The film Carving will premiere locally at the Fayetteville Film Festival. The short film — written by John Walch, associate professor of theatre; co-directed by Russell Sharman, a former faculty member of the Department of Communication; and Laura Shatkus, M.F.A. alum of the Department of Theatre, with cinematography by Adam Hogan, associate professor of art — is the culminating endeavor of the NWA Film Cycle project, an innovative program granted seed funding by the Chancellor's Fund for the Humanities and Performing Arts.

After screenings around the country and picking up accolades from several festivals, the film's team is happy to announce the final stop on the U.S. festival circuit will be where they made the film, here in Fayetteville as a part of the Fayetteville Film Festival on Thursday, Sept. 18, at 3:15 p.m. at the Fayetteville Public Library. Individual tickets to Carving screening, as well as the tickets to the entire 2025 Fayetteville Film Festival, are available to the public.

The film is shot in a single unbroken take, a simple lesson on how to cut the Thanksgiving turkey turns darker by degrees as a young woman reveals to her father the real reason she so desperately wants to learn how to carve.  

• Directed by Laura Shatkus, Russell Sharman 
• Screenplay by John Walch  
• Cinematography by Adam Hogan 
• Time: 15:33; made in Arkansas, USA
• When: 3:15 p.m. today, Thursday, Sept. 18
• Where: Fayetteville Film Fest, Fayetteville Public Library, Walker Room
• Tickets: 
  • Individual Tickets to Carving Screening
  • 2025 Fayetteville Film Festival

A film dramatizing a difficult conversation between a daughter and her father, Carving was shot in a single, unbroken take while the father teaches his daughter how to carve the Thanksgiving turkey. The simple lesson turns more complicated by degrees as the daughter reveals the real reason she so desperately needs to learn how to carve. 

The film was produced by the NWA Film Cycle in partnership with local producers Dan Robinson and Kris Katrosh of New Harvest Creative and was shot in May of 2023. The NWA Film Cycle launched in 2022 to offer students the opportunity to work with accomplished film professors and professionals in key positions with a long-term goal of laying the foundation for both credit and non-credit programs in film production and writing at the university.

The film's crew and design team were composed of multiple U of A students and alumni, including Theatre alums Brandon Roye, Mercy Embree and Madelyn Marks, and School of Art students Arden Carlson, Lily Elbaum, Jordan Eldridge, Adam A. Hart, Vita Long, Ian Serio and Morgan Strother.

The film was awarded "Best Regional Short" at the Fort Smith International Film Festival in August of 2024, "Best Short" at the Phoenixville Film Festival in fall of 2024 and "Best Arkansas Short" at the El Dorado Film Festival in spring of 2025. In addition, it has screened at over a dozen festivals around the country. The success builds on the 2023 release of the NWA Film Cycle's first short film, Angle of Attack, which also showed in festivals nationally. The creative team hopes these successes and laurels will help them further make the case for future funding: "The goal of the NWA Film Cycle was to meet the demand for well-trained crew in the region with the supply of eager and committed students of the cinematic arts," Sharman said.

Hogan, who was cinematographer on both NWA Cycle films, said, "The vision for the project was to create an immersive learning environment to give students hands-on experience making films with professors and professionals to prepare this emerging next generation of filmmakers."

Walch added, "Both films were made right here and are examples of project-based learning at its best, involving students in every aspect of production and design. Our goal with the Chancellor's Grant was to give a proof of concept that this model can be done successfully at the university and that there is sufficient energy and expertise to sustain a film-making community that translates into professional productions and opportunities. I welcome conversations about how to secure further support to build on this successful model."

For more information about the NWA Film Cycle project, contact professors Walch or Hogan. For more information on the complete lineup of independent film screenings, panels and workshops, see the entire 2025 Fayetteville Film Festival offerings.

Contact John Walch: jswalch@uark.edu or Adam Hogan: ashogan@uark.edu for more information.