The University of Central Arkansas hosted the Conway Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 4, after a hiatus the last few years, where UCA students directed 11 of the 23 films selected.  

“This is my first time directing the festival. Apparently, the festival hasn’t been held the past few years for budget reasons. That’s why this year, I tried to find a location that was free to use. The film department provides a room perfect for screenings with no cost,” Brett Helms, festival director, said.

In its 11th year, the festival was held at Stanley Russ Hall and was open to any film produced in 2019-2021 that was either a narrative short, documentary short or animation short that was less than 20 minutes.

This year, the festival’s main goal was to revive it; that is why the festival was open to films produced in 2019-2021. They wanted to have as many submissions as possible to provide a broader selection to entertain the audience and get them excited for future events, Helms said. 

“When asked if I wanted to help revive the Conway film festival for the arts festival, I was more than happy to. LeapingDogFilms is a personal company of mine, and I wanted to use this festival as a chance to give it some more publicity. So, under LeapingDogFilms, I sponsored the event and helped pay for things such as a banner, the awards and helped with creating all the social media posts and posters for the event,” Helms said. 

This year’s festival submissions included over 2,000 films made all over the world and dwindled down to 23. This year’s focus was showing off Arkansas’ talented filmmakers, which included 70 submissions with over 10 hours of footage, Helms said.  

The films were judged based on the level of entertainment, the quality and the overall story. The goal was to have a diverse selection of films with a variety of stories to screen at the festival, including thrillers/horrors, lighthearted comedies, high-octane action, and emotional drama.  

Awards for the festival included Best Overall Film, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound Design, Best Acting, Best Production Design, Best Writing, Best Director and Audience Choice. 

One film, “Masacre,” directed by Samir Arellano, won big at the festival, including Best Overall Film, Best Cinematography, Best Writing, Best Acting and Best Director. 

“We made ‘Masacre’ at UCA, and being able to screen it one last time back home at the Conway Film Festival felt like a dream come true,” Arellano said. 

“The reception we got at the festival, I don’t know what to say other than thank you. It was a pleasure sharing this experience with everyone,” Arellano said.

”’Masacre’ is at the end of its festival run. Currently, we are working on a feature film that will be shot entirely in Arkansas. So be on the lookout for ’Undead Underground,’ anyone that would like to be involved in the film or get updates can follow us on Instagram @UndeadUndergroundMovie,” Arellano said.

Austin McEuen’s “The Hash-Slinging Slasher,” based on the SpongeBob SquarePants Halloween episode “Graveyard Shift,” won Audience Choice. 

Eric White and Terrell Case’s “Sonhood” won Best Editing with Timothy Barnett’s “The Wolf” winning Best Sound Design and Caleb Fanning’s “Blood on the Risers” winning Best Production Design.

“There were a bunch of films at the Conway Film Fest that blew me away. Connor Holmes’ ’Hope in Ida,’ Timothy Barnett’s ’A Violent Storm,’ Jack Barr’s ’Jelly,’ Tanner Manasco’s ’GALENA,’ ’The Hash-Slinging Slasher’ by the horror god of Arkansas, Austin McEuen, and Caleb Fanning’s ’Blood on the Risers’ are a few of the incredibly crafted films that screened at the festival. It was a joy catching up and meeting all the filmmakers,” Arellano said.

Following this year’s festival, Helms hopes to continue the tradition even after graduation and help grow the festival into something big. 

“To stay up to date for future events or announcements for the Conway Film Festival, follow @leapingdogfilms on Instagram,” Helms said. 

The Conway Film Festival is part of ArtsFest, an annual celebration of the arts in downtown Conway planned and presented by the Conway Alliance for the Arts and its board of directors.