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Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute

The 35th HSDFF Official Poster is Here!

We’re thrilled to unveil the 2026 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival poster. Designed by Sonny Kay, a longtime friend of the festival and former Executive Director of Hot Springs’ Low Key Arts, this year’s poster is in keeping with our desire to look back over our rich 35-year history, as well as the history of […]

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HSDFF at Getting Real

Held every two years in Los Angeles, the Getting Real conference produced by the International Documentary Association is an important gathering place for the documentary community and an essential opportunity for the field to reckon with the rapid economic, political, technological, and structural changes that have threatened the livelihood of documentary filmmakers and the funding/distribution […]

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Two Free Screenings for America’s 250th

I’ll admit it. I’ve seen about a zillion t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, bumper stickers, etc. sporting the distinctive red Arkansas Razorback (he? she?) of our flagship University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. But up till now, I have never actually been to Fayetteville. That all ends this week with our screening of one of my favorite docs of […]

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Ken Jacobson’s Reflections on HSDFF’s America250 Series, Set to Kick Off Thursday April 23 at UAPB

One of the things about writing grants for a nonprofit organization is that, because grant deadlines often come well in advance of the programs for which you are seeking support, you have to bring a certain amount of imagination to the process. What programs do I envision putting on a year or more from now? What themes and topics might be resonant with audiences? Who are the partners that I might like to approach as co-presenters? The process is a useful one because it forces you to think beyond the day-to-day realities of the organization to dream about where you might be headed — and why.

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Circle Cinema to Present Girl Scout Cookie Documentary at ‘Tulsa Hot Doks’ on May 16 with Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

“Tulsa Hot Doks” – a collaboration between the Hot Springs (Ark.) Documentary Film Festival and Circle Cinema of Tulsa – will return for its third year on Saturday, May 16. The one-day festival will feature the film “Cookie Queens”, a captivating and candid film full of heart that follows four girls ages five to twelve […]

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Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival launches America250 screening series with University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Hot Springs, AR (April 7, 2026) – The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, in partnership with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), will launch its America250 series on April 23 as part of the 153-year-old 1890 Land-Grant HBCU’s Founders’ Week celebration by co-hosting this year’s UAPB Film Festival, along with a screening of […]

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Director Sara Dosa on Time and Water

We’re thrilled for our upcoming co-presentation with Arkansas Cinema Society of the new documentary from National Geographic Documentary Films, Time and Water. This majestic portrait of Iceland, family, and the passage of time screens on Wednesday, April 8 at 6:30 PM at Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. Tickets are available here. In anticipation of this […]

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My Sundance 2026 Diary

For the past 13 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to attend the Sundance Film Festival in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. The ritual has always remained the same: 1) find a place to stay (preferably one with a bed, but a couch will do), secure a pass, buy a plane ticket, study the heck out of the schedule, and go. This year felt different because… it was different. 2026 was the last Sundance to be held in Utah before the festival relocates next January to Boulder, Colorado.

Even those of us who think it was time for Sundance to take a bold step into the future will miss Park City. It provided more than its fair share of memorable moments. To mark this occasion, I decided to write down my thoughts during the six days I was there. I hope it captures some of the flavor of “The Last Dance.” One warning: as you might expect, this is a totally documentary-centric perspective. Enjoy!

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Stand With Docs

We’ve launched our STAND WITH DOCS fundraising campaign to help supplement our May Matching Fundraiser and give our community the chance to show support for the HSDFF programs that are most in jeopardy.

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33rd Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Presented by Oaklawn Announces Film Lineup

The critically acclaimed Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival presented by Oaklawn announced the lineup of films and honorees for its 33rd edition, taking place October 18-26. Screenings will kick off at Oaklawn’s Event Center with the Opening Night presentation of Marah Strauch and Bryce Leavitt’s Space
Cowboy, followed by the world premiere of Centerpiece Selection, Doug Pray’s Louder Than Guns, and Dawn Porter’s Luther: Never Too Much screening on Closing Night.

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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.