The Arts Council Inc. and University of North Georgia present a feature film “Strong!” with director Julie Wyman, the final film of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers series.

The screening is set for 7 p.m. Thursday at The Arts Council Smithgall Arts Center. 311 Spring St., Gainesville.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors 65 and older. Tickets include the screening and meet-the-filmmaker Q&A session following the film.

In “Strong!” Savannah native Cheryl Haworth is a young woman with a big dream: to be the strongest woman in the world.

As the 300-pound U.S. Olympic weightlifter prepares for Beijing 2008, she struggles with injury, confidence and her place in a world where larger women are not readily accepted.

The film explores the contradiction of a body once celebrated within the confines of her sport and shunned by mainstream culture. Through Haworth’s journey, audience members learn not only about the sport of weightlifting, but also the material, psychological and social consequences of a having a body that does not fit.

A producer and director, Wyman is an award-winning filmmaker, performer, writer and professor. Her film “Buoyant” screened at MoMA New York, the Walker Arts Center, the La Jolla MoCA and at festivals internationally.

Her full-length documentary “A Boy Named Sue” aired on Showtime, MTV’s Logo TV and was screened at festivals internationally.

Wyman holds a MFA from the University of California, San Diego. She is a professor of digital filmmaking in the cinema and techno-cultural studies department at UC Davis.

Trailers for each film in the series may be viewed at the Arts Council’s website, www.TheArtsCouncil.net. Tickets may be ordered online at www.TheArtsCouncil.net or by calling the Arts Council at 770-534-2787.