HSDFF plans documentary ‘boot camp’
Eight local filmmakers will get to make and screen their own films for the 30th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival this year.
Jen Gerber, festival executive director, told The Sentinel-Record the festival is partnering with Low Key Arts to launch a “documentary filmmaking boot camp” this year where students will get to “take a class and make a film within our program, and those films will be showcased at our festival.”
Gerber has previously worked with LKA, teaching multiple filmmaking classes including “Inception to Projection,” where her students create a short film for LKA’s annual Arkansas Shorts festival.
Partnering with them on this project was “kind of a natural fit,” she said.
They will limit the class to eight participants, which will be “first-come, first-serve,” Gerber said.
“We’ve got such a passionate community of documentary lovers in Hot Springs, so I’m excited to see what happens when we put a camera in their hands and see what kind of stories they can tell,” she said.
Both first-time and experienced filmmakers are welcome to participate. Registration opens April 1.
Gerber said they will also bring back the Self Care Series launched last year, which is a series of in-person events focused on mental health during the pandemic, including a bike
ride, yoga and a hike.
Gerber said she is looking forward to the festival, especially since it is the 30th anniversary.
“This is my fifth year with the festival, and I feel 30 has been in my sights the whole time,” Gerber said. “To celebrate our legacy and three decades, it’s truly something to celebrate.”
Last year the festival moved to a mostly virtual show with some drive-in screenings. Gerber said they do not know yet what this year’s festival will look like.
“We have to be mindful of (COVID-19),” Gerber said, but “we’re hopeful enough people get the COVID vaccination this year.”
A “late May/early summer screening,” which will be announced in the near future, is also planned, Gerber said, noting this is the “perfect time of year, right when the weather starts to warm up.”