Arkansas State University’s College of Media and Communications presents the first annual Delta Flix Film and Media Festival, which will be held in conjunction with next year’s Delta Symposium on the Arkansas State University campus. The idea for the festival came from Dr. Michael Bowman, an assistant professor of media at Arkansas State University.
“The filmmaking community in this part of Arkansas is kind of an underground community. There is no place for filmmakers to showcase their work locally. They have to travel to other parts of the state and the country to showcase their work. This will be a great opportunity for them to show their work off locally.”
Bowman says the festival is also open to other forms of media.
“Media is used to tell stories, and this festival will not only allow people to tell stories through film, but also through photographs, multimedia presentations, and other forms.”
The festival will be held April 8th through 11th and will have the coinciding theme of “The South Goes to the Movies”. He tells about the advantages there are in this coinciding with the Delta Symposium.
“Having this in conjunction with the Delta Symposium allows us to take a scholarly look at films and media. There will be presentations and scholarly papers that focus on the impact that movie making has made in the South, as well as how this region is portrayed in the movies. Presentations from filmmakers and media makers will also be a part of this festival, so we are excited about this.”
He gives some examples about what will be featured during the festival and symposium.
“During the Symposium, there will be a day devoted to the music of Bob Dylan, in which papers and other presentations will be made on that topic. From the film and media side, Beth Harrington will come in to show her film about June Carter Cash. This film tells the Carter story, which may not be as well-known as Johnny Cash’s side. She produced and directed the documentary called The Winding Stream. Another documentary is called The 78 Project. This was a project that allowed musicians to record themselves on a 78 recording machine and it documents that process.”
Deadline for entries is January 31st. More information is available here.
