Two U of A Documentary Films Picked for Hot Springs Film Festival 2017

The Favored Strawberry is one of two University of Arkansas documentaries selected to screen at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.
Courtesy of TheFavoredStrawberry.com

The Favored Strawberry is one of two University of Arkansas documentaries selected to screen at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two University of Arkansas documentary films will screen at the 2017 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival on Oct. 10. Both films were produced by the School of Journalism and Strategic Media. 

The Favored Strawberry is a one-hour documentary produced by the Emmy Award-winning team of Larry Foley and Dale Carpenter, and is narrated by Academy Award winner Ray McKinnon.

Others involved in the film include director of photography Hayot Tuychiev, art director Tom Hapgood and original music score by James Greeson.

The documentary was filmed in eight states including Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina and California.


Courtesy of TheFavoredStrawberry.com

The story explains the process of growing strawberries on big, small and family-owned farms. From there the film explores how strawberries are picked and distributed for retail.

The film even shares a strawberry shortcake competition — that's sure to make viewers crave the tasty dessert. The film was produced in cooperation with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability.

The second film is Mike the Birdman and is produced by journalism graduate students John Erwin, Paige Murphy and Ninette Sosa. Over the course of three months, the trio followed reclusive bird watcher Mike "The Birdman" Mlodinow to various bird watching locations in and around Fayetteville.

Mlodinow refers to himself as "the birdman" when he calls people, which is rare since he does not own a phone; he also does not have internet at his home or a car. The documentary looks at the daily life of a man who basically lives off the grid, but can tell you about nearly every bird that flies over the sky in Northwest Arkansas.


Courtesy of MiketheBirdman.com

Mike "the Birdman" Mlodinow riding the bus to get to Lake Fayetteville.

Contacts

Ninette Sosa, graduate assistant
Center for Ethics in Journalism
479-575-7047, nsosa@uark.edu

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