Streaming might be all the rage these days, but not in Fort Smith, Arkansas—and not in August. That is when selected films from around the world are screened in area venues, and film buffs and film professionals travel from near and far to view, learn, network, and enjoy.
The event is the Fort Smith International Film Festival and Mid-America Film Market (August 22-24). It is now in its fourth year. What is newsworthy here is that the annual event has steadily grown in popularity to the point that, this year, its sponsor, the River Valley Film Society, has made the wise decision to use two of Fort Smith’s unique venues to screen the films and to extend the length of the festival as well. By my estimation, that is just about doubling everything to accommodate an increasing number of attendees who are either “in the industry” (filmmakers, actors, vendors, etc.) or film aficionados.
This year, the festival will be scheduled at TempleLive and The Bricks, two unique venues of particular interest to meeting and event planners. For instance, Historic TempleLive opened in 1929 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The four-story building contains three large banquet halls, a commercial kitchen, and full auditorium seating for 1,200 attendees. Utilizing its original architectural attributes, the historic building was beautifully restored to provide a memorable atmosphere for meetings, gatherings, special events, and stage productions. It is outfitted with a state-of-the-art climate control system and a superior audio-and-video system that meets or exceeds the specifications of all major touring productions and acts to date.
In sharp contrast, The Bricks is a contemporary, multi-purpose development located down the street from TempleLive, so attendees can experience the historic and the new. Bricks will accommodate “booths and tables like a trade show for the event,” said River Valley Film Society President Lynn Wasson. “Vendors will be film distributors, or people such as app creators – any professional that offers services to the film industry. A filmmaker could even take a table to promote their film…. The goal of the River Valley Film Society is to grow our region’s creative economy, and the best way to do that is to give filmmakers a platform to show their movies.”
According to River Valley’s Executive Director, Dr. Brandon Chase, “With 201 films, we are the largest film festival in our region. To increase our inventory for the MidAmerica Film Market, we doubled our feature-length screenings to 34 movies.” That said, there will be regional spotlights from Arkansas, Missouri, and Mississippi and special selections from Georgia and California, including five Hollywood features from Porter + Craig Film and Media. Also, there are films from Canada, Britain, Mexico, India, and even Kazakhstan.
To keep everyone entertained and engaged, the majority of the screenings are short films that are up to 20 minutes in length and cover all the genres including comedy, action, drama, sci-fi, westerns and more. Highlights include some of the final on-screen performances of Hollywood legends, and also current stars as well. For more information on the destination or event: www.fortsmith.org or www.fortsmithfilm.com.
