Altrui: The show will go on
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE – The annual Hot Spring Documentary Film Festival is alive and well and will open at Hot Springs’ Malco Theatre on Oct. 12, Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute Board Chairwoman Susan Altrui told a recent HSV Rotary meeting.
She also acknowledged that while recent events had put the festival’s future in question, there is now reason to be optimistic about the event’s prospects.
Altrui, a part- time filmmaker and full- time director of marketing and development at the Little Rock Zoo, said the institute’s board of directors has been reconstituted, the goals of the board and staff have been aligned, and troublesome loans have been re- negotiated and strict financial controls put in place in order to save the festival and the institute.
An ongoing analysis of the industry is under way to help reach a wider audience and renew the community’s involvement. Long- term plans include selling the Malco Theatre and the adjacent parking lot in order to pay off the debt.
Altrui said she hopes the sale will be to someone who will “respect both the purpose and the facility itself.” The festival itself has remained strong and has a record number of entries for this year’s event.
What is needed now, Altrui said, is successful fundraising and for the festival’s historically loyal audience to continue to support it.