Save the Date
For the inaugural HSDFI and Garvan Woodland Gardens
Hot Springs Environmental Film Festival
April 24 - 26th, 2009
at the historic Malco Theater
We will be showcasing environmental documentary films from Arkansas and around the world in celebration of Earth Day, April 22nd.
More details coming soon.

See what Governor Mike Beebe has to say about Stewardship.

Art Docs at the Malco
Presented by the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute.
Starting February 6, 2009, HSDFI will show art-related documentaries during Gallery Walk.

Once Upon A Mattress
The Arkansas School for Math, Science and the Arts students will be presenting the production of “Once Upon A Mattress” a play on December 11th at 8:00p.m., Dec. 12th at 7:00p.m. and Saturday at 3:00p.m at the historic Malco Theater. The cast of forty students which include actors, dancers and orchestra are under the direction of the ASMSA Chemistry Teacher and experience theatrical producer, Dr. Tom Heilman. Come enjoy and support HSDFI and the ASMSA. $5.00. For more information contact ASMSA or HSDFI at 501-321-4747

Arkansas Shorts
The Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute and The Valley of the Vapors presents Arkansas Shorts, A Night of Short Films. Arkansas Shorts will be Friday, January 9th 2009 at the Historic Malco Theater, 819 Central Avenue Downtown Hot Springs. Opening Reception will be at 7:00pm and Screening at 7:30pm. $5 admission with the proceeds going to VOV. Submissions are now being accepted.

The Sentinel-Record/Alison B. Harbour Taken from The Sentinel-Record, Wednesday, November 12, 2008, page 4B HSDFI's chairman speaks at conference from Staff Reporters The Southwest Theatre and Film Association Inc. met in Hot Springs Friday for its 61st annual conference. SWTFA’s mission is to provide networking, training and scholarship opportunities in theater and film while promoting innovative and outstanding achievements. Students took part in the event to audition for scholarships. “The conference is a lot of fun and we want to make sure there is a lot of fun learning along the way,” said Kevin Lechler of Denton, Texas, who has been involved in the association about 15 years and is serving his fourth year as the association’s executive director. Ben Meade, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute’s board chairman, was the keynote speaker for the luncheon. Networking is one of the most powerful tools people can use to grow in the business of filmmaking and theater, Meade said, noting that when he tried to break into filmmaking in Hollywood, he found hundreds of others with their own passionate dreams all working as he did behind the scenes. “I lasted four days,” he said. He gave up his dreams for a time and worked as a financial consultant, but eventually the desire to produce, direct and edit feature films returned. He went back to school and received a masters degree and a doctorate. With the corporate knowledge he had developed, and the desire to create artistic films, he was able to come up with a business plan for each project he conceived. Meade is the co-founder of the Kansas International Film Festival and an associate professor of film and digital media at Avila University, a liberal arts institution in Kansas City. He is presently working on two documentaries. Six states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, were represented at the conference.

Taken from The Sentinel-Record, Wednesday, November 12, 2008, page 4B

'Reel' success for film festival
By Alison B. Harbour
The Sentinel-Record

Hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers, generous sponsors and big-hearted donors combined with the staffers and board members of Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute to produce one of the most successful documentary film festivals in HSDFI’s 17-year history.

The 17th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival screened about 95 documentaries Oct. 17-26 at the historic Malco Theater to expand on its theme, Expose Yourself to Documentary Film.

“The e-mails and letters keep coming in from the filmmakers attending or festival attendees saying how very welcomed they felt surrounded by the natural beauty of Hot Springs, the people and their hospitality,” HSDFI executive director Malinda Herr-Chambliss said Friday.

“All of the filmmakers said how much they enjoyed the audience participation and question-and-answer sessions, a real highlight,” she said. “A recordbreaking number of filmmakers attended the festival and the general attendance was steadfast and full everyday.”

The festival included extended work-shops open to the public in downtown Hot Springs as well as films that screened day and night and offered something for everyone.

For the event, many improvements and repairs were made to the historic Malco Theater, especially the interior and exterior of the Broadway Avenue Princess entrance where Rolando’s Restaurant served patrons at an outdoor cafe.
And, through the generosity and support of the community and sponsors, volunteers were literally able to roll out the red carpet for the festival a week before the event.

The new red carpeting replaced much-damaged carpet and added to the fresh, welcoming appearance at the Malco.
“Everyone commented on the rhythm of the festival. It went smoothly and everyone enjoyed the film selections and the repairs to the building,” Herr-Chambliss said.

A large contingent of area students representing different school districts flocked to the festival as well as students from the University of Central Arkansas, Henderson State University, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and National Park Community College.

Nine out-of-state colleges sent pupils to attend the screenings.

“Their future curriculum is based on what they saw,” Herr-Chambliss said.

For the eighth year, Steve Taylor with Southern Arkansas University brought students for the entire festival who tirelessly filmed the event.

“From morning to late night they have filmed our festival in their curriculum of learning,” she said.
Without the willingness of local volunteers, the festival could not go on and Helen Bumpas coordinated the army of 700 individuals who served in shifts and represented the community, schools and civic organizations. Bumpas was also in charge of the visiting filmmakers’ transportation arrangements.

“A huge task,” Herr-Chambliss said.

The 18th festival is scheduled for Oct. 16-25, 2009, and the HSDFI has already begun to receive film submissions for the festival that is a multi-cultural and multi-generational event.

“The festival has a tremendous economic impact for Hot Springs and the state,” says Herr-Chambliss.

The Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival and The HSDFI presents...
The Arkansas premier of The Flaming Lips film, "Christmas on Mars".
Saturday, November 15th - 8PM - one night only!
at The Historic Malco Theater, 819 Central in downtown Hot Springs.
Suggested donation is $5.00
for more information contact Shea Childs at 501-282-9057 or shea@valleyofthevapors.com

More information about The Flaming Lips film, "Christmas on Mars" can be found by clicking this link http://www.flaminglips.com/

CHRISTMAS ON MARS - the critics say....

"Endearingly ragged...destined for cult status...abetted with homemade-looking but sometimes lyrical effects."
- Andy Webster, New York Times

"Christmas on Mars is great, if only you could understand it...a psychedelic accomplishment that will inevitably gain more favor as it ages...Twilight Zone poetry."
- Metro Boston

"It's basically as weird as you'd hoped."
- Isaac Butler, New York Magazine

"this mostly black-and-white, dreamlike yuletide fable does possess its own dorky DIY charm, as space-suited men wander around narrow enclosures in various stages of dissociation, Santas commit airlock suicide, and a nurse/mother in a giant lightbulb births a bubble baby. "
- Variety
"A thrift-shop Solaris...realized through homegrown special effects that would please fans of Eraserhead-era David Lynch."
- Steve Dollar, New York Sun

Michael York to be Special Guest at this year's festival

The Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute is delighted to welcome Michael York, distinguished and prolific actor, narrator, author and musician to the 17th film festival. Mr. York, along with being a guest speaker at this evening’s Gala dinner, is also the first recipient of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute’s 2008 inaugural Film Narration Award for his contribution to the narrative art of documentary film. Appropriately, his latest narrative documentary film work, Mary Pickford, The Muse of the Movies was regionally premiered at this year’s festival.

With over 60 screen and 80 television credits, Mr. York is known worldwide for his film roles in Cabaret, Logan’s Run, Murder on the Orient Express, and most recently the Austin Powers trilogy. His Broadway and regional stage productions include Cyrano de Bergerac and Camelot among many others. His wonderful contributions to both the fields of music and writing include the hailed novels Dispatches From Armageddon (2002) and A Shakespearean Actor Prepares (2001) and musical performances at the Kennedy Center and the Aspen and Ravinia music festivals.

Mr. York is married to photographer Pat York, whose work has been exhibited in Moscow, Prague, London and Hong Kong. Her latest show “Imaging and Imagining: The Film World of Pat York” opened at the Los Angeles Motion Picture Academy.

Trying To Make Sense of the World

“The Linguists”, a critically acclaimed documentary, follows two determined scientists in a journey to discover and record languages that are rapidly vanishing off the face of the planet.
It opens with the close up of a shaman with missing teeth as he is breathing warm air out into complete darkness. Obviously performing a ritual, he turns out to be a native speaker of Kallawaya, an obscure medicinal language found in Bolivia.

David and Greg the two main characters begin by mapping out specific areas that have experienced colonization from outside forces. The two professors stick out like sore thumbs in their baseball caps and sunglasses through the entirety of the film. 

It had the look and feel of an episode of “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdain except it dealt with narratives and syntax rather than indigenous cuisine.

The film takes you from one superb landscape to the next with quick pans of unbridled civilization, whether it was an over-populated Indian boarding school, or perhaps a vibrant city street corner in Colombia.

Each location came with its own subtle sense of humanity ranging from the last speaker of a Native American tribe in Arizona to a near deaf woman in the Siberian countryside.

An added bonus is the sense of humor and near cynicism portrayed by the native speakers. Through it all you get the feeling that these two men who are exceptionally different from one another both feel incredibly passionate about the uphill battle they are fighting in the crusade to resuscitate these rare languages for not only the benefit of science, but also for the sake of the native speakers. 

There is frustration, the implication of danger and touching moments of broader realization captured in the otherwise chaotic world of speech and narrative, which we as viewers would normally be incapable of understanding if it were not for these brave scientists.

Blood, Sweat, And Cranberry Sauce

Chances are if you have ever listened to a song by Peter Stubb then you would remember it. His filthy honest folk music has roots in his rural upbringing and his fateful encounter with inner demons.
Directed by Mitchell Powers, “I’m Like This Everyday” is a festive and rather explicit 20-minute journey into a man from Georgia who has dreamt of becoming a rock star since he was thirteen. The story of Gary Dewayne King, a.k.a Peter Stubb opens up on an old self-recorded clip of him as a boy talking of his destined career of becoming a musician.

Powers paints an engaging portrait of an otherwise misunderstood artist through interviews with fans, friends and other musicians as well as King’s ex-wife and son.

This film isn’t your average documentary about a wannabe rock star trying to make good or be successful.

While much of it to the viewer is both explicit and disturbing at the same time it is real and authentic. You have the type of rural outcasts who have unique ways of expression. Through the muck of it all, the trailers, the drugs the mental illness and werewolf stories, you have a man who I would be so bold as to call a poet who distinctly looks at life through an entirely different looking glass.
He seems unabashed and emboldened by life in general despite his bouts with alcohol abuse and self-mutilation. His folk guitar style accompanied by his bizarre lyrics has caught the attention of many listeners.

While many films that are shown at the festival concentrate on the music and the genius behind it, this one reveals more about both a particular region of the south and a genuine character, however disturbed he might seem on the outside. The music still comes out like pure grain alcohol distilled from within.

“I’m Like This Everyday” had its world premiere at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and will be shown again Saturday October 25th at 11:08 a.m.

Exploring the Mind Of Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor could be labeled as a modern day Mark Twain. Impersonating a factual storyteller and entertainer on the stage of “A Prairie Home Companion” the live radio show that he practically built from the ground up 37 years ago in St.Paul.

The documentary directed by Peter Rosen, so aptly titled “Garrison Keillor: The Man On The Radio With The Red Shoes On” had its regional premiere Monday night at the 7th annual Hot Springs Film Festival.

This isn’t your typical documentary, but of course Garrison Keillor isn’t your typical radio personality. There are three things during the film that you become absolutely certain of—Keillor loves his family, his country, and Lake Woebegone Minnesota.

Although it isn’t biographical in nature the film is still successful in soaking up the charm of this ordinarily reserved man from Minnesota. You in fact almost become lost in the descriptive American prose that Keillor so elegantly dictates through the various monologues of the film.
As a writer I found the film both telling and inspirational. Garrison Keillor reeks of poignant spontaneity making this perhaps one of the most enigmatic and enlightening profiles ever made about a prolific American writer who is still encapsulated in his life and work. 

Jim Miller - The world premiere of “Two Worlds-One Planet” at the Hot Springs Documentary film festival

The world premiere of “Two Worlds-One Planet” at the Hot Springs Documentary film festival shed a sensitive and rather upbeat light on the life of many unique children with autism.
The directors Ann Reinking and O.Robin Sweet had each of their sons featured in the film. Robin Sweet is actually the founder of Gateway Academy a school in Arizona that serves as part of the setting for this emotional journey.

The filmmakers who are affected by the subject material of this documentary felt like they needed to expose the subject of autism by portraying these children in engaging profiles and interviews with parents.

By addressing the need for an educational environment that will meet their unique sensibilities they also expose the limitations of not just the inadequacy of our education system but they also reveal the uplifting characters and multiple quirks of children diagnosed with various stages of autism.
Shot in black and white the film allows you to focus more on the distinctiveness of the children while also allowing for the viewer to empathize with the situational journey described by the general characteristics of autism.

There is a definite quality of escapism both in the film and also in the minds of these children who have breathtaking imaginations. This documentary crushes any sort of intolerance that may exist among the general public regarding autism.

1st Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute Hispanic Heritage & Cinema Celebration
September 19-20, 2008
at the Historic Malco Theater

Click here for a complete list of the Hispanic Heritage Festival movie times and synopses.

1st Annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute Black Heritage & Cinema Celebration

The Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute is hosting the 1st Black Heritage and Cinema Celebration during the weekends of July, which started July 12th in their historic Malco Theater at 817 Central Avenue, Hot Springs. The HSDFI Board is pleased to present this inaugural event, in collaboration with many of Hot Springs diversified community groups. Each weekend, a special presentation will pay homage to African-American cultural contributions in music, film, literature.
 
The presentation on Saturday, July 12th, the documentary from the American Master’s series,” Portraits of Creativity, The Musicians: Ella Fitzgerald” was screened at 6:45p.m. “Through this documentary, a comprehensive portrait of Ella Fitzgerald, the legendary singer is presented and it is narrated by Tony Bennett and tells the dramatic but true story of an ambitious girl who raised herself out of poverty to become the most accomplished vocalist of all time and offers a definitive look at her career, including never- before -seen performances, footage and interviews with many great musicians” Malinda Herr-Chambliss, HSDFI Executive Director said.  After a short intermission, “The Many Faces of Billie Holiday, Lady Day” (90 minutes) also screened.

Saturday, the 19th, at 6:00 p.m., "Black Heritage and The Bible: The Gospel Across Cultures" dialogue was presented by the Reverend Clyde E. Hughley of Haven United Methodist Church in Hot Springs (organized in 1877). Gloria Dupree, also of Haven United Methodist Church, gave a brief overview of the history of spiritrual singing which was followed by a live performance of many of the Haven United Methodist Church gospel choir. After a brief intermission,The Story of Gospel Music, featuring Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973) was screened.

Saturday, the 26th, at 6:30 p.m. HSDFI and the Webb Community Center in Hot Springs presented a PBS documentary film, directd and narrated by Ken Burns and produced by David Schaye, Paul Barnes and Ken Burns entitled: Jack Johnson: The Unforgivable Blackness, The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. "This powerful documentary tells the story of the first African-American boxer to win the most coveted title in all of sports and his struggle in and out of the ring to live his life as a free man. Despite all of his struggles, Jackson was able to make his way up through the professional ranks and in 1908 he bacame the first African-American to earn the title Heavyweight Champion of the World" HSDFI Executive Director, Malinda Herr-Chambliss said.

Charles Smith, HSDFI Board Member and President of the Hot Springs Jazz Society said, “We are launching this 1st HSDFI Black Heritage Cultural and Film Celebration with a tribute to these two Jazz lady greats and invite everyone to come enjoy them and future July weekend’s presentations with us”.
 
The suggested donation for these events is $5.00 and delicious HSDFI popcorn and concessions will be available. For more information about these events call the HSDFI office at 501-321-4747.

Jazzing up the Princess

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'oeuvres. 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 Presented an Evening of Films and Food

On May 14th, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute hosted a showing of films from the first year of the Arkansas School For Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts' Documentary Film Class. ASMSA invited 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 included 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 worked hard all year, and the evening showcased 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."