LRFF Alum Louder than a Bomb to Open in NYC

When we first received Louder than a Bomb in the mail at the Little Rock Film Festival offices before last years festival, I had not yet heard of the film and did not have overwhelming expectations.  It is really hard to make this kind of film well. Each year we get many submissions from the youth competition genre of documentary film, and too often they fall short in capturing the drama and emotion of the kids respective journeys.   It requires extraordinary access, and patience. And the characters have to be amazing. The thing about Louder than a Bomb is that it gets it all right. Like other successful films of the genre such as Spelling Bee–and even Born into Brothels– with Louder than a Bomb the filmmakers trust the kids to tell their own stories.   The film perfectly uses the device and structure of the lead-up to a major competition, to lead the viewer towards a more complex and interesting story, one of kids growing up in a tough environment where the fact that they are so successful, almost seems impossible.  I am a big booster for this film, not only did we program it in Little Rock,  a few months later on the Jury at the Austin Film Festival, I voted for it to win the top prize, which it did. Louder Than a Bomb launches its nationwide theatrical rollout with a run at the IFC Center in NYC from May 18-26. Co-directors Greg Jacobs & Jon Siskel will be in attendance at the evening screenings May 18-21, along with two of the film’s stars—Nate Marshall & Nova Venerable. Greg Jacobs tells me that there will also be a national television broadcast on the new OWN network in the coming year.  Congratulations to Greg and Jon for all the success.