Founded in 2005 by Little Rock natives and Documentary Filmmakers Brent and Craig Renaud, along with Owen Brainard and Jamie Moses to promote the film industry in Arkansas, the first three years of the Little Rock Film Festival screened more than 250 films from three dozen countries, conducted filmmaking workshops, held panels with industry leaders, and hosted notable actors, directors, and producers from around the globe. In 2010 the Little Rock Film Festival hired Executive Director and Arkansas native Jack Lofton and programmed many of the most high-profile films at the festival. Under the Renauds' and Lofton's guidance, the festival grew exponentially with more than 25,000 people in attendance and over 100 films screened, with workshops, panels, and parties included over the increased five-day festival. The 2010 LRFF showcased a strong and diverse film lineup from a pool of over 600 film submissions from 30 different countries.
Little Rock Film Festival Awards & Prizes
Official selections compete for awards and cash prizes including the Oxford American Best Southern Film Award w/ $10,000 cash prize, the Charles B. Pierce Award for Best Film “Made in Arkansas,” the Arkansas Times Audience Award, the LRFF Youth! Award, as well as awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Short Film, and the Best Arkansas Music Video. Awards presented by the Little Rock Film Festival are known as "Golden Rocks." The festival announces the award winners during the Closing Night Gala and Awards Ceremony held in the William Jefferson ClintonPresidential Library.
2007 Little Rock Film Festival
Best Feature Film: Offside Best Documentary Film: Little Birds Best Short Film: Ein, Zwei Dinge Best of Arkansas: Where’s My Closeup, Mr. Thornton?
2008 Little Rock Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature Film Award: The Promotion Best Documentary Feature Film Award: Behind Forgotten Eyes Best Short Film Award: The Adventure Charles B. Pierce Filming Arkansas Award: War Eagle, Arkansas Best Music Video Award: Like Zombies by The Moving Front. Lifetime Achievement Award: Charles B. Pierce
2009 Little Rock Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature: That Evening Sun Best Documentary Feature: The Way We Get By Best Short Film: Manual Práctco del Amigo Imaginario Charlie B. Pierce Award–Best Film “Made in Arkansas”: Slumberland Best Arkansas Music Video:Dear Daniel by The Good Fear Audience Award: Breaking Upwards
2010 Little Rock Film Festival
Golden Rock for Best Narrative Feature Film: Winter's Bone * Alamar Etienne! Passenger Pigeons Legacy Obselidia Tiny Furniture Homewrecker Arcadia Lost The Colonel's Bride Five Star Day Black, White, and Blues Golden Rock for Best Documentary Feature Film: Restrepo * Wo Ai Ni Mommy Beijing Taxi Contact How to Fold a Flag Camp Victory, Afghanistan Big River Man American: The Bill Hicks Story P-Star Rising The Secret to a Happy Ending: A Documentary about the Drive-By Truckers Speaking in Tongues Louder Than a Bomb The Oxford American Best Southern Film Award w/ $10,000 cash prize: American: The Bill Hicks Story * Charles B. Pierce Award for Best Film “Made in Arkansas”: Antiquities * Lost Dogs Silent Night Looking for Lurch The Mount Nebo Chicken Fry Sleepwalker The Bloodstone Diaries: Sleeper Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman Ouachita Rising In Queso Fever: A Movie About Cheese Dip Knocked Out? Crater People Rumby in the Jungy Spanola Pepper Sauce Company The Inner Path Six Feet of Separation Table at Luigi's Silent Storytellers Jerry Van Dyke's Arkansas Irene Golden Rock for Best Short Film Award: The Greims * Edge of the Desert Amateur Smog The Visitors Down In Number 5 Mixtape Little Ripper She's a Fox Maneki Neko Context Shadows In the Wind Fancy Goin' Nowhere Fast The Architect Dacil A Pattern of Prophecies: an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth History of Made Up Things The Mount Nebo Chicken Fry Sleepwalker The Bloodstone Diaries: Sleeper Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman Ouachita Rising In Queso Fever: A Movie About Cheese Dip Knocked Out? Crater People Pini Banini's Razor Mr Lewis Junko's Shamisen Red Light Skylight Sapsucker Reign of Death Road To Moloch Oro Verde Sanchez Solitary/Release Bout That Bout Pillars of Hope Arkansas Best Music Video Award: Angelene and the Alpha Ray * Arkansas Times Audience Award Winner: Looking for Lurch * LRFF Youth! Award: Outside the Lines * LRFF Youth! Spirit Award: Will Sondheim*
