Tag Archives: Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

Film Screeners Wanted for 2019 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

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The 2019 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is open for submissions and the films are rolling in! Persons who don’t want to wait until October to enjoy a bounty of documentaries can sign up to join the screening committee and play a vital role in the 2019 programming!Want to sign up? Here’s how!

As you can imagine, it takes a lot of work to prepare for those 9 days in October, and the process begins with the Screening Committee.  It gets to work as soon as the HSDFF is open for entries, and works through Mid-July. Here are the basic details:

The screening committee is an advisory group that serves the festival programmers. Each year, HSDFF receives over 1,000 entries, and the Screening Committee reviews them and pre-qualifies them to help the programmers make informed decisions. The Committee does not make final programming decisions, but they do make sure that each submission gets multiple viewings and ratings to expedite the programming process.

What is required? Watching films online, and writing detailed reviews on FilmFreeway.com. You’ll be provided a login when we get started up, and the site is very easy to use.

Do I have to attend meetings? There are monthly Screening Committee meetings held, mostly in in Hot Springs. Attendance at these meetings isn’t mandatory, but all are welcome to attend and spend time with their fellow screeners to discuss their favorite films.

HSDFF requests that screeners commit to viewing at least 50 films over a 5 month period, in exchange for a Film Buff pass, which will get you into all screenings. Screeners that watch 150 films or more will receive an All-Access pass that will grant you access to all the afterparties and the VIP lounge.

Training materials will be provided to all new screeners. You don’t have to write a professional quality review, but HSDFF does ask that you’re sufficiently thorough with your responses in addressing each entry’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall festival-worthiness.

Follow this link to complete your online application. It will only take a few minutes, and your contact information will never be posted publicly or be shared with anyone.

Creative Class 2016: Matt DeCample

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cc16-decampleWhether a propensity for improv made Matt DeCample an excellent newsman and later PR professional, or whether his work in those occupations helped hone his improv skills is probably a chicken or the egg question.  But what is not up for debate is that Matt has elevated the visibility of and appreciation for improv as a form of entertainment.  He was a founder of Improv Little Rock and appears with The Joint Venture, the only weekly improv comedy show in Arkansas.

He also uses his love of film and PR acumen to promote film festivals in Arkansas.  Currently he is helping promote the 25th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival this month.  An avid fan of movies, he has long been a supporter and promoter of films made in Arkansas, films made by Arkansans, and film festivals located in Arkansas.  He is also a fan of live music, so can often be found frequenting local music haunts in LR.

While he may have had to curtail his activities a bit this year due to health concerns, (his blog discussing his fight against liver cancer is likely to have you in tears…from laughter but is also full of information and honest insight), he is by no means stopping. In fact, he has recently taken the stage with stand-up comedy.

 

 

Creative Class of 2015: Susan Altrui

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cc15 altruiOctober is Arts & Humanities Month.  This year, the Culture Vulture will be highlighting 31 members of Little Rock’s Creative Class: the Creative Class of 2015.

Up first Susan Altrui.  Earlier this year, Altrui was named Assistant Director of the Little Rock Zoo.  She previously had overseen marketing, public relations and fundraising for the Zoo.  During that time, the Zoo opened the penguin and cheetah exhibits as well as undertaken several other initiatives which involved fundraising and friendraising.

In addition to her work with the Zoo, Altrui is the chair of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute board. She has been involved in bringing Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival back from the brink and returning it to higher visibility.  Altrui also served as an executive producer on the documentary Ann Richards’ Texas.

In 2014, she was appointed to the Arkansas Entertainer’s Hall of Fame board.  Altrui is a member of the Junior League of Little Rock and Rotary Club of Little Rock.  In her “spare” time she plays tennis.