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   The University of Arkansas at Monticello, in conjunction with the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute, will host its 6^th annual Documentary Film Festival Thursday, Feb. 1 and Friday, Feb. 2 in the Memorial Classroom Building Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the public. 

   The films festival will begin Thursday, Feb. 1, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with three feature films shown at 7 p.m. The films will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday also. Free parking is available in the football stadium parking lot, directly across from UAM Convoy-Leslie Stadium. All other parking lots are reserved. The Memorial Classroom Building is directly across from the bookstore parking lot, half a block from the stadium. 

   The UAM Documentary Film Festival is part of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute’s outreach program to make fine films available to a wider viewing audience around the state. This year’s featured film shown Thursday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. is "The Lost Year" (55 minutes). This feature film is about the Little Rock Nine. 

   "The citizens of Little Rock sighed with relief the summer following the (1957 desegregation) Crisis at Central High. But the crisis wasn’t over yet – during the following year ... Gov. Faubus signed legislation closing all four high schools in the city, and with the backing of the citizens, the high schools in Little Rock were closed for the 1958–1959 school year, rather than have them integrated ... (only the football programs remained active) ... the stories of these displaced teenagers and their teachers are remarkable," (15th Annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Program. "Film Synopses." 57).  

   Included in this featured event will be two films by high school students. Monticello EAST Lab student, Rebecca Owens’s film, “The American Patriot” (7 minutes), shows the return of Arkansas National Guard form Iraq. Drew Central students, Jennifer Horton and Jessica Anders’s film, “History of Drew Central” (8 minutes), tells some history of their school. 

   Two highly recommended films are also featured in this year’s festival. "A New Island" (56 minutes) will show Friday at 2:10 p.m. It is the story of the Marshall Island immigrants displaced by U.S. atomic bomb testing on their home islands, who have formed an immigrant community in Springdale, Ark. If you want to gain a new perspective on the immigration question, don’t miss this film.  

   Another highly recommended film, “Pray and Serve” (60 minutes), will begin Thursday at 11:10 a.m. "Pray and Serve" is the story of the enlightened Master Ammachi’s Indian Ashram’s compassionate and practical response to aid the victims of the tsunami that hit their country. It conveys a crucial message for all of mankind. 

   The UAM Documentary Film Festival is hosted by the School of Arts & Humanities. A complete schedule of films and their starting times will be available in “The Advance-Monticellonian.” Call the UAM Arts & Humanities office between 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at (870) 460-1078 for the film schedule or more information on the festival.

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