The 33rd Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (HSDFF) is coming and Arkansas PBS will be there supporting local and emerging filmmakers. Arkansas PBS is a resource and outlet for independent filmmakers in the state and wants to help encourage the art of storytelling and the production of nonfiction film by participating in the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival from Oct. 20 through 23.
HSDFF Filmmaker Forum
Sunday, Oct. 20 through Tuesday, Oct. 22
The HSDFF Filmmaker Forum is a three-day filmmaker/industry conference focused on the business, art and craft of documentary storytelling presented in partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. With a focus on public media, the forum is a unique professional development opportunity for filmmakers and a major regional convening of filmmakers and industry leaders.
Arkansas PBS CEO and Executive Director Courtney Pledger will be featured in conversation with PBS Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming Sylvia Bugg Thursday, Oct. 22, at 12:30 p.m.
Arkansas PBS will also participate in the panel “Powerful Partnerships: PBS Stations and Independent Producers” on Monday, Oct. 21, at 12:15 p.m. The session will explore opportunities and resources available to producers and filmmakers in working with their local PBS stations, from content development and fundraising to distribution and audience engagement.
Emerging Filmmakers Program
Wednesday, Oct. 23
Arkansas PBS will bring its Emerging Filmmakers Workshop back to HSDFF on Wednesday, Oct. 23. This workshop connects high school students with working filmmakers to inspire young, aspiring filmmakers and offer both theoretical knowledge and the hands-on skills necessary to begin their filmmaking journeys, along with valuable career-building insights. The workshop will feature an educational screening of "Ali Eats America," including a Q&A session with filmmakers Roush Niaghi and Greg Morris alongside the documentary’s subjects Ali Allouche and his mother Lt. Colonel Jen Danko.
Brent Renaud Foundation Mentorship Program
Wednesday, Oct. 23
The network will collaborate with the Brent Renaud Foundation in a workshop from the foundation’s Mentorship Program on Wednesday, Oct. 23. This intensive session offers emerging filmmakers the chance to gain insight into the filmmaking profession. Experienced filmmakers joining Craig Renaud will share their creative processes and provide practical advice on how to build a sustainable career in the industry.
Screenings
Monday, Oct. 20 and Wednesday, Oct. 23
Arkansas PBS will host a first glimpse of the documentary covering the creation of the new statues commemorating state heroes Johnny Cash and Daisy Bates in the U.S. Capitol at the festival Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. This special work-in-progress presentation will feature excerpts from the film and a panel conversation with Shane Broadway, chairman of the Arkansas National Statuary Hall Steering Committee; Charles King, president of the Daisy Bates House Museum Foundation Board; and filmmaker Nathan Willis.
Other screenings will include the documentary short “Wild Hogs and Saffron,” produced by independent filmmaker Andy Sarjahani in association with ITVS and Arkansas PBS, to be shown Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. during the Shorts Program: The Natural State. The film features Iranian American filmmaker Sarjahani and his childhood friend Bubba Samuels reconnecting in their native Ozarks for a wild hog hunt where unexpected conversations unfold that have a lasting impact on their friendship.
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Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival