Film buffs were saddened earlier this year when Brent and Craig Renaud, the organizers of the consistently noteworthy Little Rock Film Festival announced the festival will be ending after a nine year run. The last was in May 2015. The Renauds later answered questions from Arkansas Times entertainment editor Will Stephenson about their decision to end the LRFF, saying they were open to it continuing under new leadership, but wanted it to be done at the same level as before.
While there’s no word on whether those efforts to resurrect the full LR Film Festival will ultimately be successful, one of the niche festivals that had existed under the LRFF umbrella appears to be making a comeback.
Our tip came from an intriguing comment that surfaced in reference to an item about the ending of the LRFF in this year’s Arkansas Times Best and Worst. Said the commentor:
Regarding the “worst The End”, readers will be pleased to know that the organizers of the LRFF have partnered with the organizers of the fast-growing River City Comic Expo (to be held over two days in June) to keep the festival alive, and add thousands of new people to their attendance. A win-win for both events!
Arkansas Times editor Lindsey Millar reached out to LRFF founder Craig Renaud, and Renaud confirms that the Little Rock Picture Show, the horror, fantasy and sci-fi focused spin-off that was part of the LRFF family of film festivals, will indeed continue in conjunction with the River City Comic Expo in June. Justin Nickels, who had served as the LRFF World Shorts curator, confirmed the tip as well, saying: “It will keep the Little Rock Picture Show alive. But we might do some similar programming to LRFF as things progress.” The River City Comic Expo has a call for film submissions up on their website now.
Hold on to your popcorn buckets, film fans. It’s not a reprieve, but it’s definitely better than a slow fade to black.