FLORENCE — The first question that comes to people’s minds when they hear a “Back to the Future” reunion will be held in Florence this spring is whether Michael J. Fox, who played Marty McFly, will attend.

Fox, who has Parkinson’s disease and is a tireless spokesman for research for a cure, will not be coming, said organizer Cynthia Burkhead, but several other well-known characters will attend. In addition, the event during the George Lindsey University of North Alabama Film Festival on March 4-7 will help raise funds and awareness for Parkinson’s.

“We will be doing fundraising for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research,” Burkhead said.

The reunion of several key cast members and writer Bob Gale will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the iconic film in which a teen is thrust 30 years into the past via a DeLorean time machine.

Featured at the event will be Lea Thompson, who played Lorraine McFly, and has gone on to play many memorable parts, including the title role in the TV series “Caroline in the City” in the late 1990s, and a soccer mom CIA agent in Hallmark Channel’s Jane Doe mystery movies.

She also visited Huntsville in 1986 when she starred in the film “Space Camp.”

Also attending will be Claudia Wells, who played Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer and James Tolkan who played Marty’s principal Mr. Strickland.

Wells earned co-starring roles in the 1980s comedy series “Off the Rack” and “Fast Times” and has appeared in such shows as “Family,” “Simon and Simon,” “Trapper John, M.D.” and “Fame.” Most recently, she starred in the 2008 Indie film “Still Waters Burn.” She owns her own clothing business called Armani Wells, located in Studio City.

Tolkan, a busy character actor, has appeared in dozens of TV series and films.

Gale, who wrote the “Back to the Future” screenplay along with Robert Zemeckis, will speak about his craft at the Film Festival. He will talk specifically about comic-book adaptations, Burkhead said.

Michael Scheffe, designer of the “Knight Rider” talking car K.I.T.T. as well as the flying taxi seen in “Back to the Future II,” is scheduled to appear at the 2010 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival. Scheffe will participate in a special effects workshop for festival attendees March 5.

The workshop will include a screening of the short documentary “A DS in the Future,” about the creation of the “Back to the Future II” flying taxi. Bernd Kruyt, director and producer of the documentary, will also participate in the workshop.

In addition to his work on the flying taxi and K.I.T.T., Scheffe was construction supervisor for the “Back to the Future” DeLorean time machine.

A replica of the DeLorean time machine will be displayed at the event, Burkhead said. The car has been used for several years to help raise funds for Parkinson’s Research.



ASU staffer helps organize reunion



The idea to hold a “Back to the Future” reunion at this year’s George Lindsey UNA Film Festival came from a longtime fan of the movie who works at Athens State University, Burkhead said.

“We were contacted last spring by Stephen Clark,” she said. “He has been involved in doing fan events and brought us the idea.”

Clark, coordinator for Distance Learning Systems at ASU, created the Web site BTTF.com in 1995. Before that, he published a fanzine.

“I started out just as a fan back in the 1980s when the movies came out,” Clark said. “Over the years I’ve made connections with the cast and the crew.”

Clark said “most of the cast know who I am,” and some are close friends.

Burkhead said festival organizers were excited the event would coincide with the 25th anniversary of the iconic film.

Clark, who lives in Muscle Shoals, is helping sponsor the event. He contacted a friend from South Carolina who has a replica of the DeLorean time machine and the car will be at the event to help raise funds for Parkinson’s disease. The star of the “Back to the Future” trilogy, Michael J. Fox, has the disease.

Fox is unable to attend the event.

Clark said he also plans to “dress” the historic Shoals Theater, where some of the festival events will be held, with some of his “Back to the Future” memorabilia.

He is loaning some of his collection, such as scripts, production materials, props and storyboards for an exhibit at UNA’s library during the event.

Visit Clark’s site at BTTF.com.





About the festival



Tickets are on sale for the reunion event at 7 p.m. March 5 at the Shoals Theatre in downtown Florence. Tickets, which are $15 plus tax and a processing fee, are available at lindseyfilmfest.com and at the UNA Bookstore. UNA student tickets are $5 plus tax and must be purchased at the UNA Bookstore, one ticket per student ID.

Other major celebrity guests who have appeared at past George Lindsey UNA Film Festival include Lee Majors, Rance Howard, Oscar winners Billy Bob Thornton and Ernest Borgnine, and North Alabama native Lucas Black.

The George Lindsey UNA Film Festival is one of the few film festivals hosted by a university. The event was founded in 1998 by UNA alumnus and celebrated actor and entertainer George Lindsey. Lindsey’s own film career has included several important roles, including the character Goober Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show.”

For more information on the 2010 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, visit www.lindseyfilmfest.com, or contact the film festival staff at lindseyfilmfest@una.edu or (256) 765-4592.