Community Garden Documentary to Play at Ava Gardner Independent Film Festival

Growing It Here, Growing It Now, the new Common Curator documentary on community gardening, has been selected to be shown at the Ava Gardner Independent Film Festival (AGIFF). Now in its fifth year, the festival takes place in Smithfield, North Carolina, October 6-9, 2011. The documentary will be screened on Saturday, October 8, in the 7pm slot. For a full schedule of films, as well as ticket information, visit the festival website.

The namesake of the film festival, Ava Gardner, was born in 1922 in Grabtown, a very small community a few miles east of Smithfield, and after her death in 1990 she was buried in the area. While visiting her sister Beatrice in New York City as a teenager, her sister's husband, a photographer, placed her portrait in his studio window, which led to her "discovery" and first contract with MGM. Eventually starring in numerous Hollywood movies over a lengthy career, Gardner was also married in her younger years to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra.

The film festival is also holding a special event, Ava's Midnight Stroll, which will feature an impromptu tour of some of Ava's old stomping grounds, and include a stop at her final resting place.

Also of note in Smithfield is the Ava Gardner Museum, which boasts an extensive collection of Gardner memorabilia. It hosts the annual Ava Gardner Festival, which this year will run concurrently with the Ava Gardner Independent Film Festival. A schedule events is available online.