Get involved with the longest-running all-documentary film festival in the nation

This article was originally published with The Idle Class on Aug. 10.

Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival — Photo by Aaron Brewer

The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival will celebrate its 30th year Oct. 8-16th, and there are many ways you can get involved with this huge festival.

During the “$30k in 30 days” fundraiser held in June, HSDFF Executive Director Jen Gerber said thanks to the continued support of the Hot Springs community the film festival raised $38,000.

“All these funds will be used to produce the festival, which will be our biggest event to date!” Gerber said.

The HSDFF executive team is also building its volunteer roster for 2021. Anyone interested can sign up on the festival website. There will be a volunteer meet-and-greet Sept. 11 for anyone interested in learning more about the positions and festival operations.

For roughly a decade the festival has been hosted entirely at the Arlington Hotel, and while the pandemic changed up the festival’s usual venue last year, Gerber said it will be changed once again this year.

“We love (The) Arlington and feel it’s important to maintain many of our traditions within this historic site, but this year we are mixing it up and will be moving our screenings to the Historic Malco and Central Theaters,” she said, noting that the Arlington will still remain a centerpiece in their festival planning with a range of events at the hotel as well.

“This year marks our 30th anniversary as the longest running all-documentary film festival in North America and we are raising the bar for all our screenings, workshops and special events,” Gerber said. “Our film selection is well underway and attendees can expect a powerful lineup of films that showcase some of the most important filmmakers and stories of our time.”

As part of the festival’s tradition, there will be parties every night of the festival as they continue our mission to bring film-lovers and filmmakers together to celebrate the power of true stories.

“Obviously we are building COVID safety measures into our event,” Gerber said, “and we are doing everything within our power to create a safe place for people to attend the festival.”

Follow along with this year’s festival happenings on Facebook and Instagram.