Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Showcases Oscar Hopefuls, World Premieres And New Doc From Jennifer Lawrence, Hillary And Chelsea Clinton
deadline.comFor generations, people have come to Hot Springs, Arkansas to enjoy its thermal springs and elegant bathhouses. But around this time of year, they’re drawn to the historic spa town for another attraction – the longest running documentary film festival in North America.
The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival wraps up its 33rd edition this weekend with a screening of Luther: Never Too Much, Dawn Porter’s film about the late singer-songwriter Luther Vandross (earlier this week, Porter received the National Medal of Arts and Humanities from President Biden at the White House, joined by fellow medalists Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Aaron Sorkin, Queen Latifah, among others).
Over the course of nine days, HSDFF, a program of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute, has screened world premieres, works in progress, Oscar-contending films, and more – a slate from as far away as Bhutan and Ethiopia, and as close as Arkansas itself. “It’s really been amazing,” Ken Jacobson, executive director of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute, says of this year’s event. “In the planning stage you have these ideas, but not until you get to the festival do you know if these things are going to come to fruition and if people are going to show up.
And both things have happened. We’ve got some amazing audiences and we’ve had great guests and just a terrific level of excitement and energy.
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