Clarksdale Film & Music Festival celebrates 15 years of movies, music and Mississippi! Pop-up theater screenings, live music, special guests and more. The film festival specializes in blues/roots-music related and Mississippi-connected movies… and performances. Just $5 per day or $10 for a weekend pass. Full details and schedule on website below.
Friday, 1/24 – 2pm-8pm (tix at door, 1:30pm) – CLARKSDALE FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL w/films (2pm-6pm), music (Big A at 6pm) & headline film Talkin’ Clarksdale (world-premiere at 7pm) at ‘pop-up theater’ in Stone Pony Tack Room (enter thru Stone Pony entrance, 226 Delta Ave.); details at www.clarksdalefilmfestival.com
Saturday, 1/25 – 11am-8pm (tix at door, 10:30am) – CLARKSDALE FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL w/films (11am-6pm), music (Andy Cohen at 6pm) & headline film A Man Called [Mississippi John] Hurt (Clarksdale premiere at 7pm) at ‘pop-up theater’ in Stone Pony Tack Room (enter thru Stone Pony entrance, 226 Delta Ave.); details at www.clarksdalefilmfestival.com
Sunday, 1/26 – 1pm-4pm – CLARKSDALE FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL w/’live’ blues music by Lucious Spiller, Sean “Bad” Apple & Watermelon Slim at Bluesberry Cafe (235 Yazoo Ave.); details at www.clarksdalefilmfestival.com
LODGING OPTIONS: VisitClarksdale.com
365 MUSIC CALENDAR: www.cathead.biz/music-calendar
2025 SCHEDULE SUMMARIES (full schedule at www.clarksdalefilmfestival.com; subject to change):
Friday, Jan. 24 – STONE PONY’S TACK ROOM
(enter thru main restaurant doors at 226 Delta Ave.)
1:30 PM – TICKET SALES START: Enter thru Stone Pony front door.
Buy tix at entrance to Tack Room, inside.
2:00 PM – THE RIVER: A Songwriter’s Stories of the South (68 min)
Special guest incl. co-producer Laurie Hoffma. Musical journey.
3:20 PM – A WELL SPENT LIFE: Bluesman Mance Lipscomb (44 min)
Biopic by director Les Blank (and a fav of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.).
4:15 PM – MISSISSIPPI MUD: A Natural History of the Blues (15 min)
Special guest director Phil Duncan. MS Delta ecology & the blues.
4:40 PM – (I’M NOT) YOUR NEGRONI: Director Antonio Tarrell (23 min)
Renowned bartender stirs up Oxford during Black History Month.
5:15 PM – I BELIEVE I’LL GO BACK HOME: Robert Johnson (28 min)
Descendants reveal the human behind the myth and living legacy.
6:00 PM – DAILY RECEPTION with light bites & ‘live’ blues by BIG A!
7:00 PM – TALKIN’ CLARKSDALE: A Contemporary Blues Film (60 min)
World-premiere with Scottish director Tommy Slack. Fresh look at
today’s blues with Big A, Red Paden, Lucious Spiller, Super Chikan,
Tameal Edwards, Art Crivaro, Brenda Luckett & more.
Saturday, Jan. 25 – STONE PONY’S TACK ROOM
(enter thru main restaurant doors at 226 Delta Ave.)
10:30 AM – TICKET SALES START: Enter thru Stone Pony front door.
11:00 AM – DUKE OF EARL: Official Sizzle (9 min)
Special guest director Tim Hardiman. Preview of future film. Maybe.
11:15 AM – BIG A: Live at FGCU Bower School of Music (5 min)
Special guest FGCU’s Clay Motley. Clarksdale’s annual road-trip.
11:20 AM – AUTHENTIC CLARKSDALE: Visit Clarksdale video (5 min)
Special guests director Tim Hardiman & Tourism’s Bubba O’Keefe.
11:30 AM – AMERICAN MILEAGE by Tim Hardiman (71 min)
Viral busker Cam Cole visits The South. With Bobby Rush, RL Boyce.
12:50 PM – THE JAZZ LOFT: According to W Eugene Smith (88 min)
In coordination w/director Sara Fishko. ‘50s jazz history/mystery…
2:25 PM – THE BLUES UNDER THE SKIN: Lost 1973 blues film (88 min)
Fictional story meets documentary. With B.B. King, Buddy Guy & more.
4:05 PM – IS THE THRILL GONE?: Exploration of Delta Blues (12 min)
Special guest director Tia McKenzie Jackson. Clarksdale. Musical oasis.
4:30 PM – SILENT NO MORE: Descendants of Elaine Massacre (25 min)
Special guest director Nolan Dean. New preview of forthcoming film
5:10 PM – BLUES ACCORDIN’ TO LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS: Les Blank (31 min)
Bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins is captured brilliantly in 1968 classic.
6:00 PM – DAILY RECEPTION: Light bites & blues by ANDY COHEN.
7:00 PM – A MAN CALLED HURT: Mississippi John Hurt (60 min)
Clarksdale premiere! Special guests Mary Frances Hurt (executive
producer/granddaughter), Jamison Stalsworth (director) and Andy
Cohen (cast member). Mississippi John Hurt Foundation Board
presents… this new documentary about the life and legacy of
blues musician Mississippi John Hurt of Avalon, Mississippi.
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Sunday, Jan. 26 – BLUESBERRY CAFE (235 Yazoo Ave.)
1:00 PM – ‘LIVE’ BLUES by Lucious Spiller (”voice of an angel”)
2:00 PM – ‘LIVE’ BLUES by Sean ‘Bad’ Apple (Bad Apple Blues Club)
3:00 PM – ‘LIVE’ BLUES by Watermelon Slim (multi-award winner)Friday, Jan. 24 – STONE PONY (226 Delta Ave.)
FULL DETAILS AT www.clarksdalefilmfestival.com