Shelter In Place virtual film series slated 

With theaters closed and much of the state staying home, Arkansas organizations are coming together to help audiences find healing and community through film. Every Sunday the Arkansas Cinema Society (ACS) is conducting a documentary screening followed by a live Q&A on the screening platform OVEE.

Participation is free, but registration is required. Registration for the Shelter-In-Place Virtual Film Series can be found at www.facebook.com/SIPVFilmSeries or www.ovee.itvs.org/screenings.

“Movies are for everyone and every time,” Kathryn Tucker, filmmaker, founder and executive director of ACS. “ACS is grateful to be in the unique position to continue to provide programming to Arkansans and our audience. During difficult times like these, we can turn to movies to relate, escape, and connect with one another.”

Each film will screen at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the scheduled date below:
• April 19: True Conviction, hosted by Arkansas Peace and Justice Memorial Movement
• April 26: Meet the Patels, hosted by Arkansas Minority Film & Arts Association
• May 3: For Sama, hosted by Arkansas Cinema Society
• May 10: Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, hosted by Just Communities of Arkansas
• May 17: Music in Arkansas: Origins, hosted by Arkansas PBS
• May 24: College Behind Bars (Parts 1 & 2), hosted by Washitaw Foothills Youth Media Arts & Literacy Collective
• May 31: College Behind Bars (Parts 3 & 4), hosted by Washitaw Foothills Youth Media Arts & Literacy Collective.

The Shelter-In-Place Virtual Film Series runs from April 19 through May 31 and is the product of a collaboration of arts and culture organizations across the state, including Arkansas Cinema Society, Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement, Arkansas Minority Film & Arts Association, Arkansas PBS, Washitaw Foothills Youth Media Arts & Literacy Collective, and Just Communities of Arkansas.

The weekly series of curated inspirational documentary films is designed to bring together home audiences, students, subject experts and special guests for community-building conversations around a diverse set of topics, chosen by a different host organization each week. The screening platform allows viewers to ask questions of panelists and engage in a moderated discussion through live chats and polls.

Arkansas Peace and Justice Memorial Movement (APJMM) will kick-off the series on Sunday, (April 19) with a screening of True Conviction, the true story of three exonerated men who spent a combined sixty years in prison before forming a detective agency to free other innocent men. Christopher Scott and Steven Phillips, the men on whom the documentary is based, will join the screening as panelists.

“Our goal with the film series is to not only bring people together by staying apart, it’s to ensure we all continue to move forward with equity and inclusion at the forefront of our minds,” said Donald Wood, executive director of Just Communities of Arkansas.