The Nashville Film Festival returns for another eight great days of film this year, from Thursday, April 18, through Thursday, April 25 at the Regal Green Hills Cinema. This year, as in years past, there will be plenty of new films on display, with features, documentaries, narratives, shorts, and animated films from around the world. There will also be panels and workshops for up and coming filmmakers by working professionals, as well as opportunities to meet and greet some of the actors, directors, writers, and crafters of the films.

Attended by filmmakers and industry insiders, and open to the public, NaFF screens more than 200 films from nearly 50 countries. NaFF celebrates the diversity of the human voice and vision by curating program segments to include Latino, Black, GLBT, Jewish and Kurdish films.

There are ‘kid-friendly’ films to be screened, deemed appropriate for all ages, and feature both national and international selections. The whole family can experience the joy of film this year at NaFF because there’s “something for everyone.”

The Retrospective and Graveyard Shift line-ups feature the selected Retrospectives, ranging from years 1923 to 2009, and include a 90th anniversary screening of the 1923 silent comedy Safety Last! For its own Graveyard Shift late-night cult-movie program, NaFF includes the movie that swept the Texas fest’s horror prizes last fall, Here Comes the Devil, along with Golden Lion award winner Pieta.

‘Tennessee First’ films were all made by, about, and for the people of Tennessee. From quiet memories, to nights shattered by violence, these varied stories will take you on a wild ride from the Mississippi to the Appalachians.

Among major U.S. film festivals, NaFF is the only one to recognize the ‘Music Films/Music City’ category of film with a unique award. NaFF uses this category to recognize documentary films about music and musicians. The films cover a full range of musical genres from rock and roll and hip-hop, to boys’ choirs and classic country.

The ‘Documentary Film’ documentaries cover a wide range of relevant topics, including refugees of war, third-trimester abortions, the global crisis and kids at magic camp.

In 2013, women filmmakers made great strides as there were more women filmmakers entered than ever before in NaFF’s history in the film line-up for ‘New Directors.’ The ‘Bridgestone Narrative Feature’ line-up has 16 narrative feature films selected from 3,004 films submitted to the Nashville Film Festival or curated by Artistic Director Brian Owens. These films present filmgoers with the first chance to catch major features before their national release.

Always one of Nashville premiere spring social events, come to the festival, eat, drink and have a great time. Next week we will bring you more news and previews of more films of interest. Individual tickets for films and events are now on sale online. For tickets, schedules, and/or more information on the Nashville Film Festival, go to their official website at www.nashvillefilmfestival.org.