Sun will rise, Johnny Cash will sing, at 40th Nashville Film Festival

The 40th annual Nashville Film Festival will kick off Thursday (April 16) in Music City, and continue screening dramatic features and documentaries through April 23. Among the attractions that may be of special interest to C&I readers:

That Evening Sun -- Academy Award nominee Hal Holbrook (above) makes another bid for Oscar glory with his excellent performance in Scott Teems' brooding drama as an aging Tennessee farmer who goes AWOL from the nursing home where he's been consigned by his son -- only to find that his land has been leased to his oldest enemy. (6 p.m. April 18, 12:15 p.m. April 19)

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison -- On Jan. 13, 1968, Johnny Cash recorded his legendary live album at Folsom State Prison in California. Forty-one years later, the album hasn't lost a bit of its power. Cash's children, his former colleagues, and even some ex-prisoners and guards look back at that famous concert behind bars in Bestor Cram's acclaimed documentary. (5 p.m. April 19, 3:45 p.m. April 20)

Noble Things -- Dan McMellen's filmed-in-Texas drama focuses on a struggling country music artist who must return to his home town to confront his imprisoned brother, his dying father and the demons he left behind. Real-life country music star Lee Ann Womack makes her film acting debut as a police deputy who figures into the plot. (9 p.m. April 18, 2:45 p.m. April 19)

William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet -- Filmmakers Patrick Buckley and Kevin Layne document the transformation of William Shatner's surprise hit CD "Has Been" -- featuring songs co-written by Country music star Brad Paisley, pop-folk artist Aimee Mann and many others -- into a ballet by noted choreographer Margo Sappington. Shatner -- the cover boy for C&I's April issue -- is expected to attend the Nashville Festival premiere, along with Paisley, Sappington, musician/record producer Ben Folds and the film's directors. (7:15 p.m. April 17, 1:30 p.m. April 18)

Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes -- A free-form, intimate look at a private man in the public spotlight: Garrison Keillor, arguably America's foremost humorist and commentator, takes his skits and jokes, music and monologues across the country in his traveling radio show. (2:30 p.m. April 19, 1 p.m. April 21)

Tickets to these and all other Nashville Film Festival attractions can be ordered on the festival's website. And C&I will be reporting on the festivities right here on the C&I blog, starting this weekend.

Ring of fire

The late, great Johnny Cash's longtime lakeside home in Tennessee burned to the ground Tuesday. The 13,800-square-foot house -- where Johnny and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003 -- was a showcase where he wrote many of his best songs and entertained U.S. presidents, music royalty and visiting fans. It was also where director Mark Romanek filmed most of Johnny's most famous music video -- for my money, maybe the greatest and definitely the most affecting music video ever made -- available for viewing here.

Multiculturalism in Music City USA

As Nashville gains an increasingly more international flavor, some folks are sounding sour notes. But, hey, if Johnny Cash could add mariachi-style horns to "Ring of Fire," maybe it won't be too hard for different cultures to establish harmony.