About Us
The Little Rock Film Festival is an annual event held each Spring in Downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. Based in the thriving historic River Market District, home to the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library, the LRFF showcases the best in Narrative, Documentary, and Short films from around the World, as well as parties, panels, workshops, and youth programs. It offers cash and awards for the top films in each category, and also devotes programs and prizes specifically for Southern and Arkansas films. Every film in competition at the LRFF makes its Arkansas premiere there, and many are regional, national or world premieres as well.
In the spirit of southern hospitality, the LRFF strives to create the most enjoyable environment a festival can offer: We provide financial assistance to help filmmakers travel here with their work. Sponsorship from the finest hotels in Little Rock allows filmmakers to enjoy exceptional accommodations, and support from local car dealerships gives them stylish, comfortable, and environmentally friendly transportation to and from festival events. Each day ends with after-parties at the city’s hottest venues, including the annual festival gala in the Clinton Presidential Library. Accepted filmmakers drink for free at every party.
In the first three years, the Little Rock Film Festival has hosted more than 250 films from three dozen countries, conducted educational workshops for people of all ages, held panels with industry leaders, and hosted notable actors, directors, and producers from around the globe. Last year more than 20,000 people attended, and heading into our fourth year, we are ambitiously expanding to include even larger cash prizes and more films screened than ever.
Philip Martin of the Democrat Gazette said “the festival felt like a watershed event in [Arkansas'] cultural trajectory. It was so well organized, so thoughtfully programmed and so gratifyingly conceived that there’s no reason not to pronounce it a complete, thrilling success.” Tim Basham from Austin-based Paste Magazine said the LRFF is “potentially one of the best fests in the country.”
The LRFF makes a point of keeping the price of admission low. A Festival Pass which includes admission to all films, panels, and parties is an astonishingly $30. Founded in 2005 by Little Rock natives and Documentary Filmmakers Brent and Craig Renaud, along with Owen Brainard and Jamie Moses, the LRFF is committed to promoting the film industry in Arkansas and partnering with local organizations and businesses in continuing the growth and development of Downtown Little Rock.
