Filmland 2024 is just around the corner and the Arkansas Cinema Society has just announced this year’s lineup of feature films and shorts. Filmland is an annual curated celebration of local, national, and international cinema that takes place in Little Rock, Arkansas. Past guests have included Richard Linklater, Jessica Chastain, Adam Driver, Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Chloé Zhao, Will Forte, Ted Danson, David Arquette, Mary Steenburgen, David Gordon Green, and ACS co-founder Jeff Nichols among others.

This year’s Filmland begins Thursday, August 15th and continues through Sunday, August 18th. As usual, it will include feature films, blocks of short films, workshops, and numerous Q+A sessions with directors, writers, producers, and actors. Variety is serving as Filmland’s official Media Partner with chief film critic Peter Debruge hosting the inaugural Southern Storytellers Panel (more details below). All events will be held at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts – Performing Arts Theater.

Here is a rundown of the Filmland 2024 line-up so far, with more programming to be announced later this week….

Thursday – August 15th

(2:00 PM) “Voices of the Ogahpah” – “Voices of the Ogahpah” is a captivating journey into the heart of a resilient people whose history stretches back long before European colonization. This documentary delves deep into the origins, struggles, and triumphs of the Ogahpah, uncovering the layers of their unique culture. From their ancient traditions to their modern-day challenges. Voices of the Ogahpah is a living testament to the endurance and culture of a proud people. Through voices both past and present, this film brings to life the story of a people whose legacy continues to shape their identity and inspire those who hear their tale.

(3:30 PM) “The Peanut Butter Falcon” – A down-on-his-luck crab fisherman embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a professional wrestling school in rural North Carolina and away from the retirement home where he’s lived for the past two and a half years. Stars Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Jon Bernthal, and Thomas Haden Church.

(7:00 PM) “Los Frikis” – Inspired by true events, Los Frikis is a powerful coming-of-age story set in early 90s Cuba, centering around 18-year-old Gustavo who idolizes his older brother Paco and his punk, “Frikis” bandmates. When word reaches the Frikis of a potential reprieve from the effects of the economic crisis, they do the now unthinkable: deliberately inject themselves with HIV to live at a government-run treatment home. It’s there that these teenagers create their own utopia full of joy, rock’n’roll, and freedom.

Friday – August 16th

(12:30 PM) “I’ll Be There” – As the youngest of five children, Grace’s blended family was never easy to explain to her friends. As soon as graduation came around, she left the confusion and rawness of her home life behind. When the film finds her more than a decade later, she has built a new life for herself in Los Angeles and cemented her place as the outsider of the family. But her new life is upended when she learns that her older brother AJ has cancer and her now estranged family comes to town to support him. The film is set during the days after Michael Jackson’s death in the Los Angeles hospital that is next door to the L.A. Coroner’s Office, where the King of Pop was autopsied. As we unravel the family’s traumatic past, the pivotal role AJ played as Grace’s protector, and the chasm that now exists between them as adults, Grace comes to terms with the ghosts of her past and her former role as the family’s “Golden Child.” Michael Jackson played an important role in the siblings’ childhoods and the irony of the timing isn’t lost on Grace. As she tries to reconcile her complicated relationships with her siblings, she’s also saying goodbye to the icon who was the soundtrack to that chapter of her life.

(2:30 PM) “All Happy Families” – Haroula Rose’s charming dramedy stars How I Met Your Mother’s Josh Radnor as Graham, an actor and writer in a slump and still waiting for his big break while his hugely successful brother Will (Rob Huebel) stars in his own sitcom. On the weekend before new tenant Dana (Chandra Russell) is due to move into their childhood home, the siblings and their parents find themselves unexpectedly under the same roof again, where every corner reveals secrets and surprises and the family airs out long-held resentments. This slice-of-life film features a terrific ensemble cast, including the pitch-perfect Becky Ann Baker as Sue, the matriarch who’s tired of having to hold everything together and John Ashton as Roy, a grump who needs to change his ways but doesn’t seem capable of doing so. With a heartfelt and witty script co-written by Coburn Goss, Rose delicately weaves a deeply relatable portrait of family dysfunction, with all of its delightfully entertaining mess coming to the surface over the course of one eventful and unforgettable weekend.

(5:00 PM) “I Do This for a Living” – Jeff, a mechanic and southern family man, navigating the life of his recovering addict son who starts a relationship with a trans girl.

(7:00 PM) “Daddio” – New York City. JFK airport. A young woman jumps into the backseat of a yellow taxi, the cabbie throws the vehicle into drive as the two head out into the night toward Manhattan, striking up the most unexpected conversation resulting in a single, epic remarkable journey. Stars Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson.

Saturday – August 17th

(10:45 AM) Student Shorts: Block 1 – The first block of student shorts features the work of filmmakers Jonathan Michael Peterson, Janie Gentry, Aidan Kolokithas, Sophie Barnes, Paula Blanco Perez, Vita Long, and Ren Tsukamoto.

(12:30 PM) Student Shorts: Block 2 – The second block of student shorts features the work of filmmakers Brinson Davenport, Lexie Mosby, Nathaly M. Moreno, Christina Waterman, and Michelle Burney.

(2:30 PM) “Rise Above” – Rise Above is the riveting and potent story of an uneducated, poor, black and quietly gentle young boy who grew up in the ghetto of Augusta, GA (The Sandhills) and defied the odds of what was surely a preordained destiny of poverty for him. RISE ABOVE is the story of how a young boy- Carl Jackson, who dropped out of school at the age of ten to become the head of his household and provider for a family of 11, became an icon in the world of Golf: Longest serving Caddie from the Masters/54 years. the first Black man (non-pro) to golf at Augusta National. Black Golf Hall of Fame, Keys To The City of Augusta and Caddie Hall of Fame.

Sunday – August 18th

(10:45 AM) Pro Shorts: Block 1 – The first block of pro shorts features the work of filmmakers Kathryn Francis Tucker, Clayton Henderson, Cole Borgstadt, Alexander Jeffery and Chris Alan Evans, Hannah Alline, John Backstrom, and Brett Helms.

(1:30 PM) Pro Shorts: Block 2 – The second block of pro shorts features the work of filmmakers Ethan Edwards, Russell Sharman and Laura Shatkus, Emmanuel Joel Rodriguez, Chris Churchill, and Johnnie Brannon.

(3:45 PM) Variety’s Southern Storytellers Panel – Variety’s Chief Film Critic Peter Debruge will host the inaugural Southern Storytellers Panel, presented by Variety, with Jeff Nichols (The Bikeriders), Michael Schwartz (The Peanut Butter Falcon, Los Frikis), Christy Hall (Daddio, It Ends With Us),  Clint Bentley (Sing Sing, Jockey, Train Dreams) and Monique Walton (Sing Sing, Bull, Hollow Tree).

(6:30 PM) “Sing Sing” – Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art. Stars Colman Domingo, Paul Raci, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, and Sean San José.