The inaugural Hot Springs International Women's Film Festival kicks off Saturday morning at the historic Central Theater in downtown Hot Springs, and festival submissions include a mix of horror, animation, feature-length documentaries, and several short films that feature women in key production positions.
Over half the films featured at the festival are classified as short films, with a runtime of less than one hour. With a variety of genres featured, festivalgoers with only a short time to spare can still enjoy a portion of the festival without sacrificing participation in this weekend's long list of activities, according to organizers.
The festival opens with four short films, the first by Arkansas filmmaker Mary McDade Casteel entitled "Into the Green." The film is set in a high school somewhere in rural Arkansas and features a woman in the leading role. Its runtime is 15 minutes.
Casteel is an Arkansas native who received her B.A. in both History and Communications from the University of Arkansas in 2014. Since completing her undergraduate degree, Casteel moved to New Orleans to pursue her M.F.A. in film production from the University of New Orleans. The film showing at the festival was completed upon her graduation in May of 2017 as her graduate thesis.
According to the film's synopsis, Eleanor is the queen of this kingdom made up of concrete and vinyl but after a colleague and apparent lover fails to show up to work or answer her calls, she begins to grapple with the reality of existence in the absence of someone she loves.
The short documentary "Zebrafish: Practically People, Transforming the Study of Disease" is a new film by Jennifer Manner exploring the benefit of Zebrafish in terms of biomedical research. The film's run time is 10 minutes.
Filmmaker Jennifer Manner is a huge advocate for Zebrafish and is dedicated to spreading the word about how these little fish have the potential to become the salvation of humankind, her biography states. She is the CEO and founder of ZScientific LLC, a company focused on biomedical research using the Zebrafish model.
Zebrafish are considered a relatively new research model, but the scientists working with them have proved that the fish are perfect models for investigating and fighting human diseases, according to the film's overview. The documentary shares over 30 years of research involving Zebrafish with audiences and explains how they are used to study different diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's and spectrum disorders like autism.
On Sunday, the short documentary "Fighting to be Free," by filmmaker Cheryl Halpern, shows at 11 a.m. The film documents the heroic stories of young Ethiopian female freedom fighters in the 1970s after a military junta, known as the Derg, deposed Emperor Haile Selassie.
During that time, famine and the murder of young children was a daily part of life. A group of women, fed up with the deplorable treatment they experienced under the Derg, left their homes and families to join the fight in bringing peace and democracy to their country.
The festival kicks off Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with a filmmaker meet and greet at Will's Cinnamon Shop and screenings begin promptly at 10 a.m. Weekend passes to the festival are available for $45 and day passes are $24. Tickets can be purchased for individual screenings for $10 per film.
Entertainment on 03/16/2018