A film written and produced by Dr. Brian Campbell, an assistant professor of anthropology, and directed by UCA film program alums Terrell Case, Timothy Wistrand and Corey Gattin, will open the 20th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.
“The directors and I are honored to be selected and highlighted by the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival because it is an influential, highly-esteemed festival and it will assist us in attracting attention to a serious concern of many people in the Ozarks and beyond,” Campbell said.
The award-winning film “The Natural State of America ” will be shown at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14. at the Malco Theater on 819 Central Ave. in Hot Springs. A panel discussion will follow the screening.
“The Natural State of America” highlights a four decade effort to prevent herbicide use in the Arkansas Ozarks. It follows concerned residents, environmental activist, and organic farmers as they battle their rural electric cooperative in order to protect the region’s organic farms, wells, springs, and the Buffalo River, the first National River in the United States, from being contaminated by herbicides.
“This film came about as a result of my interactions with farmers and gardeners in the Ozark region who save open-pollinated seeds and practice organic production methods; they were concerned that their produce, water, and soil would be contaminated with toxic chemicals and they reached out to me to assist them with public outreach,” said Campbell.
“The Natural State of America” was an official selection of the 2011 Little Rock Film Festival and won the Society for Applied Anthropology’s 2011 annual film competition. For more information about the film, visit www.naturalstateofamerica.com.