Athens Burning (2011)

• 70%
• 2011
• Documentary
• Andrew Haynes
• Jacob Kinsman
• Eric Krasle

The Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA burned two years ago, and this documentary outlines the attempts at bringing it back. The fire also revealed a treasure trove of history about this college town and the changes it too has gone through in a remarkably short time. From YMCA to cinema to a top notch concert venue and back again, this film interviews dozens of people and includes special cameos and uncredited appearances from the likes of Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Bird to demonstrate the depth of knowledge of this venue. Thornton directed a Widespread Panic documentary there and numerous other escapades are artistically captured and described in a linear and evolutionary pattern. There are some references to sex, drugs, and dirty beer lines along the way. But many different sides of the Georgia Theatre and its predecessors are examined in a comprehensive and thorough way, including footage from such bands as White Buffalo, the Dixie Dregs and great story line from Col. Bruce Hampton (Ret.) who had a role alongside Vic Chesnutt in Thornton's Oscar-winning Sling Blade film a year later. The last interview Chesnutt may have conducted on film a short month before his taking of his life has poignant and bittersweet effect on the overall tone.