Little Rock Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The Little Rock Film Festival (LRFF) is an annual film festival
held in Downtown Little Rock, Arkansas
each spring. Based in the historic Little Rock River Market District
, home to the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library, the Little Rock Film Festival has showcased the best in Narrative
, Documentary
, and Short films from around the World. It hosts parties, panels, workshops, and youth programs for aspiring filmmakers. The LRFF devotes screenings and programs specifically for Southern and Arkansas films. In 2010, citing prize money, distribution opportunity, and a chance to be a part of a large event, MovieMaker Magazine included the Little Rock Film Festival on its annual list of The Top 25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.
In 2010 the Little Rock Film Festival had grown, with more than 25,000 people in attendance and over 100 films screened, with workshops, panels, and parties included over the increased five-day festival. The 2010 LRFF showcased a strong and diverse film lineup from a pool of over 600 film submissions from 30 different countries.
Best Documentary Film: Little Birds
Best Short Film: Ein, Zwei Dinge
Best of Arkansas: Where’s My Closeup, Mr. Thornton? (Dir. Tim Jackson)
)
Best Documentary Feature Film Award: Behind Forgotten Eyes (Dir. Anthony Gilmore)
Best Short Film Award: The Adventure (Dir. Mike Brune)
Charles B. Pierce Filming Arkansas Award: War Eagle, Arkansas (film)
(Dir. Robert Milazzo, Pro. Vincent Insalaco, Wri. Graham Gordy)
Best Music Video Award: Like Zombies by The Moving Front. (Dirs. Kevin Stanbury and Bryan Stafford, collectively known as Deluxe36)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Charles B. Pierce
(Dir. Scott Teems, Wris. Scott Teems, William Gay (author)
)
Best Documentary Feature: The Way We Get By (Dir. Aron Gaudet
)
Best Short Film: Manual Práctco del Amigo Imaginario (abreviado) (Dir. Ciro Altabás, Wris. Ciro Altabás, Iñigo Díaz-Guardamino)
Charlie B. Pierce Award–Best Film “Made in Arkansas”: Slumberland (Dir. Jarek Kupsc)
Best Arkansas Music Video: Dear Daniel by The Good Fear
Audience Award: Breaking Upwards (Dir. Daryl Wein, Wris. Peter Duchan, Zoe Lister Jones, Daryl Wein)
Winter%27s Bone (Dir. Debra Granik
)*
Alamar
Etienne! (Dir. Jeff Mizushima)
Passenger Pigeons (Dir. Martha Stephens)
Legacy
(Dir. Thomas Ikimi)
Obselidia
(Dir. Dianne Bell)
Tiny Furniture
(Dir. Lena Dunham)
Homewrecker (Dirs. Todd Barnes, Brad Barnes)
Arcadia Lost
(Dir. Phedon Papamichael
)
The Colonel's Bride (Dir. Brent Stewart)
Five Star Day (Dir. Danny Buday
)
Black, White, and Blues (Dir. Mario Van Peebles
)
Golden Rock for Best Documentary Feature Film:
Restrepo (film)
(Dirs. Sebastian Junger
and Tim Hetherington
)*
Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy
(Dir. Stephanie Wang-Breal)
Beijing Taxi (Dir. Miao Wang)
Contact (Dirs. Bentley Dean, Martin Butler)
How to Fold a Flag (Dirs. Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker (director)
)
Camp Victory, Afghanistan (Dir. Carol Dysinger)
Big River Man
(Dir. John Maringouin
)
American: The Bill Hicks Story (Dirs. Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas)
P-Star Rising (Dir. Gabriel Noble)
The Secret to a Happy Ending: A Documentary about the Drive-By Truckers (Dir. Barr Weissman)
Speaking in Tongues (Dir. Marcia Jarmel, Ken Schneider)
Louder Than a Bomb
(Dirs. Greg Jacobs, Jon Siskel)
The Oxford American Best Southern Film Award w/ $10,000 cash prize:
American: The Bill Hicks Story (Dirs. Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas)*
Charles B. Pierce Award for Best Film “Made in Arkansas”:
Antiquities (Dir. Daniel Campbell)*
Lost Dogs (Dir. Hudson Dunlap)
Silent Night (Dir. Warren McCullough)
Looking for Lurch (Dir. Tim Jackson)
The Mount Nebo Chicken Fry (Dir. Frances Titsworth)
Sleepwalker (Dir. Jordan Faulknor)
The Bloodstone Diaries: Sleeper (Dir. Gerry Bruno)
Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman
(Dir. J Roland Kelly)
Ouachita Rising (Dir. Brent Williamson)
In Queso Fever: A Movie About Cheese Dip (Dir. Nick Rogers)
Knocked Out? (Dir. Jesse Abdenour)
Crater People (Dir. John Sims)
Rumby in the Jungy (Dirs. Terrell Case, Timothy Lucas Wistrand, Matthew Corey Gattin)
Spanola Pepper Sauce Company (Dir. Ray McKinnon, Graham Gordy)
The Inner Path (Dir. Michael Sutterfield)
Six Feet of Separation (Dir. Kurt Armstrong)
Table at Luigi's (Dir. Joe Dull)
Silent Storytellers (Dir. Hop Litzwire)
Jerry Van Dyke
's Arkansas (Dir. Shirley Van Dyke)
Irene (Dir. David Bogard)
Golden Rock for Best Short Film Award:
The Greims (Dir. Peter Bolte)*
Edge of the Desert (Dir. Lea Nakonechny)
Amateur (Dir. Daniel Trevino)
Smog (Dir. Clara Kraft Isono)
The Visitors (Dir. Samina Akbari)
Down In Number 5 (Dir. Kim Spurlock)
Mixtape (Dir. Luke Snellin)
Little Ripper (Dir. Jarrod Boord)
She's a Fox (Dir. Cameron Sawyer)
Maneki Neko (Dir. German Talavera)
Context (Dirs. Rice, Kimberly)
Shadows In the Wind (Dir. Julia Guillen-Creagh)
Fancy (Dir. Chris "C.K." Olsen)
Goin' Nowhere Fast (Dir. Shawn Adams)
The Architect (Dir. Joshua Demers)
Dacil (Dir. Adrian Silvestre)
A Pattern of Prophecies: an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth (Dir. Laurel Petty)
History of Made Up Things (Dir. Ashley Eberbach)
The Mount Nebo Chicken Fry (Dir. Frances Titsworth)
Sleepwalker (Dir. Jordan Faulknor)
The Bloodstone Diaries: Sleeper (Dir. Gerry Bruno)
Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman
(Dir. J Roland Kelly)
Ouachita Rising (Dir. Brent Williamson)
In Queso Fever: A Movie About Cheese Dip (Dir. Nick Rogers)
Knocked Out? (Dir. Jesse Abdenour)
Crater People (Dir. John Sims)
Pini Banini's Razor (Dir. Dan Chapman)
Mr Lewis (Dir. Louisa Fielden
)
Junko's Shamisen (Dir. Solomon Friedman)
Red Light (Dir. Shaune Harrison)
Skylight (Dir. David Baas)
Sapsucker (Dir. Christopher Holmes)
Reign of Death (Dir. Matthew Savage)
Road To Moloch (Dir. Robert Glickert)
Oro Verde (Green Gold) (Dir. Estela Roberta)
Sanchez Solitary/Release (Dir. Holden Abigail Osborne)
Bout That Bout (Dir. Nico Sabenorio)
Pillars of Hope (Dir. Edmund "Mumbo" Prince)
Arkansas Best Music Video Award:
Angelene and the Alpha Ray (Dir. David Fowlkes)*
Arkansas Times
Audience Award Winner:
Looking for Lurch (Dir. Tim Jackson)*
LRFF Youth! Award:
Outside the Lines (Dir. Fayetteville High School (Arkansas))*
LRFF Youth! Spirit Award:
Will Sondheim*
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
held in Downtown Little Rock, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
each spring. Based in the historic Little Rock River Market District
Little Rock River Market District
The Little Rock River Market District is the downtown area of Little Rock, Arkansas along the Arkansas River. It consists of the area east of Cumberland Street to the William J...
, home to the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library, the Little Rock Film Festival has showcased the best in Narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
, Documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
, and Short films from around the World. It hosts parties, panels, workshops, and youth programs for aspiring filmmakers. The LRFF devotes screenings and programs specifically for Southern and Arkansas films. In 2010, citing prize money, distribution opportunity, and a chance to be a part of a large event, MovieMaker Magazine included the Little Rock Film Festival on its annual list of The Top 25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.
History
Founded in 2005 by Little Rock natives and Documentary Filmmakers Brent and Craig Renaud, along with Owen Brainard and Jamie Moses to promote the film industry in Arkansas, the first three years of the Little Rock Film Festival screened more than 250 films from three dozen countries, conducted filmmaking workshops, held panels with industry leaders, and hosted notable actors, directors, and producers from around the globe.In 2010 the Little Rock Film Festival had grown, with more than 25,000 people in attendance and over 100 films screened, with workshops, panels, and parties included over the increased five-day festival. The 2010 LRFF showcased a strong and diverse film lineup from a pool of over 600 film submissions from 30 different countries.
Little Rock Film Festival Awards & Prizes
Official selections compete for awards and cash prizes including the Oxford American Best Southern Film Award w/ $10,000 cash prize, the Charles B. Pierce Award for Best Film “Made in Arkansas,” the Arkansas Times Audience Award, the LRFF Youth! Award, as well as awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Short Film, and the Best Arkansas Music Video. Awards presented by the Little Rock Film Festival are known as "Golden Rocks." The festival announces the award winners during the Closing Night Gala and Awards Ceremony held in the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library.2007 Little Rock Film Festival
Best Feature Film: OffsideBest Documentary Film: Little Birds
Best Short Film: Ein, Zwei Dinge
Best of Arkansas: Where’s My Closeup, Mr. Thornton? (Dir. Tim Jackson)
2008 Little Rock Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature Film Award: The Promotion (Dir. Steven ConradSteven Conrad
Steven Conrad is an American screenwriter, film producer and director.Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Conrad briefly attended Florida State University before transferring to Northwestern University, where he majored in English...
)
Best Documentary Feature Film Award: Behind Forgotten Eyes (Dir. Anthony Gilmore)
Best Short Film Award: The Adventure (Dir. Mike Brune)
Charles B. Pierce Filming Arkansas Award: War Eagle, Arkansas (film)
War Eagle, Arkansas (film)
War Eagle, Arkansas is a feature film based on two real-life friends, Tim Ballany and Vincent Insalaco III, growing up together in Arkansas and facing a crossroads in life as they graduate from high school. The character of "Wheels" is portrayed by New York actor Dan McCabe, who convincingly...
(Dir. Robert Milazzo, Pro. Vincent Insalaco, Wri. Graham Gordy)
Best Music Video Award: Like Zombies by The Moving Front. (Dirs. Kevin Stanbury and Bryan Stafford, collectively known as Deluxe36)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Charles B. Pierce
Charles B. Pierce
Charles B. Pierce was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, set decorator, cinematographer and actor, and is considered one of the first independent filmmakers...
2009 Little Rock Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature: That Evening Sun (film)That Evening Sun (film)
That Evening Sun is a 2009 film based on a 2002 short story I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down by William Gay. The movie, produced by Dogwood Entertainment, stars Hal Holbrook as Abner Meecham and is directed by Scott Teems who also wrote the screenplay...
(Dir. Scott Teems, Wris. Scott Teems, William Gay (author)
William Gay (author)
William Gay is an American writer of novels and short stories.-Life and career:Gay was born in Hohenwald, Tennessee, which he still calls home. After high school, Gay joined the United States Navy and served during the Vietnam War...
)
Best Documentary Feature: The Way We Get By (Dir. Aron Gaudet
Aron Gaudet
Filmmaker Aron Gaudet made his feature directorial debut with the award-winning documentary, The Way We Get By -- a story about three senior citizens finding purpose in their life. The film had its world premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival and won the Special Jury Award...
)
Best Short Film: Manual Práctco del Amigo Imaginario (abreviado) (Dir. Ciro Altabás, Wris. Ciro Altabás, Iñigo Díaz-Guardamino)
Charlie B. Pierce Award–Best Film “Made in Arkansas”: Slumberland (Dir. Jarek Kupsc)
Best Arkansas Music Video: Dear Daniel by The Good Fear
Audience Award: Breaking Upwards (Dir. Daryl Wein, Wris. Peter Duchan, Zoe Lister Jones, Daryl Wein)
2010 Little Rock Film Festival
Golden Rock for Best Narrative Feature Film:Winter%27s Bone (Dir. Debra Granik
Debra Granik
Debra Granik is an American independent film director. She has won a series of awards at the Sundance Film Festival, including Best Short in 1998 for Snake Feed , the Dramatic Directing Award in 2004 for her first feature-length film, Down to the Bone Debra Granik (born February 6, 1963) is an...
)*
Alamar
Etienne! (Dir. Jeff Mizushima)
Passenger Pigeons (Dir. Martha Stephens)
Legacy
Legacy
-Comics:* Legacy , an alias used by Genis-Vell, better known as Captain Marvel* "Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline* Star Wars: Legacy, a 2006 series from Dark Horse* X-Men: Legacy, a 1991 series from Marvel Comics...
(Dir. Thomas Ikimi)
Obselidia
Obselidia
Obselidia is a 2010 American drama film written and directed by Diane Bell, starring Michael Piccirilli, Gaynor Howe and Frank Hoyt Taylor. The Film won two awards at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival: the Excellence in Cinematography award and the Alfred P...
(Dir. Dianne Bell)
Tiny Furniture
Tiny Furniture
Tiny Furniture is a 2010 American independent comedy film written, directed and starring Lena Dunham, daughter of co-star, Laurie Simmons.It premiered at South by Southwest, where it won best narrative feature, and was released theatrically in the United States on November 12, 2010.-Plot:Aura...
(Dir. Lena Dunham)
Homewrecker (Dirs. Todd Barnes, Brad Barnes)
Arcadia Lost
Arcadia Lost
Arcadia Lost is a 2009 film that was directed by Phedon Papamichael Jr. The movie both takes place and was filmed in Greece and, specifically, in Poulithra Village, one of the last to remain, tranquil coastal villages with stone traditional houses in the area of Leonidio.-Plot:After a car accident,...
(Dir. Phedon Papamichael
Phedon Papamichael
Phedon Papamichael is a cinematographer and film director.Born in Athens, Greece, Papamichael came to the United States at age six when his father went to work as a production designer for John Cassavetes. He studied photography and art at the University of Munich, graduating with a degree in Fine...
)
The Colonel's Bride (Dir. Brent Stewart)
Five Star Day (Dir. Danny Buday
Danny Buday
Danny Buday is an award-winning filmmaker who wrote, directed, andproduced the feature film , starring Cam Gigandet and Jena Malone. won the Jury Award for at the prestigious 2010...
)
Black, White, and Blues (Dir. Mario Van Peebles
Mario Van Peebles
Mario "Chip" Cain Van Peebles is an American director and actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films. He is son of filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles.-Life and career:...
)
Golden Rock for Best Documentary Feature Film:
Restrepo (film)
Restrepo (film)
Restrepo is a 2010 documentary film about the Afghanistan war, directed by American journalist Sebastian Junger and British/American photojournalist Tim Hetherington....
(Dirs. Sebastian Junger
Sebastian Junger
Sebastian Junger is an American author, journalist and documentarian, most famous for the best-selling book The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, his award-winning chronicle of the war in Afghanistan in the 2010 movie Restrepo, and his 2010 book War.-Background:Junger was born...
and Tim Hetherington
Tim Hetherington
Timothy Alistair Telemachus Hetherington was a British-American photojournalistwith work that "ranged from multi-screen installations, to fly-poster exhibitions, to handheld device downloads." He was best known for the documentary film Restrepo , which he co-directed with Sebastian Junger; the...
)*
Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy
Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy
Wo Ai Ni Mommy is an award-winning American television documentary directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal, and distributed by P.O.V.. The documentary follows the story of a then 8-year-old Chinese girl, Fang Sui Yong, who was adopted by a Jewish Long Island family....
(Dir. Stephanie Wang-Breal)
Beijing Taxi (Dir. Miao Wang)
Contact (Dirs. Bentley Dean, Martin Butler)
How to Fold a Flag (Dirs. Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker (director)
Michael Tucker (director)
Michael Tucker, an American documentary film director, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is currently best known for his recent documentary The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair...
)
Camp Victory, Afghanistan (Dir. Carol Dysinger)
Big River Man
Big River Man
Big River Man is a 2009 documentary film directed by John Maringouin. It follows the Slovenian long-distance swimmer Martin Strel as he swims the entire 3,300 mile length of the Amazon River, between February and April 2007....
(Dir. John Maringouin
John Maringouin
John Maringouin is an American film director.His debut feature, Running Stumbled, received wide critical acclaim and was referred to by Variety as a "phantasmagoric filmmaking debut" Despite acclaim, a Spirit Award nomination, and a brief release in the UK, the film is unavailable in the United...
)
American: The Bill Hicks Story (Dirs. Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas)
P-Star Rising (Dir. Gabriel Noble)
The Secret to a Happy Ending: A Documentary about the Drive-By Truckers (Dir. Barr Weissman)
Speaking in Tongues (Dir. Marcia Jarmel, Ken Schneider)
Louder Than a Bomb
Louder Than a Bomb
Louder Than a Bomb is a documentary film about Louder Than a Bomb, an annual youth poetry slam in Chicago. The film was directed and produced by Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel. It follows the stories of several high school teams and individuals leading up to Louder Than a Bomb 2008 and their...
(Dirs. Greg Jacobs, Jon Siskel)
The Oxford American Best Southern Film Award w/ $10,000 cash prize:
American: The Bill Hicks Story (Dirs. Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas)*
Charles B. Pierce Award for Best Film “Made in Arkansas”:
Antiquities (Dir. Daniel Campbell)*
Lost Dogs (Dir. Hudson Dunlap)
Silent Night (Dir. Warren McCullough)
Looking for Lurch (Dir. Tim Jackson)
The Mount Nebo Chicken Fry (Dir. Frances Titsworth)
Sleepwalker (Dir. Jordan Faulknor)
The Bloodstone Diaries: Sleeper (Dir. Gerry Bruno)
Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman
Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman
Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman is a 2010 American short animated comedy created by J Roland Kelly using Xtranormal.It held its premiere on June 3, 2010 at the Little Rock Film Festival, where it was one of the contenders for the Charles B...
(Dir. J Roland Kelly)
Ouachita Rising (Dir. Brent Williamson)
In Queso Fever: A Movie About Cheese Dip (Dir. Nick Rogers)
Knocked Out? (Dir. Jesse Abdenour)
Crater People (Dir. John Sims)
Rumby in the Jungy (Dirs. Terrell Case, Timothy Lucas Wistrand, Matthew Corey Gattin)
Spanola Pepper Sauce Company (Dir. Ray McKinnon, Graham Gordy)
The Inner Path (Dir. Michael Sutterfield)
Six Feet of Separation (Dir. Kurt Armstrong)
Table at Luigi's (Dir. Joe Dull)
Silent Storytellers (Dir. Hop Litzwire)
Jerry Van Dyke
Jerry Van Dyke
Jerry Van Dyke is an American comedian and actor. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke, and made his acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey...
's Arkansas (Dir. Shirley Van Dyke)
Irene (Dir. David Bogard)
Golden Rock for Best Short Film Award:
The Greims (Dir. Peter Bolte)*
Edge of the Desert (Dir. Lea Nakonechny)
Amateur (Dir. Daniel Trevino)
Smog (Dir. Clara Kraft Isono)
The Visitors (Dir. Samina Akbari)
Down In Number 5 (Dir. Kim Spurlock)
Mixtape (Dir. Luke Snellin)
Little Ripper (Dir. Jarrod Boord)
She's a Fox (Dir. Cameron Sawyer)
Maneki Neko (Dir. German Talavera)
Context (Dirs. Rice, Kimberly)
Shadows In the Wind (Dir. Julia Guillen-Creagh)
Fancy (Dir. Chris "C.K." Olsen)
Goin' Nowhere Fast (Dir. Shawn Adams)
The Architect (Dir. Joshua Demers)
Dacil (Dir. Adrian Silvestre)
A Pattern of Prophecies: an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth (Dir. Laurel Petty)
History of Made Up Things (Dir. Ashley Eberbach)
The Mount Nebo Chicken Fry (Dir. Frances Titsworth)
Sleepwalker (Dir. Jordan Faulknor)
The Bloodstone Diaries: Sleeper (Dir. Gerry Bruno)
Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman
Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman
Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman is a 2010 American short animated comedy created by J Roland Kelly using Xtranormal.It held its premiere on June 3, 2010 at the Little Rock Film Festival, where it was one of the contenders for the Charles B...
(Dir. J Roland Kelly)
Ouachita Rising (Dir. Brent Williamson)
In Queso Fever: A Movie About Cheese Dip (Dir. Nick Rogers)
Knocked Out? (Dir. Jesse Abdenour)
Crater People (Dir. John Sims)
Pini Banini's Razor (Dir. Dan Chapman)
Mr Lewis (Dir. Louisa Fielden
Louisa Fielden
Louisa Jennifer Fielden is a British film director, screenwriter and music video director.Louisa attended Worcester College, Oxford, where she graduated in 2005 with first class honours in theology. Her films include Jump! and Mr Lewis. Her latest short film, Narke, premiered at the Cannes Film...
)
Junko's Shamisen (Dir. Solomon Friedman)
Red Light (Dir. Shaune Harrison)
Skylight (Dir. David Baas)
Sapsucker (Dir. Christopher Holmes)
Reign of Death (Dir. Matthew Savage)
Road To Moloch (Dir. Robert Glickert)
Oro Verde (Green Gold) (Dir. Estela Roberta)
Sanchez Solitary/Release (Dir. Holden Abigail Osborne)
Bout That Bout (Dir. Nico Sabenorio)
Pillars of Hope (Dir. Edmund "Mumbo" Prince)
Arkansas Best Music Video Award:
Angelene and the Alpha Ray (Dir. David Fowlkes)*
Arkansas Times
Arkansas Times
Arkansas Times, a weekly alternative newspaper based in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a publication that has circulated for more than 35 years, originally as a magazine. Its current format stems from reaction to the Arkansas Democrat buyout of assets from Gannett's closure of the Arkansas Gazette in...
Audience Award Winner:
Looking for Lurch (Dir. Tim Jackson)*
LRFF Youth! Award:
Outside the Lines (Dir. Fayetteville High School (Arkansas))*
LRFF Youth! Spirit Award:
Will Sondheim*