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Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and Tulsa’s Circle Cinema will debut new TULSA HOT DOKS Film Festival

    • One-night event Saturday, May 18!

    Award-winning double feature includes Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s Sugarcane and Lana Wilson’s Look Into My Eyes.

    The critically acclaimed Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and the historic Circle Cinema in Tulsa, Oklahoma have announced a special one-night film festival event to be held on Saturday, May 18. The event, which is presented by Arvest Bank in Tulsa, is the first of what will be an annual collaboration between the two organizations.

    The one-day festival will serve as a preview to the 33rd edition of HSDFF, which takes place in Hot Springs, Arkansas in October, and will include a double feature presentation of Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s Sugarcane, which won the U.S. Documentary Directing Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and Emmy Award-winner Lana Wilson’s Look Into My Eyes, which also debuted this year at Sundance. Special guests are set to appear at the event.

    “The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is the longest-running documentary film festival in North America,” said Brent Ortolani, Executive Director of the Circle Cinema. “The Circle is proud to partner with this highly regarded festival and bring a preview of the amazing collection of films to Tulsa.”

    “For years, Tulsans have been coming to Hot Springs to attend the annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival,” added Ken Jacobson, Executive Director of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute. “We are thrilled to be bringing a little bit of the flavor of Hot Springs to Tulsa. It makes perfect sense to strike up a partnership with the Circle Cinema, which has long been a haven for documentary film lovers. Presenting these two incredible films, fresh after their Sundance premieres, is the perfect way to launch the inaugural Tulsa Hot Doks.”

    Tulsa Hot Doks will begin with a 4:00pm screening of Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s Sugarcane. The film explores the investigation of unmarked graves at an Indian residential school in Canada, unearthing secrets above and below the ground and igniting a reckoning in the lives of survivors and their descendants, including Julian Brave NoiseCat, one of the film’s directors.

    Following a post-screening reception taking place in the Circle Cinema lobby, Lana Wilson’s Look Into My Eyes will screen at 7:00pm. The film is a riveting and eye-opening story of a group of New York City psychics who conduct deeply intimate readings of their clients, revealing a kaleidoscope of loneliness, connection, and healing. Lana Wilson, the film’s Emmy®-award winning director, is best known for her films Miss Americana (2020), a profile of Taylor Swift, and the two-part documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023). Nikenya Hall, a psychic featured in the film, who is originally from Tulsa, will attend the screening, participate in a Q&A, and conduct an in-theater group seance following the film.

    Tickets for both films, including the receptions, will be $25 for Circle members and $30 for non-members. Single film tickets may be purchased for $15 for Circle members and $17 for non-members. Discounted pass and ticket prices are available for those who purchase passes to the 2024 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. To purchase tickets, visit circlecinema.org.

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    Annalee Drain

    FESTIVAL PRODUCER

    Annalee Drain is the Festival Producer of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, stepping into the role this year after three years with the festival in other departments.

    She holds a BFA in Digital Filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas. Annalee also serves as Programming Manager for the Persistence of Vision Film Festival, a role she has held for three years.

    Based in Northwest Arkansas, she works full time as a freelance Camera Assistant on feature films and television, and recently made her debut as Director of Photography on the documentary feature Dirty Girl (Post-Production).

    Deb Fuller

    OFFICE MANAGER / MARKETING ASSISTANT / FILMMAKER FORUM CO-PRODUCER

    Deb Fuller is a native Houstonian who has called Arkansas home for more than seven years. She has immersed herself in the Inception to Projection filmmaking program in Hot Springs over the past five years.

    She has written and directed two short narratives, two documentary shorts, and participated in the production of numerous other projects. Her filmmaking centers on meaningful storytelling, often highlighting people, histories, and issues that deserve greater visibility.

    This creative work deepens her connection to the community and amplifies voices that might otherwise go unheard.

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    Erin Williams-Weir

    SENIOR PROGRAMMER

    Erin Williams-Weir is a festival programmer, producer, and award-winning filmmaker from Canada. She programs documentary features for the Chilliwack Independent Film Festival and has worked across international sales, acquisitions, and documentary production.

    Her debut documentary, NEVER GET BUSTED!, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive multiple awards on the festival circuit, including the PBS Human Spirit Award.

    Sean Volk

    SENIOR PROGRAMMER

    Sean Volk is a film programmer and arts advocate based in Fargo, ND. He is a Senior Programmer at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

    Additionally, Sean serves as a Lead Programmer at Mountainfilm and he is the Narrative Feature Programmer at the Woods Hole Film Festival. He has previously programmed for the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and the Nashville Film Festival.

    Sean received his MA in Film Studies from Western University in London, Ontario in 2015; his scholarship explored representations of monstrosity in the films of Guillermo del Toro.

    Colleen Thurston

    SENIOR PROGRAMMER

    Colleen Thurston is a documentary filmmaker and curator from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    With two decades experience in the festival world, Colleen has worked for festivals nationwide and specializes in non-fiction and Indigenous storytelling.

    In addition to her work with HSDFF, she is the Project Producer for Native Lens, and a programmer for MountainFilm and the Tacoma Film Festival. Her first feature documentary Drowned Land screened at Hot Springs 2025, and is broadcasting on PBS in 2026.

    Kyle Therral Wilson

    COMMUNICATIONS, MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

    Kyle Therral Wilson is an Arkansas-native, Los Angeles-based consultant specializing in copywriting, digital marketing, publicity, and creative writing.

    He has extensive experience in the publishing industry, most notably at Disney Publishing Worldwide, where he built email marketing campaigns and wrote interactive scripts for classic Disney characters.

    Kyle also writes and produces for stage and screen; his short film SFH was an official selection at the 2024 Cinema Diverse Film Festival in Palm Springs, California.

    Annie Gerber

    PROGRAMMING MANAGER

    Oversees daily operations and logistics including venue management, sponsor communications, transportation and housing.

    Annie Gerber is a native Arkansan who has a Bachelor of Fine arts in music from Ouachita Baptist University but later switched her main focus to film and photography. Annie spent several years working as a Teaching Assistant at the prestigious photography program at the School of Cinematic and Performing Arts in both New York and Los Angeles. For the past 5 years she has maintained her position as the Director of Operations for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

    Ken Jacobson

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    Ken oversees all aspects of the festival including fundraising and sponsor relations, program development, management of staff and volunteers, budgeting, and producing the festival each fall.

    Ken Jacobson was most recently Senior Programmer, Documentary Films at the Sonoma International Film Festival. He has served as Documentary Film Programmer at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (since 2017) and at the DocLands Documentary Film Festival (since 2019). He is also co-creator/co-host (with Michael Merrill) of the podcast “Top-Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers” with presenting sponsor Netflix.

    Previously, Jacobson was a senior member of the programming team at the American Film Institute (2018-2021) and Director of Educational Programs and Strategic Partnerships at the International Documentary Association (2013 – 2016). From 2008- 2013, he was Documentary Programmer and Programming/Education Outreach Coordinator at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He has served on numerous festival juries and as a grant reviewer for the NEA, NEH, Sundance Institute, and IDA Enterprise Fund.