Our Neighbors, The World

BIPOC film fest explores identity, protest, home

Fayetteville Film Fest and Walton Arts Center have partnered once again to bring to Northwest Arkansas films that “enrich our understanding of our neighbors and the world at large.”

Starting with an evening of film featuring works created by Black, Indigenous and people of color at 8 p.m. Feb. 3, the minifilm festival aims to showcase minority voices and honor their stories and artistic expression. The BIPOC Filmmakers festival is the first of four showcases arranged by the two arts organizations this season.

Additional showcases are Arkansas Filmmakers April 6; Indie Films Artosphere May 11; and LGBTQIA Filmmakers on June 13.

On-screen Feb. 3 are:

‘Baking’

“I’ve been making films since I was 10 years old. I started making Lego Star Wars stop motion videos when I found people making them on YouTube,” says Daniel Beltram, director of “Baking.” The film centers on Gabriel, who struggles to find his true home after leaving Puerto Rico with his grandfather.

Beltram was born in Searcy and grew up in Cabot.

“I’ve always been really infatuated with films. When I was really young, they left a really big impression on me, and I specifically remember seeing “Revenge of the Sith” in theaters when I was 7 years old and just from that point knowing that I had to be involved with movies in some form or fashion.”

Keep up with Beltram at @ disco_dan18 or @DiscoDan on letterboxd.

‘The Measure of a Man’

Director Denzel Jenkins says that he’s been making films for nine years now.

“It was truly God. When I was 21, I was at a point in my life where I didn’t know what was next and what I wanted to do. I prayed steadily about it,” he says. “Then with small revelations day after day, I started to realize my talents and my gifts within the craft of filmmaking. And upon this, I decide to fully commit my life to being a filmmaker.”

His film, “The Measure of A Man,” is about a young male victim of rape who finds a healing space through his estranged father.

‘A Song of the Bluff’

Neba Evans brought forth her film, “A Song of the Bluff” while pursuing her master’s thesis, but her journey in filmmaking began earlier in her pursuit of higher learning. Originally from Marietta, Ga., Evans has called the Delta, Central Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas home.

“I am blessed to have lived and connected with the wonderful people that live in each region,” she says.

It was in Pine Bluff that she got into filmmaking.

“My undergraduate professor, Eva Belle, at UAPB unintentionally directed me toward filmmaking! She was over the script writing class, and she allowed my classmates and I to create a script about whatever we wanted,” Evans explains. “The next semester, she required that we produce and film it. That experience was transformational. After that, I knew I wanted to continue to create.”

Evans has been producing and creating films since 2020. She curated “A Song of the Bluff” for her master’s thesis. These days she continues to produce minidocs and projects for Arkansas PBS. Keep up with her film projects at @thenebaevans.

“A Song of the Bluff” focuses on the city’s residents who still believe in the once thriving town and are working to enliven the “forgotten metropolis” that now has a reputation for crime and violence.

‘All Units’

Na’Tosha De’Von stepped up as co-director for “All Units” produced by DAYVISION Films and directed by Mike Day. De’Von wrote and starred in the film about a married couple who find themselves at odds over their roles at the latest protest.

“I got into filmmaking because I’m an actor. So I guess it’s an easy segue from going into theater. I first started working with film with auditioning and then by just being able to be on a lot of different sets,” De’Von says. A longtime member of DAYVISION film company, De’Von says that the space allowed her to step out as a director.

The film was inspired by De’Von’s own activism, she says, and her question “what do we deem as proper protest?”

‘La Telaraña’

The three Alvarez brothers — Luís, Emilio and Davíd — struggle to keep their narcotics operation afloat while being relentlessly hunted by the DEA. Little do his two older brothers know, but Davíd’s double life as an informant for the DEA will reveal the hidden layers of guilt, greed and ambition within their brotherhood in the story at the center of director Dan Husted’s film.

Once a thriving agricultural center of the state, the town of Pine Bluff has a reputation for crime, violence and decline. Yet the city's residents know excellence has and continues to prosper there and are working to bring life back to this forgotten metropolis in this film curated by Neba Evans. 14 minutes.

In “All Units,” a married couple find themselves at odds over their roles at the latest protest. Directed by Mike Day and co-directed, written by and starring Na'Tosha De'Von. 20 minutes.

(Courtesy Images) After leaving Puerto Rico with his grandfather, Gabriel struggles to find his true home in “Baking,” directed by Daniel Beltram. 20 minutes.

In “Measure of a Man,” a young male victim of rape finds a healing space through his estranged father. Directed by Denzel Jenkins. 15 minutes.

In Dan Husted’s “La Telaraña,” three brothers struggle to keep their narcotics operation afloat while being relentlessly hunted by the DEA.