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That’s a wrap on the 2025 El Dorado Film Festival! EDFF Executive Director Alexander Jeffery and EDFF Chair Tamra Corley Davis announced the winners of the 2025 lineup in a ceremony at the South Arkansas Arts Center (SAAC) on Sunday, March 2nd.
The 2025 El Dorado Film Festival winners are:
“It was great seeing so many filmmakers here representing their films and enjoying our town,” said Corley Davis. “With our intimate setting and focus on the filmmakers, lots of new friendships were made. It was a great week for indie film and I can’t wait for next year!”
Filmmakers from around the world attended the festival, alongside local and regional film lovers for five days of film screenings, workshops and parties. Events included a 40th anniversary screening of Fright Night with star and El Dorado native William Ragsdale, feature films such as the Louisiana-made horror The Fetch and rom-com Breakup Season starring Chandler Riggs (The Walking Dead); workshops on topics such as film publicity and marketing with Tim Molloy of Movie Maker Magazine and sound design with sound designer Beso Kacharava (Euphoria, Ferrari); short film blocks from Arkansas filmmakers and the Louisiana Film Prize; and even a musical performance by Emmy-nominated composer Amos Cochran.
Jeffery feels this year’s event built upon the momentum of last year. He said, “Where last year’s festival left me inspired, this year’s event added jet fuel to that engine. The community support for this event was absolutely phenomenal. I had so many of our out of town filmmakers tell me that El Dorado is an incredibly special place and I agree with them wholeheartedly. We had incredibly talented and generous special guests who shared their knowledge with our filmmakers and audience and everyone is leaving the festival with tangible things they can take into their future work.”
ABOUT THE EL DORADO FILM FESTIVAL
Established in 2014, the El Dorado Film Festival offers a curated selection of independent cinema to audiences in El Dorado—a small town with a unique history in the arts. EDFF has brought filmmakers together and, in turn, created opportunities for those filmmakers to grow together. Look for narrative and documentary features along with short films from around the world. Past guests have included actor/director Joey Lauren Adams (Come Early Morning, Big Daddy) and producer Kristin Mann (What Happens Later, To the Stars).
The 2025 El Dorado Film Festival was sponsored by Judy & David Corley, Diana Alderson, Marty and Misty Rosson, Jacki & Doug Alexander, Beth & Paul Burns, Richard Dietzen, Suzy & Drew Sheppard, Ann Trimble, Amy & Roger Wilson, Alice Mushrooms, HEPCO, Gabe’s Cave, Marty & Misty Rasson, The Haywood, South Arkansas Historical Preservation Society and Amercable.
ABOUT THE SOUTH ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER
SAAC is a complete visual and performing arts center that includes three gallery spaces, a ballet studio, a 207 seat theatre, a scene and costume shop, classrooms, a photography studio, and offices all of which provide AIE residencies, monthly gallery exhibits, community theatre productions, classes in visual arts, ballet, photography, drama, and music for people of all ages and people with special needs.
At ACS, we believe that if we provide filmmakers an arena to exhibit their talents, and film enthusiasts a healthy diet of quality programming, we can inspire more Arkansans to make and watch more films. By supporting filmmakers, festivals, theaters and young people interested in filmmaking throughout the state, we hope to create statewide network, pool Arkansas’s resources and be an umbrella organization that feeds all things film. We believe a rising tide lifts all boats.
To be a filmmaker, we have to connect to create. A painter needs a brush, paint and a canvas. A director needs a writer, a cinematographer, a sound mixer, production designer, editor, actors, distributors, and an audience. We cannot do it alone. This art form forces one to collaborate and thus, creates jobs. Filmmaking is unique in the arts in this way. It takes an army.
