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SPECIAL GUESTS: Robert Mugge (director), Diana Zelman (producer), Bill Steber (subject). Intended as a companion piece to Mugge’s 1991 film DEEP BLUES, which explored Mississippi Delta and North Mississippi Hill Country blues traditions, DEEP ROOTS examines the life and work of artist/photographer/musician Bill Steber, while showcasing Black and white musical traditions of the nineteen-twenties and nineteen-thirties, and rural music scenes of Mississippi and Tennessee. The film’s first half takes place in Steber’s home base of Murfreesboro, TN, and its second half in the Mississippi Delta, long a major focus of his work. Included are interviews conducted at a Murfreesboro gallery exhibit of Steber’s art and photography; visits to Clarksdale, Mississippi’s Juke Joint Festival and Leland, Mississippi’s Highway 61 Blues Museum; and public performances by three of Steber’s groups: Jake Leg Stompers, Stoop Down Rounders, and Hoodoo Men.
4:30PM – NATCHEZ: The Film
NATCHEZ captures an unsettling clash between history and memory in a small Mississippi town; a layered mosaic of people contending with the weight of the past in a place where it is always present. Equal parts amusing and disturbing, we journey through an antebellum tourist destination at a crossroads as it grapples with a deeply troubled history that is so thoroughly ingrained in its present, we’re left to wonder if it’s actually past at all. Directed by Suzannah Herbert. Produced by Darcy McKinnon.
6PM – DAILY RECEPTION w/blues performance by Little Willie Farmer!
69-year-old bluesman Little Willie Farmer is a recording artist and true blue legend from Duck Hill, Mississippi. He is well-known in Clarksdale, having performed at Juke Joint Festival, Sunflower River Blues Festival, Cat Head Mini Blues Fest, Red’s Juke Joint and Bad Apple Blues Club.
7PM – RONZO: Cultural Ambassador to the South
SPECIAL GUESTS: Jon Brick, director, along with some of Ronzo’s friends from the film. Ron Shapiro, also known affectionately as “Ronzo,” was a celebrated cultural icon and the ‘unofficial cultural ambassador’ to the South. He owned the Hoka Theater in Oxford, MS, a movie theater/music venue/cafe that was a mecca for artists, college students and local patrons. Ron was the muse and the Hoka helped to foster artists’ careers and shape peoples lives. In a place known for its past, RONZO (the movie) tells the story of a man who dreamed forward—creating a sanctuary where artists could be fearless, weird was welcome, and imagination had no curfew. Director Jon Brick is an award-winning filmmaker with over 25 years experience directing, producing and editing films for multiple platforms that include streaming networks (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and TUBI), documentary, broadcast TV, branded content and nonprofit.
Saturday – January 24, 2026
STONE PONY TACK ROOM
(226 Delta Ave.)
10:30PM – TICKETS: Enter through Stone Pony front door (226 Delta Ave). Buy tickets at entrance to Tack Room (next door).
11AM – MUSIC VIDEOS by Tim Hardiman
New collection of video shorts by filmmaker Tim Hardiman (Black 22 Productions)—including blues/soul man Robert Finley’s song “Helping Hand” (filmed in Farmerville, LA / Clarksdale, MS), Ex-Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty’s version of “Born On the Bayou” (filmed in the Delta / Los Angeles) and Magnolia Rising performing “Hit The Ground Running” (filmed in Lebanon, TN; two-thirds of the Poplar, MS band Chapel Hart).
11:25AM – A STILL SMALL VOICE: Artist V.L. Cox
SPECIAL GUEST: Nolan Dean, director. Arkansas artist V.L. Cox reflects on the personal nature of her work as she crafts an installation inspired by the history of an abandoned church. Directed by Laney Gradus and Nolan Dean.
11:50AM – HOLD STILL Alice Hasen music video
SPECIAL GUEST: Nolan Dean, director. New “Hold Still” music video featuring Alice Hasen with Walt Busby.
12:05PM – THE MAIN LINE: Musicians In The Delta & Beyond
SPECIAL GUEST: Phil Duncan, series producer. Newly launched video series featuring solo performances and personal stories from modern musicians rooted along the historic Illinois Central corridor, from New Orleans to Chicago. Producer Phil Duncan will present the series to date, including the premiere installment with Clarksdale’s Lucious Spiller, and close with a new episode featuring Nepalese bluesman Prakash Slim, filmed at the Shack Up Inn.
12:30PM – BLUES LIKE SHOWERS OF RAIN: 1970 Documentary Classic
Amazing 1970 blues documentary by John Jeremy that grew from photographs and field recordings made by Paul Oliver on a journey through the South in 1960. Oliver, a British architectural historian who devoted years to researching African American blues, memorialized the journey also in his 1963 book Conversation with the Blues. Featuring Blind James Brewer, Walter Davis, Blind Arvella Gray, Lightnin’ Hopkins, St. Louis Jimmy, James “Stump” Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Speckled Red, Otis Span, Henry Townsend and more. “The soundtrack is pure poetry… a marvellous documentary” – The Observer. “A beautifully edited film … the film is remarkable” – The Guardian. Special thanks to Mr. Jeremy for allowing this rare public screening.
1:10PM – KING OF THEM ALL: The Story of King Records
SPECIAL GUEST: Yemi Oyediran, director. “King of Them All” is a feature-length documentary about King Records, the scrappy Cincinnati label that reshaped American music. Founded in the 1940s by Syd Nathan, a brash outsider dismissed by the industry, King dared to put everything under one roof. In a single building, records were written, recorded, pressed, and shipped — capturing performances with an urgency the industry giants couldn’t match. The results were transformative. James Brown’s fiery soul, Freddy King’s guitar blues, Little Willie John’s smooth R&B, Hank Ballard’s rock ’n’ roll anthems, and the Stanley Brothers’ bluegrass harmonies all came through King, together forming a catalog that rewrote the sound of the 20th century. What began as “records for the little man” became a cultural force.
2:30PM – BIG MAMA THORNTON: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me
SPECIAL GUEST: Robert Clem, director. Inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in October 2024, Alabama-born Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton joined a traveling variety show at age 14 and for the next forty years was one the greatest blues singers ever, navigating the dangerous sharks and shoals of the music business and retaining her own unique style, defying gender norms and refusing to sing anything unless it “sang her soul.” Presley’s hit “Hound Dog” was both inspired and originally sung by her; Joplin’s “Ball and Chain” was written by her and became her signature song for the rest of her too-short life.
4:20PM – SWAMP DOG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED: The Movie
SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED is a wildly entertaining and fittingly unconventional documentary about convention-defying singer, songwriter and record producer Jerry Williams, aka Swamp Dogg, one of the great cult figures of 20th-century American music whose singular voice and ideas have shaped the history not merely of soul music, but of country, hip-hop and a dozen other genres. In the film, the titular artist and his “bachelor pad of aging musicians”, including the charming Guitar Shorty and lovably quirky Moogstar, navigate the tumultuous music industry, transform their home into an artistic playground and invite fellow musicians like Jenny Lewis and John Prine and superfans Mike Judge, Johnny Knoxville and Tom Kenny to play in their unique musical sandbox… and paint Swamp Dogg’s pool. Bursting with infectious personality and stoner energy, SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED is a music documentary unlike any other. Directed by Ryan Olson and Isaac Gale. (May contain some adult language or situations.)
6PM – DAILY RECEPTION with juke joint king Terry ‘Big T’ Williams playing the blues!
Big Jack Johnson blues guitar protege (and juke joint owner) Terry “Big T” Williams plays the Clarksdale Film & Music Festival!
7PM – AN EVENING WITH ROBERT GORDON: Films & Stories
The 2026 Clarksdale Film & Music Festival is proud to present AN EVENING WITH ROBERT GORDON—Emmy and Grammy Award winning writer/filmmaker. Memphian Robert Gordon will screen and discuss a special selection of hits, rarities and previews from his decades of documentary work. He will also sign books. Gordon is producer/director of 9 feature films—including Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story, Muddy Waters Can’t Be Satisfied, The Road to Memphis, Johnny Cash’s America and the forthcoming Newport & the Great Folk Dream. He is also author of 6 books—including It Came from Memphis, Lost Delta Found and Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life & Times of Muddy Waters. His work has consistently focused on the American south—its music, art and politics—to create an insider’s portrait of his home that is both nuanced and ribald.
Sunday – January 25, 2026
BLUESBERRY CAFE
(235 Yazoo Ave.)
1PM – ‘LIVE’ BLUES by Lucious Spiller
You’ve seen him on NPR and at local festivals like Juke Joint and Sunflower, now see him at Film Festival!
2PM – ‘LIVE’ BLUES by Sean ‘Bad’ Apple
Catch Sean “Bad” Apple (the owner of Bad Apple Blues Club, who learned music at the feet of Jack Owens, RL Boyce and others) as we close out this year’s festival. Thanks, y’all!
3PM – ‘LIVE’ BLUES by Watermelon Slim
World-famous, multi-award winning, Clarksdale-based blues legend Watermelon Slim closes out a fabulous film festival weekend.
“Mississippi gets its close-up… to celebrate the Magnolia State’s films and filmmakers.” – Garden & Gun magazine.
Schedule at www.clarksdalefilmfestival.com.
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