What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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8 WHAT'S UP! OCTOBER 16-22, 2022 COVER STORY MONICA HOOPER NWA Democrat-Gazette T he Fayetteville Film Fest is back in full effect after a mix of virtual and in-person events for last year. "We're so excited about it too!" exclaims Cassie Haley, who is the executive director of Fayetteville Film Fest. Haley is one of the people responsible for creating the festival that's now in its 14th year. She was inspired to start a local festival, she says, after attending film festivals in other cities — both as a fan and as an actor. "I went to several with a movie that I did. And thought, 'wow, I bet we could pull one of those off here in Fayetteville,'" Haley says. "I had three young kids at the time. I worked as an actress, but I wasn't going to move off to LA or New York or anything." So she made a festival home at home. In 2009 Haley and a friend created the 540 Film Festival, which would later become the Fayetteville Film Fest. "We hosted regional film events throughout the area. We had a summer sidewalk series for several years, just building up people's knowledge about what independent filmmaking really is — connecting local crew and people wanting to work in film, people who were curious," she says. "By year four of our film festival, we started having filmmakers who had come to the film festival come back here to shoot their films. One of the first ones was 'Gordon Family Tree,' which was a feature film; I got to serve as a producer on that one." Since then the festival has continued to grow and change, but the mission has remained steady: to bring world class film to Arkansas, develop meaningful relationships with filmmakers, and nurture the art of filmmaking by uniting a community of creators and supporters. This year's festival will show 70 films, including four feature-length narrative films and three feature- length documentaries, Oct. 20-22 in downtown Fayetteville. "Our opening night is a street party on Center Street. We're going to do outdoor screenings of art animations and music videos and have some fun music and treats and give a chance for the filmmakers to meet our audience and vice versa," Haley says. "Then our opening night feature film is right there at Global Campus. And that's 'American Murderer,'" with Ryan Phillippe, Tom Pelphrey and Idina Menzel. The film is based on a true story of con man Jason Brown. The next day of the festival will begin with a film pitch workshop followed by "blocks" of screenings in both the narrative shorts and documentary shorts categories at the Global Theatre and the Pryor Center. Haley says that they are excited about this year's workshop leaders, Nicholas Fayetteville Film Fest connects talent from all over "The Sun Rises in The East" chronicles the birth, rise and legacy of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford- Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Led by educator Jitu Weusi, The East embodied Black self-determination, building its own school, food co-op, news magazine and more than a dozen other institutions. The feature-length documentary will play at 4 p.m. Oct. 22 in the Pryor Center Screening Room during the Fayetteville Film Festival. (Courtesy Photo) FAQ Fayetteville Film Festival WHAT — The 14th annual Fayetteville Film Festival will feature 70 films this year including four feature length narrative films, three feature length documentaries, a Q&A session with filmmakers and panel discussions. WHEN — Oct. 20-22 WHERE — University of Arkan- sas Global Campus, Pryor Center and other locations in downtown Fayetteville COST — $80 all access VIP, $50 film lover pass, $25 student pass; $5-$8 each for individ- ual screenings. INFO — fayettevillefilmfest.org BONUS — Volunteer opportu- nites available at fayetteville- filmfest.org/volunteer.