Filmland: Arkansas Cinema Society Brings Global Filmmakers to Little Rock
variety.comPeter Debruge Chief Film Critic Even a Little Rock can make ripples in the film industry at large. At least, that’s what Arkansas-born director Jeff Nichols and his Arkansas Cinema Society co-founder Kathryn Tucker are determined to prove by bringing Southern storytellers to the state capital each year.
The centerpiece of ACS’ activities is the annual Filmland event — somewhere between a festival and conference, for which Nichols invites friends and former colleagues to show and discuss their work — although the organization operates year-round.
ACS supports the local film community, amateur and professional alike, hosting Arkansas screenings of movies that might not otherwise get adequate exposure in the state, such as Oscar best picture nominees “The Zone of Interest” and “Anatomy of a Fall.” Eight years ago, Nichols felt the need for a centralized team to reach the local film community. “I’d taken ‘Loving’ back to Little Rock because I wanted to show it to friends and family, and there wasn’t even a mailing list,” the director recalls.
So Nichols reached out to Tucker, whom he’d known since high school, about launching something that could build film literacy and encourage young Arkansans to pursue a career in the industry.
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