission of the Museum by further educating people about the life and career of Ava Gardner.

Jessica Meadows Hammett states, "The hope is that this blog will be just one more way the Ava Gardner Museum can connect with both new and longstanding Ava Gardner fans, as well as disseminate information about upcoming events and exhibits at the Museum."

The Ava Gardner Museum is located in downtown Smithfield, at 325 E. Market Street and more information may be found on the museum website, www.avagardner.org or by calling 919-934-5830. The museum is open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm with admission of $6.00 adults, $5.00 seniors and groups and $4.00 children.