Emerson Drive joins a contingent of stars walking the red carpet tonight when the Nashville Film Festival opens in Music City's posh Green Hills neighborhood. William H. Macy, whose new picture, "The Deal," screens tonight, will be on hand. Others appearing during the week-long event include Patricia Neal, Kiefer Sutherland, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and former Vice President Al Gore.

Emerson Drive has a unique contribution through its "DING! You Are Now Free To Create A Film" contest. Sponsored in part by Southwest Airlines, the sweepstakes encourages attendees to come up with the best title for a film about Emerson Drive. The winner will receive a package April 23 that includes two round-trip tickets to Las Vegas, where they'll attend the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Among the other artists and musicians with a role in the festival are Trace Adkins, who will attend one viewing of the horror flick Trailer Park Of Terror, in which he has a role; former Garth Brooks sideman Bela Fleck, who tells the history of the banjo in Throw Down Your Heart; "Rhinestone Cowboy" producer Dennis Lambert, whose tale is told in Of All The Things; several musicians who were part of the Los Angeles session players known as The Wrecking Crew; and Big Kenny, of Big & Rich, who premieres his movie about Darfur, Bearing Light: A Journey To Sudan.

Big Kenny helped create a school for girls in the Sudan, where the current government shut down educational opportunities two decades ago.

"Most of these kids were bought out of slavery or orphaned — their parents were killed in the war," Big Kenny told The Tennessean. "It is something we can't even imagine. They are living in conditions we wouldn't have known 100 years ago."

Big Kenny and his wife, Christiev, will expand on the movie's points during a question-and-answer session following the premiere.