Fort Smith International Film Festival receives works from more than 50 countries

The Fort Smith International Film Festival, now in its second year, received 364 submissions from more than 50 countries and the Cherokee and Choctaw Nations. The festival received submissions from 32 countries the first year.

“It’s exciting to see that our film festival is growing and becoming even more international,” Festival Executive Director Brandon Goldsmith said in a statement. “We have gotten submissions from close to ten additional countries and over 10 more hours in film than we received the first year. Not only are the quality of our entries increasing, but more people around the world are discovering Fort Smith Arkansas!”

Goldsmith said festival screeners are watching 135 hours of film in the process to select category winners. Submissions to this year’s festival include “Valera,” submitted March 5 from a director in Ukraine, and “One,” submitted Feb. 4 from the Russian Federation.

Presented by Arvest Bank, the 2022 Fort Smith International Film Festival will be August 26-27 at TempleLive in downtown Fort Smith. Built in 1929, the masonic temple houses several rooms with original art deco fixtures and Egyptian themed murals, which will serve as the backdrop for screening rooms and filmmaker workshops.

“Harkening back to the venue’s past as a theater, TempleLive will provide an all-in-one movie going experience for festival goers and filmmakers,” noted a festival statement.

“Borderlands” is the theme for this year’s festival. Tickets and more information on the festival are at this link. There are a limited number of VIP tickets which include access to filmmakers and actors.

“Our shared humanity is experienced at the borders between countries, nations, states, cities, neighborhoods, languages, races, genders, cultures, social economic classes, and ages. Borderlands are where innovation happens, realities are challenged, novel concepts and fresh identities are born and questioned. Film acts as a threshold between actuality and fantasy capturing the moment a border is established, defended, or overcome,” noted the festival.