Friday during the Little Rock Film Festival is a full day for film lovers.

The spotlight film today is the documentary The Night the Blackbirds Fell. Brian Campbell and Will Scott’s film looks at the strange occurrence that took place on New Year’s Eve, 2010. At midnight, thousands of blackbirds fall from the sky. Not far away, 100,000 drum fish wash up dead on the banks of the Arkansas River. Hazmat crews comb the region collecting the birds, while community members worry and wonder what happened. Mainstream media the world over generate curiosity and hysteria around the mysterious wildlife deaths, as internet “experts” declare it a sign of the apocalypse.

A talented but struggling college student, in search of a thesis project, stumbles into the falling blackbirds and inadvertently his thesis topic. He decides to find out just what the hell is going on. Is it the end times, a military experiment, natural gas fracking, or fireworks? Join him in a mysterious whodunnit “divine comedy” that integrates live interview footage into graphic novel style animation to learn what really happened; and beware of falling blackbirds. Produced with support from the Arkansas Humanities Council, Department of Arkansas Heritage, Inspired Media, and the UCA Foundation.

Among the other films screening today are:

Golden Rock Narrative contenders:

• Big Significant Things (Bryan Reisberg)
• Five Star (Keith Miller)
• Fort Tilden (Sarah Violet Bliss & Charles Rodgers)
• Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter (David & Nathan Zellner)
• Little Accidents (Sarah Colangelo)

Golden Rock Documentary contenders:

• Manny (Leon Gast and Ryan Moore)
• The Notorious Mr. Bout (Tony Gerber & Maxim Pozdorovkin),

Other featured films:

• Actress (Robert Greene)
• Man Shot Dead (Taylor Feltner)
• Manakaman (Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez)
• Ne Me Quitte Pas (Sabine Lubbe Bakker, Niels van Koevorden)
• Rich Hill (Tracy Droz Tragos & Andrew Droz Palermo)

World Shorts

• “Multifariousness” – “Sketch” by Stephen T. Barton, “X-RAY MAN” by Kerri Yost, “Breaking Night” by Yolonda Ross, “Yearbook” by Bernardo Britto, “MASTER MUSCLES” by Efrén Hernández, “Pity,” by John Pata and “One Armed Man” by Tim Guinee.
• “Our Times” – “The Usual” by Dawn Higginbotham, “Families Are Forever” by Vivian Kleiman, “Confusion Through Sand” by Danny Madden, “Distance” by Aimee Long, “Little Black Fishes” by Azra Deniz Okyay, and “Broke” by Benham Jones
• “Mental and Physical” – “By the Sea” by Robert Machoian, “LE PLONGEON” by Delphine Le Courtois, “Strike: The Greatest Bowling Story Ever Told” by Joey Daoud, “Insomniacs” by Charles Chintzer Lai, “Dog Food” by Brian Crano, “The Lipstick Stain” by Dagny Looper and “Into The Silent Sea” by Andrej Landin

There will also be a welcome reception for the filmmakers, as well other parties throughout the evening.

For more information, visit www.littlerockfilmfestival.org.  When attending events use the hashtag #LRFF2014 on social media posts.