The Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute and the Hot Springs Jazz Society held a celebration for the restoration of the Malco Theater's Princess entrance. The event took place on Saturday, June 21st from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Broadway Street Malco entrance. The original Princess Theater was built in 1910, and then purchased in 1927 by Mr. Sidney Nutt, a long-term Hot Springs resident. The Broadway Street Princess entrance was utilized from 1929 until 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was enacted
As one of only two such entrances known to still exist in the United States, the HSDFI board has mandated its preservation as a reminder of America's civil rights victories. The Princess Theater was destroyed by fire in December of 1935, and was rebuilt as the Malco.
According to Charles W. Smith, president of the Jazz Society, "Generation Gap, featuring Fedett 'Lady J' Johnson, will perform along with many other special Jazz musicians and singers such as Clyde Pound and Shirley Chauvin Miller." Four ale selections from the new micro-brews of the Ouachita Brewing Company were available, as well as wine and light summer hors d'oeurves. The recommended donation for admission was ten dollars and benefited both HSDFI and HSJS.
HSDFI Executive Director Malinda Herr-Chambliss said the collaboration with Hot Springs Jazz Society was obvious, "because both the Jazz medium and the Princess entrance represent the historical African-American experience in the United States." She added, "Jazz is a musical format that is rooted in the Blues, which many people forget developed its unique sound from the 'call and response' field songs of African slaves. It is so important for us to remember these historical milestones and to always improve upon them."
A special eight minute sneak preview of Kevin Clark's documentary film on Louis Jordan, legendary jazz musician and performer, was also shown.
The Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute will begin a capital campaign in January 2009 for the complete restoration of the Malco Theater. The building is home to the documentary film festival and its library of 17,000 films. Future plans include expanded year round programming and expanded educational facilities. The 17th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival will be October 17-26th.
ASMSA in conjunction with HSDFI Presents
an Evening of Films and Food
On May 14th, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute will host a showing of films from the first year of the Arkansas School For Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts' Documentary Film Class. ASMSA invites the public to a reception with the young directors at 6:00 pm followed by a screening of their work at the Malco Theater downtown. The one-hour program will include music videos, short films, and documentaries filmed in and around Hot Springs.
"One of the remarkable aspects of this show is that not long ago, this class didn't exist," says Sean Chapman who teaches the course with James Katowich. Over the summer of 2007 the two teachers met with Malinda Herr-Chambliss, Executive Director of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute (HSDFI) and Ben Meade, a documentary filmmaker based in Kansas City and also the chairman of the HSDFI Board of Directors. Meade and Herr-Chambliss realized that a great partnership could develop between HSDFI and ASMSA and pitched the idea for the class to the teachers and administrators. "It really says a lot about the school," adds Katowich, "that they were able to recognize that the class would benefit ASMSA and were able to find funding quickly. We went from an idea to a classroom full of equipment in two months."
The students have been working hard all year, and the evening will showcase their original work. "The films that they've been able to create in such a short time are really impressive," says Chapman. James Katowich agrees. "These students have worked hard, especially over the last month to get a good selection of films finished by the deadline. The class has been very demanding of their time, especially with all the other pressures of finishing high school."
Admission will be $5 (suggested) for the general public.
Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute Presents What's Up Docs? April 28, 29 and 30, 2008
Announcing the 9th Annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute presentation of "What’s Up Docs?"
For sixteen years, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute has brought outstanding documentary films and filmmakers to Arkansas during the annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival as well as throughout the year. One of the highlights of the Film Institute’s year-round programming schedule is the nine-year-old program, What’s Up Docs?, a three-day film festival for children at the historic Malco Theater in downtown Hot Springs.
April 28, 29, and 30
At the 2008 What’s Up Docs? program, students have the opportunity to watch fun and enlightening films. This one hour program includes a selection of short, upbeat documentaries, animations, and narrative films from around the world. Films are chosen specifically for younger audiences on diverse topics, ranging from the environment to science to art.
What’s Up Docs? is open to the public and admission is FREE. School groups, youth groups, and individuals are invited to attend. Parents are encouraged to attend with their children.
Because of the overwhelming popularity of this program
FIELDTRIP RESERVATIONS are REQUIRED and are first come-first served. We will make every attempt to accommodate everyone.
Call 501-321-4747 for more information and to make your reservations.
A film by Benjamin Meade and Mike Adams will be playing at the Historic Malco Theater Saturday, March 15 in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. The film will begin at 6:30.
K-12 Arkansas Student Filmmaking Competition
The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and the Northeast Arkansas Education Cooperative will sponsor the first K-12 Arkansas Student Filmmaking Competition 2008to be held on Friday, February 29 - Saturday, March 1, 2008, in Hot Springs at the Historic Malco Theater hosted by the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute.
3rd Annual Region 5 Art Educators K-12 Student Art Competition Exhibit
Parents, teachers and students packed the Malco Theater for the Arkansas Art Educators Region V Student ARt Show, which was held Friday, February 1 and Saturday, February 2 in conjuction with the Hot Springs Gallery Walk.
The Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute have joined forces to present Arkansas Shorts, a night of original Arkansas movie shorts.
The program will be presented at the Malco Theater, 817 Central Avenue, at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11.
The VOV is now taking submissions until Dec. 31. Films/videos must be under 15 minutes in length. Filmmakers, actors and productions should be from Arkansas.
For more information on submissions, call John Clorus at The VOV, 501.620.9426. All proceeds from this event will benefit the forthcoming Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival, March 12-17.
Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute collaborates with VOV for fundraiser screening of Sigur Ros film 'Heima'
The Arkansas premier of 'Heima,' a feature film on the homecoming concert of Icelandic band Sigur Ros, will be screened Saturday, Dec. 29, at the Malco Theater, 817 Central Ave., as a fundraiser for the next Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival. A reception will be held at the Malco at 7 p.m., followed by a 7:30 p.m. showing of the movie. The suggested donation is $5 per person. 'Heima' is being shown in cooperation with Gallery 801, which hosted Sigur Ros lead singer Jonsi Birgisson's American premier of the Riceboy Sleeps photographic exhibit this summer.
'Heima' is Sigur Ros's first ever film, filmed over two weeks last summer when the band undertook a series of free, unannounced concerts in Iceland. 'Heima' was directed by Dean Deblois, a longtime fan of the band and director of the Oscar-nominated, animated feature "Lilo & Stitch," with an Icelandic crew.
Art Blast was November 24, at the Hot Springs Convention Center. Art Blast is an annual arts festival for children 4 - 18. There were nine non-profit organizations involved. Each organization had a booth where children could participate in a project that had something to do with art or music. The Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute did a spontaneous painting documentary. We created a long filmstrip on canvas and asked the participating children to react to music that was playing by painting on the canvas. Afterwards Maxwell Blade interviewed the children on what they thought a documentary was.
We consider it a success and the canvas is on display in the Historic Malco Theater in theater 2.
Classic Movies at the Malco
The sixteen year old Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute in Springs National Park, Arkansas will be presenting a Saturday Matinee Classic Movies At The Malco series beginning this Saturday, December 1st at 2:00p.m. in their historic Malco Theater at 817 Central Avenue in Hot Springs.
“Special holiday considerations were given to the inaugural HSDFI Malco Classic’s presentation” Malinda Herr-Chambliss, Executive Director said. “Downtown Hot Springs National Park is such a beautiful place to experience the holidays. We felt that launching our HSDFI Classic Matinee Movies at The Malco series in December would be a special and fun addition to the many diverse downtown holiday opportunities”.
The first movie classic to screen on Saturday, December 1st, will be the 1946 Christmas classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life”. “Frosty the Snowman” (1969) and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” (1964) cartoons will be shown before the main movie. On December the 8th, “Miracle on 34th Street”, (1947) and “Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas”, (1966) cartoon will be shown. On December the 15th, HSDFI will screen “A Christmas Story “(1983) along with the cartoon “The Charlie Brown Christmas”, (1965). The last December HSDFI Classic Matinee presentation will be “A Christmas Carol” with Alastair Sim, (1951) along with “How the Grinch Stole Christmas, (1956). A five dollar donation is suggested per film. Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute is a 501 (c) (3) organization.
“The Board and Staff of HSDFI feel that it is really important to create an opportunity for a new generation to experience the joy of seeing these classic films on the big screen again. We invite everyone to come see these classic movies and bring their children and grandchildren to our historic Malco Theater each Saturday at 2:00p.m. The popcorn supply is replenished after the 16th Documentary Film Festival we recently completed in October and the HSDFI Volunteers are ready to greet and welcome everyone. We’ll see you at the Malco.” Malinda Herr-Chambliss said. For more information about the HSDFI December Movie Classic Series call 501-321-4747
Dee Wallace Stone
The actress who played the mother in "E.T.", the 1982 blockbuster by Stephen Spielberg, came to the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute November 8th for a screening of "E.T." at the historic Malco Theater.
The event was a fundraiser for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute. Malinda Herr-Chambliss stated, "Ms. Wallace-Stone is very supportive of the documentary as a new method of story telling, in addition to presenting relevant information to the public."
