The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (HSDFF) will return October 7–15 and be held at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa. Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort will be the presenting sponsor for the 31st annual festival.
This year, the festival will include more than 80 films, numerous filmmaker and industry guests, Q&A panels and workshops, an education series for area students, a wellness series and evening festivities and parties with filmmakers. Nightly party locations include: Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, The Gangster Museum of America, Deluca’s Pizzeria, Splash Wine Bar Superior Bathhouse Brewery, Grateful Head Pizza Oven & Beer Garden, The Rooftop Bar, The Clubhouse and Whittington Place.
The festival announced that Christine Choy (Who Killed Vincent Chin?) will receive the film festival’s Impact Award, and Brent Renaud will posthumously be honored with the Career Achievement Award.
“We are all very excited to return to the film festival’s longtime home and arguable epicenter at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa. It will be a continuation of the process we began last year to get back to theater screenings and in-person events the way our film fans and filmmakers have come to know and love for three decades now,” said HSDFF Festival Director Sheryl Santacruz.
“This year’s honorees are also particularly special for Hot Springs. Choy has made an indelible impact through her trailblazing, activist filmmaking, and we cannot think of a better recipient for this year’s award. And, of course, the Renaud Brothers’ contributions, not just to the Arkansas filmmaking community but to non-fiction storytelling in general, is immeasurable; we are proud to rename this award in Brent’s honor,” she added.
Passes to attend the festival are currently on sale, with a full program announcement and single tickets going live in mid-September. For more information on the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival or to purchase tickets, visit: www.hsdfi.org.
The HSDFF is the longest running all-documentary festival in North America and is an Oscar qualifying festival for ‘Documentary Short Subject’ by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
