Ozark Foothills FilmFest takes a rural focus
The 16th annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest will screen nearly three dozen films, from brief shorts to full-length features, most of which are Arkansas premieres, Friday-Saturday and April 21-22 in Independence Hall, University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, 2005 White Drive, Batesville.
Spreading the festival over two weekends, says co-founder Judy Pest, allows potential audience members some flexibility. “It makes it easier for folks that are not extremely local to attend,” she says.
For the opening weekend, at 8 p.m. Saturday, the festival continues its tradition of screening a feature film with musical accompaniment.
Usually, Pest says, it’s a classic American silent film. This year, however, they have selected Yakona, director Anlo Sepulveda’s 83-minute 2014 documentary feature that explores the history and ecology of the San Marcos River “from the river’s point of view,” Pest says.
“There’s almost no dialogue, but there’s a very expressive score.”
Justin Sherburn, who composed that score, and members of his Montopolis Chamber Ensemble will perform it to accompany the screening. Sherburn will also give a free pre-screening lecture,
titled “Composing Music for the Moving Image,” at 7 p.m.
The festival continues to attract emerging filmmakers from Arkansas and from around the country. Seven of them will take part in the “Reel Rural” panel discussion, 10:15 a.m. April 22 in the Maxfield Room, Lyon College, 2300 Highland Road, Batesville.
It kicks off the festival’s final day, the focus of which is “Reel Rural: Rural America in Independent Film,” three feature-length and five short films exploring how the independent film genre can work to depict regional mores and viewpoints.
Among the up-and-coming and prize-winning filmmakers on the panel whose films are being screened: Brenna Morley, whose short thesis film Rocket won a 2016 Student Academy Award; Cameron Nelson, the director of the full-length feature Some Beasts; and Kyle Kleinecke, who directed the shorts The Pickle and The Root Cellar.
Films of particular interest to Arkansans include:
The Arkansas Wild Man, a profile of rockabilly trailblazer Sonny Burgess, and Downstream People, exploring
the social and environmental consequences of a corporately contracted industrial hog farm built inside the Buffalo National River watershed, both part of a program of documentary shorts, 11 a.m. Saturday
Relocation Arkansas: Aftermath of Incarceration, 1:15 p.m. Saturday, about the experiences of Japanese detainees during and following their incarceration at the Rohwer internment camp during World War II.
The festival Wrap Party, 10 p.m. April 22, will take place at Josie’s Steakhouse, 50 Riverbank Road, Batesville.
For the complete schedule, descriptions of the films and details on the filmmakers, visit ozarkfoothillsfilmfest.org.