Editor

The Tucson Film & Music Festival (October 10-12, Tucson, AZ) is excited to announce its Opening Night Film: The Arizona Premiere of the critically acclaimed documentary "Throw Down Your Heart." The festival will also host a Special Feature Screening with the US Premiere of "Slide Guitar Ride," featuring Tucson's own Bob Log III.

Directed by Sasha Paladino, "Throw Down Your Heart" (www.throwdownyourheart.com) follows American banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the little-known African roots of the banjo and record an album. Bela's boundary-breaking musical adventure takes him to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, and provides a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of Africa. Using his banjo, Bela transcends barriers of language and culture, finding common ground and forging connections with musicians from very different backgrounds. The film has been lauded with the Best Music Documentary award at this year's Silverdocs and was the 24 Beats Per Minute Audience Winner at SXSW 2008.

The Arizona Premiere of "Throw Down Your Heart" holds special significance to Festival Director Michael Toubassi, who was fortunate to be a part of bringing Bela Fleck to Tucson in the 90s. "I got to introduce Bela and his band (The Flecktones) in front of a packed UofA ballroom crowd, so it's exciting for me to welcome the music of Bela and his banjo back to Tucson, this time in this stellar, award-winning music documentary."

"Slide Guitar Ride" is a rock and roll journey with Bob Log III (one-half of the outrageous musical duo Doo Rag) the infamous one-man band from Tucson, Arizona -- "The only band in the world you can sit on." Costumed in a bubble-mask motorcycle helmet with a phone receiver glued to his visor as a microphone, Log plays manic, delta blues slide guitar -- while singing and stomping on a bass drum pedal. The film, directed by Bernd Schoch of Germany, is a loving and quirky portrait of one of Tucson's beloved denizens and makes its US Premiere in Log's hometown. Says Toubassi, "It's fantastic to finally bring Slide Guitar Ride to Tucson for its US premiere - TFMF is the right place and it's about freakin' time."

Even though Bob Log III now resides in Australia -- far from his Southwest desert-roots -- and performs some two hundred times a year, he's still Tucson's de facto troubadour. Toubassi points out Log's relevance to both the music and film scenes in Tucson, "Bob is a principal musician featured in my documentary High and Dry -- the film that, essentially, started TFMF four years ago. Bob Log III is a local legend and we're pleased to present this film that captures just some of what makes him such a regarded figure in the Tucson music community."