2nd Annual Fort Smith International Film Festival tickets go on sale Tuesday June 14. We have received 364 submissions from over 50 countries including the Cherokee and Choctaw Nations. “It’s exciting to see that our film festival is growing and becoming even more international,” explains executive director Brandon Chase Goldsmith. “We have gotten submissions from close to ten additional countries and over 10 more hours in film than we received the first year. Not only are the quality of our entries increasing, but more people around the world are discovering Fort Smith Arkansas!” Our festival screeners are busy watching all 135 hours of film as we pick the best of the best. We will announce our final line-up in August.
Presented by Arvest Bank, the 2022 Fort Smith International Film Festival will be August 26 & 27 at TempeLive. Built in 1929, the masonic temple houses several rooms with original art deco fixtures and Egyptian themed murals, which will serve as the backdrop for screening rooms and filmmaker workshops. Harkening back to the venue’s past as a theater, TempleLive will provide an all-in-one movie going experience for festival goers and filmmakers.
The theme for the second year will be “Borderlands. ”Located in an original wild west border town, the 2022 Fort Smith International Film Festival, celebrates Borderlands, where the stories of our lives exist. Our shared humanity is experienced at the borders between countries, nations, states, cities, neighborhoods, languages, races, genders, cultures, social economic classes, and ages. Borderlands are where innovation happens, realities are challenged, novel concepts and fresh identities are born and questioned. Film acts as a threshold between actuality and fantasy capturing the moment a border is established, defended, or overcome. For filmmakers, art is our manifest destiny, and the 2ndAnnual Fort Smith International Film Festival, will be a theatrical gateway to creativity’s wild west, where all perspectives and points of view are welcomed.
We have a limited number of VIP tickets ($30), which give you the best seats in the house, access to the filmmakers, actors, and more. Our goal is to keep the festival accessible, general admission are $10 in advance and $15 Day of. You can get your tickets at FortSmithFilm.com.
****Additional Film Programing****
Borderlands Film Series
June Movies
Fort Smith (June 16) – The River Valley Film Society presents Borderlands, a monthly film series, which showcases some of the 132 movies screened at the 2021 Fort Smith International Film Festival. “Come out and enjoy 10 movies for only $5,” Brandon Chase Goldsmith, executive director Fort Smith International Film Festival explains, “We are featuring international, regional, local, and indigenous short films from our first film festival.” Grab some popcorn, a drink and bring your friends and family out for a theatrical event at TempleLive. (June 16, Doors 6:30, Show 7:00pm).
Experience movies that you won’t see at the big movie chains. Mark Williams’ (36 min) “Ikaiyana la chi” ( I Will Remember) exposes the unknown stories of the last Choctaw removal to Oklahoma in 1903 by train, the cultural impact it had on the Choctaw people and a certain Oklahoma community. In Samer Al Sayegh’s (15 min) “Luna,” Karim, a Lebanese teenage boy with feelings of insecurity meets an equally unwanted classmate named Luna through a presentation about the eclipse happening the next day. Arkansas filmmaker Johnnie Brannon’s (9 min) “Ladies Night” tells the story of three best friends who get together for a night of wine and to share their deepest darkest secrets. “Decolonized Cooking with Chef Nico Albert” by Jeremy Charles (9 min) shows when it comes to Cherokee cooking, professional Chef Nico Albert takes pride in taking our food to the next level and as the singer of a metal band in her spare time, really, her whole life is next level. Jessica Graham (10 min) highlights the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States, with “Into Light,” which bringing to life suffragist Inez Milholland’s inspiring final speech. Colleen Thurston’s (11 min) “Sardis” takes us deep into the Choctaw Nation, where a picturesque lake hosts an unusual sight: an island populated by rows of headstones, the last relic of what was the town of Sardis, Oklahoma.
Additional shorts include winner of Jen’s Kitty Rehab Best Animal Movie, Roman Sinitsyn’s (6 min “Cop,” “RAT” by Todd Strauss-Schulson (5 min), awarded Best Drama Short 2021, Bett Helms (3 min) “The Ceiling Man,” and “Road Friend” by Aleksei Borovikov (2 min).
10 International, Regional, Local, and Indigenous short films
June 16 ($5 – Doors 6:30p – Movie 7pm)
TempleLive
200 N 11th St, Fort Smith, AR 72901
Fort Smith International Film Festival
August 26 & 27 (GA $10 Adv, $15 Day of, VIP $30)
TempleLive
200 N 11th St, Fort Smith, AR 72901
For more information FortSmithFilm.com
