Our goal is simple. Bring amazing films to the city.
Posers (SFFF ‘22)
Every story begins with an idea. Ours started with the crazy idea of starting a film festival from the ground up. One random day, Trevite reached out to high school classmate, Kelley to see if she wanted to bring an amazing film experience to the city…
Trevite, an award-winning producer based in New York for 20+ years, and Kelley (a stage, TV and film actress based in Chicago and Los Angeles for 20+ years, moved back home) came together to bring the first independent film festival to Huntsville, Alabama in June 2018.
In the first year, the festival was held over 4 days with the opening night film and gala at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s Davidson Center, and the remainder of the festival at the Parsons Law Library in downtown Huntsville. During those four days, we screened over 20 feature and short films, and held panel discussions from industry leaders and local top affiliates, providing an in-depth conversation between each film’s storyline and overall theme.
In 2019, the festival was on hiatus as Trevite was producing a feature film and Kelley was directing a play.
In 2020 and 2021, the festival changed its format during the pandemic. Wanting to bring films to the community while maintaining attendee’s safety, Kelley and Trevite pivoted and held an abbreviated drive-in festival at MidCity. Over 2 fun-filled days, The Southern Fried Film Festival: Under the Stars screened two features, a number of shorts, showcased local musicians and artists while sharing their stage with other 501c3 organizations (arts and service) hit financially due to COVID-19. Over 350 cars were in attendance each day.
Last year, the Southern Fried Film Festival returned to a 4-day celebration of film, music and technology, and continued its outdoor style with a hybrid indoor/outdoor festival. The festival held opening night at the newly built Orion Amphitheater and the remainder of the festival at 3rd Circle Cellars and the Salty Nut Brewery.
Meet the founders
Trevite Willis
Founder, Festival Director
Founder, Board Member