JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Mary B. Martin School of the Arts at ETSU will present “MARS” with Director, Producer and Writer Geoff Marslett as part of the South Arts Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers at ETSU’s Ball Hall Auditorium, Room 127, on Monday, Oct. 10. Following a screening of his feature film, “MARS,” Marslett and the audience will engage in a discussion of the animated romantic comedy and his work as a filmmaker. A reception with Marslett will follow the screening and discussion time. Both film and reception are free and open to the public. In the film, a new space race is born between NASA and the ESA when Charlie Brownsville, Hank Morrison and Dr. Casey Cook compete against an artificially intelligent robot to find out what's up there on the red planet. “MARS” follows these three astronauts on the first manned mission to Earth’s galactic neighbor. On the way they experience life-threatening accidents, self doubts, obnoxious reporters and the boredom of extended space travel. This film is told in the playful style of a graphic novel, using a unique animation process that Marslett developed specifically for the film. Underneath the silliness, “MARS” is also an exploration of exploration. Why do we want to know what is out there? How do we react to what we find? Is it really that important? And where does love fit into the whole thing? “Geoff Marslett’s romantic comedy, MARS, is a whimsical journey of space exploration and of a search for love,” says Anita DeAngelis, director of Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, which again in 2011-2012 is sponsoring an annual series of six independent films. “The story is told in the style of a graphic novel, and Marslett developed a hybrid animation technique that preserves the expressions and emotions of the actors. Having Marslett visit campus and talk with students will be a bonus, especially for students who study animation in our Digital Media program.” The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a program of South Arts. Southern Circuit screenings are funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Special support for Southern Circuit was provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. South Arts, a nonprofit regional arts organization, was founded in 1975 to build on the South's unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts' work responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to address the role of the arts in impacting the issues important to our region, and to link the South with the nation and the world through the arts. For more information, visit www.southarts.org For information about the ETSU Mary B. Martin School of the Arts or the film series, call 423-439-TKTS (8587) or visit www.etsu.edu/cas/arts/ or www.Facebook.com/ETSU.MBMSOTA.