If you were at the discussion at this years LRFF between Paste Magazine writer Tim Basham and Legendary hollywood stuntman and director Hal Needham,  it is something you will probably never forget. Hal Needham has accomplished more in a lifetime in the movies than most of us will ever dream of.  I am reading my signed copy of his new book … Continue reading →

I was lucky enough to get to sit behind Robbie Pickering, director of the film Natural Selection, during his first screening at the Little Rock Film Festival. I could see him mouthing the words as the film played. He knew every beat of the film like a favorite song. I believemany of the audience members will have the same feeling after seeing … Continue reading →

Diamond Award for Career Excellence in Filmmaking Hal Needham Best Music Video Matt and Todd Wolfe, Pillow Fight Best World Short The Man who Knew How to Fly Arkansas Times Audience Award The Interrupters Special Jury Prize for Courage in Filmmaking Hossein Keshavarz, Dog Sweat “Made in Arkansas” Best Actor Dustin Alford, Foot Soldier “Made in Arkansas” Best Director The … Continue reading →

Few films come along with such a defined and nuanced character like Luz Garcia in Amy Wendel’s film Benavides Born. The film centers on a young Mexican-American female on the women’s powerlifting team. If that isn’t enough to get you into the theater, I don’t know what is. Amy wasn’t able to make the trip to Little Rock for the screening but … Continue reading →

LRFF Programmer Craig Renaud talked to director Gemma Atwal about the remarkable Marathon Boy. Thursday’s screening was jam packed and today is expected to be the same. Do not miss this film today, Friday, at 1:45pm at the Riverdale Cinema. Can you talk about how you first discovered this story, and did you and Matt ever imagine you would end … Continue reading →

Jimmy McMillan was already a star in NYC by the time he was parodied on Saturday Night Live late last year. New Yorkers got a kick out of the retired postal worker turned politician for his theatricality:  the undertaker black suits with leather gloves and high top sneakers, and of course, his iconic mutton chops. And who in New York … Continue reading →

Programming a film like American Animal is a risk. But it is exactly the kind of risk a film festival should take. Consider yourself warned: American Animal is at times difficult to watch, set entirely inside a single Los Angeles apartment, and  featuring a brilliant, but cringe inducing performance of a central character that never stops the mental and emotional torture … Continue reading →

Just off a huge win at the Cannes Film Festival Critics Week, Jeff Nichols will make his second appearance at the Little Rock Film Festival on Saturday, June 4th. Jeff will screen his debut film Shotgun Stories, which was shot entirely in Arkansas, and launched his career and helped further raise the star power of Michael Shannon. Film critic Philip … Continue reading →

I knew kati with an i was a documentary when we programmed it, but I subconsciously miss categorized it as a fictional narrative film in our first schedule. Director Robert Greene says this has happened before. My mistake is a testament to what is most successful and rare about this film–it is a documentary with the beauty, power, character and … Continue reading →