Freep Film Festival 2023: Artists, writers, celebrities fill Saturday lineup

Freep Film Festival, the annual documentary film festival presented by the Free Press, Saturday lineup includes two shorts programs, a live recording of a popular radio show, a documentary on a prolilific novelist who called metro Detroit home and a host of other programs. Information about all of the films is available at www.freepfilmfestival.com.

In addition to the in-person films below, several of this year's films screening at the festival are available for online streaming.

Here's just some of Saturday's festival offerings:

'The Treatment' live recording

Elvis Mitchell, who once was a film critic for the Detroit Free Press, will host a live recording of his radio show “The Treatment,” known for Mitchell’s interviews with some of the most influential people in arts, entertainment, sports and fashion. Mitchell’s guest will be legendary actor Laurence Fishburne, who appears in Mitchell’s debut film “Is That Black Enough for You?!?”. The nationally syndicated show and popular podcast is produced by KCRW, NPR’s flagship station in Los Angeles, and airs on WDET-FM in Detroit. WDET is a partner in the event. Mitchell holds the position as the Bob Allison (Allesee) Endowed Chair in Media at WSU beginning in May 2023.

7 p.m. tonight, April 29, Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Insitute of Arts Tickets and more information here.

'Elmore Leonard: But Don't Try to Write"

Elmore Leonard, author of more than 40 novels, is renowned in the literary community. The documentary “ELMORE LEONARD: ‘But Don’t Try to Write’ ” explores the prolific author’s legacy and his influence on generations of writers. The film features exclusive images and previously unseen home movie footage, family photographs and in-depth interviews with both literary experts and those who knew him well, including colleagues, family, and childhood friends.

After the film: The Free Press' M.L. Elrick talks with John Mulholland, the film’s writer and director, Richard Zampella, the film’s editor and producer, and Peter Leonard, novelist and son of Elmore Leonard.

3 p.m. today, April 29, Michigan Science Center (IMAX theater)

Tickets and more information here.

'Shorts #1: Creative Types'

These short films put artists from Detroit and Michigan into the spotlight. They work with wood, with paint, with their imaginations. Among the artists featured: Muralist Sydney James, actor Daron Colbert, visual artist Senghor Reid and northern Michigan woodworker Dan Baker.

After the film: Steve Byrne, Freep Film Festival co-founder and 2023 shorts film programmer, talks with the filmmakers.

Tickets and more information here.

Shorts #4: Our voices, our communities

Both behind the camera and on the screen, female voices loom large in this collection of shorts, which variously touch on notions of community and being heard.

After the films: Kayla Cockrel, a web editor at the Free Press, talks with the filmmakers.

8 p.m., tonight, Ari 29, Michigan Science Center (Planetarium)

Tickets and more information here.

'With Peter Bradley'

Seventy-nine years old and overlooked since the 1970s, abstract painter Peter Bradley reflects on life and shares his artistic process on the cusp of his rediscovery. A barrier breaking artist, Bradley had spent some of his formative years in Detroit. Bradley went on to build an incredible resume early in his career, but then fell on hard times. When filmmaker Alex Rappoport met Peter Bradley in 2020, he hadn’t had a major show in over four decades, yet he still painted every day.

After the film: Georgea Kovanis, a Free Press staff writer, talks with director Alex Rappoport.

2 p.m. today, April 29, Michigan Science Center (Planetarium)

Tickets and more information here.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Freep Film Festival 2023: Artists, celebrities fill Saturday lineup