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The University of Central Arkansas will be hosting its 19th annual film festival at the Bridges Larson Theater located in the Snow FineArts Center, which will be open to the public. A networking event for Arkansas filmmakers and cinephiles will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 4th and include a professional headshot photo booth, DJ, and a raffle with prizes from local restaurants. The competitive film screening will begin at 7:00 in the evening.
The student competition screening of this year’s festival will be curated by the film faculty based on an initial round of pre-screener recommendations.The panel of judges is composed of members of the Arkansas film community including Kristin Knox (Women in Film Arkansas), Al Topich (film critic for theArkansas Democrat Gazette), Kody Ford (Director of Statewide Outreach &Programming for the Arkansas Cinema Society), Cameron Vaughn (Director of KaleidoscopeLGBTQ Film Festival), and Jessica Crum (producer of the Arkansas-based independent feature film Papaw Land). These judges will rate the films and determine awards such as Best Director, Cinematographer, Production Design,Editor, Screenplay, and overall Picture.
This competitive showcase will be the climactic conclusion to a week of showcases from the state’s only narrative filmmaking program. Each night at 7pm in the Bridges Larson Theatre will feature a showcase of the films that come out of Film Production I andMicro Short Film (Monday), Film Production II (Tuesday), and the Capstone Thesis projects from Film Production IV (Wednesday).
Assistant Professor of Film, Emily Railsback, is the festival director, who has organized this year’s festival with the help of her students in the upper-level film electiveMarketing, Distribution & Exhibition. They have invited a wide range ofArkansas individuals involved in the film community, providing a beneficial networking experience for students and guests attending the event.
The University of Central Arkansas is the only public university in the state of Arkansas that offers both a four-year Bachelor’s degree and a graduate program in filmmaking.
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.
