Documentary Film Festival kicks off 24th season

A special celebration for sponsors, donors, VIP pass holders, filmmakers and special guests will kick off the opening night of the 24th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival at 4 p.m. today, followed by the screening of "The Primary Instinct" at 7 p.m.

"I think the festival audience this year will be very diverse," HSDFF Executive Director Courtney Pledger told The Sentinel-Record. "We have so many different kinds of films and special guests."

One of those special guests is producer Harry Thomason, whose film about Bill Clinton, "The Hunting of the President: Redux," will make its world premiere at the festival at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa Cinema 2. The film will be a revamped version of the original documentary, released 10 years ago.

Born and raised in Hampton, the former Little Rock football coach has produced four to five documentary films, including his most recent award-winning documentary "Bridegroom," and 400 to 500 episodes of various television series.

"The Hunting of the President: Redux" is based on the book "The Hunting of the President: The Ten Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton," written by investigative journalists Joe Conason and Gene Lyons.

The new film will feature previously unreleased materials and interviews focused on the conservative party's efforts to sink the Clintons.

"Conservatives in Washington had a lot of power because Bush was in the White House," Thomason said.

"Hunting" will explore the myths and truths behind the 20-year campaign to destroy the Clinton legacy, with footage from the original version seeming more relevant today than it was a decade ago.

Thomason said that although the film got great reviews and was a big festival hit 10 years ago, people weren't as warm and inviting to the original film as he thinks they will be now.

"A bunch of conservative lobbyists kept the major theater chains from even screening the film," he said. "We've come so far so quickly that it's almost unbelievable. People that hated (Clinton) a decade ago are now big supporters."

Interviewed for the book and the film, Susan McDougal discusses legal threats from the independent counsel in 1996 regarding her involvement in the failed Whitewater real estate venture with the Clintons in the 1980s.

McDougal was unjustly sentenced to two years in prison and will tell the audience her story, what happened to her after she was released from prison and where she is now.

"She was sent to prison because she wouldn't tell the special prosecutor what, in her mind, was a lie," Thomason said. "She was tougher than they were and, finally, after two years, they had a trial in Little Rock. In three days, it was over and she was free -- not convicted of anything. So, it's quite a story alone."

Thomason enjoys coming back to Hot Springs and says the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival seems like it's on solid ground now.

"It has such a rich history -- it's the oldest film festival in the U.S. and I know it sort of got a little off track for awhile but I'm so glad to see Courtney and all of the other people in there now," he said.

General admission to a single screening during the festival is $7.50.

Local on 10/09/2015

Upcoming Events