Take 5 with "The South will Rise Again"

As we gear up for the Oxford Film Festival 2011 to be held at the Malco Studio Theater on Feb. 10-13, 2011, we thought we might introduce you to some of the people behind the movies we can't wait to show you.

Meet Take 5 filmmaker, Ben Guest, director of "The South Will Rise Again," playing in the Mississippi short documentary block on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. For the full schedule and description of the films, visit
www.oxfordfilmfest.com.

Q. 1: In 140 characters or less, describe your movie and why someone should see it.

A: Confrontation over the chant "The South will rise again" culminates in a Klan rally at the University of Mississippi.

Q. 2: Biggest lesson learned in getting the film made? Best part in getting the film made?

A: Three lessons about documentary filmmaking were learned (or re-learned):

1) The most interesting stuff usually doesn't make the film.
2) Find your, for lack of a better term, "movie star."
3) Once you find your star, stick with him or her.

The best part is always showing it to an audience and getting feedback. In some ways I feel like a film doesn't exist until you show it to others.

Q. 3: Tell us about you. What is your movie making background?

A: I run a program called the Mississippi Teacher Corps at the University of Mississippi. Most of my movie making skills, or lack therof, come from messing around with a video camera and using iMovie (and then, later, Final Cut Pro). The rest I learned by asking people who have more experience than me.

Q. 4: What's your dream distribution plan for the film?

A: Ummm, it's up on my Vimeo page...

Q. 5: What does the future hold in store for your film and for you?

A: I'm working on my next documentary which is about a high school girls basketball team.