Michael Farris Smith’s short film Chasing Rabbits will come to Water Valley on Friday, October 16, for a free screening at the recently opened Gordon Gallery.
The event will begin with a social hour at 5:30 pm in the gallery lounge, with the film scheduled to begin at 7 pm. A Q&A will follow the screening, giving attendees an opportunity to hear more about the film and its production. The evening is scheduled to continue until about 9 pm. Gordon Gallery is located at 101 N. Main St. in Water Valley.
Gallery owner Bradley Gordon said he is particularly looking forward to bringing the film to the new space.
“We’re honored to host this screening of our dear friend, Michael Farris Smith’s, Chasing Rabbits at the Gordon Gallery. We’re especially excited to welcome the talented artists behind the work for a special Q and A following the screening. We look forward to sharing an evening of film, conversation, and community with our guests.”
Chasing Rabbits centers on Rachel, a truck stop waitress whose home is vandalized in the middle of the night. After crawling out from beneath her bed and discovering that the teenagers who broke into her house are gone, she is left surrounded by the wreckage, including spray-painted walls and ripped furniture. The experience leaves her sense of safety shattered and leads her toward an impulsive, irreversible decision that changes the course of her life.
The story has been part of Smith’s creative journey for more than a decade. While living in Columbus, Mississippi, Smith became intrigued by the image of a woman waking up beneath her own bed one morning. That image eventually became the short story “Chasing Rabbits,” which was published in three installments in The Dispatch in 2013.
In 2017, Smith adapted the story into a one-act play for the Tennessee Williams Tribute. Several years later, the story found its way to the screen. In 2024, Smith was talking with multimedia artist and storyteller Anthony Thaxton, who expressed an interest in returning to narrative filmmaking after focusing primarily on documentaries. Smith took the opportunity to adapt “Chasing Rabbits” once again, this time as a screenplay.
He began work on the film adaptation in August 2024, collaborating with Thaxton and the Institute for Southern Storytelling. The movie was shot in Clinton, Mississippi, in November 2024, and completed in time for its February 2025 premiere at the Oxford Film Festival.
The film marked Smith’s directorial debut. He previously saw two of his novels adapted into feature films, Desperation Road and The Fighter, the latter released under the title Rumble Through the Dark. For Chasing Rabbits, Smith worked with producers Anthony Thaxton and Robert St. John, with Thaxton also shooting and editing the film.
The cast includes Oxford residents McGhee Monteith and Davis Coen, along with Stephen Garrett of Memphis. Together, with a highly-talented student crew, they brought Smith’s long-developed story from the page to the screen.
Chasing Rabbits premiered on opening night of the 2025 Oxford Film Festival on February 27. It later screened at Storyfest at Mississippi College in Clinton as a kickoff event for the Red Brick Roads Festival, and at the Columbus Arts Council’s Omnova Theater in May 2025.
The short film has also achieved widespread international recognition on the festival circuit, including being named a finalist at the World Film Festival in Cannes, France.
Smith, an award-winning novelist and screenwriter, also wrote the screen adaptations of his novels Desperation Road, which became a top-10 international Netflix release, and The Fighter. His novels have appeared on Best of the Year lists from publications including Esquire and NPR and have been selected for programs including Indie Next, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Amazon Book of the Month. His books have been translated into 10 languages.
For the Gordon Gallery screening, audiences will have an opportunity to see Smith’s first film as a director and hear more about the process of bringing Chasing Rabbits through its various incarnations.
Doors open at 5:30 pm, with the 7 p.m. screening followed by the Q&A. Admission is free. Beer will be available for purchase at the gallery, although no food will be available. Outside alcohol is not encouraged.
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