Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

10/04/2026

Watch the trailer for CLOSURE, directed by Michał Marczak, a cinematically stunning portrait of a father searching for his missing son.

Marczak will be in attendance for the screening, scheduled for Sunday, October 11 at 12:30 PM. He will also participate in our Documentary Roundtable conversation on Monday, October 12, at 7:30 PM.

Tickets available at hsdfi.org.

https://youtu.be/C-Q9Zl259yU

CLOSUREA Film by Michal MarczakIn Theaters October 28th, 2026--...

10/04/2026

Join us on Sunday, October 11 at 6 PM for a special screening of PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS.

This powerful film let the world know about a truly shocking Arkansas crime and the disturbing trial of the West Memphis Three that followed.

The film's co-director and our Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award winner, director Joe Berlinger, will participate in a post-screening Q&A.

SYNOPSIS:
A horrific triple murder of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 leads to the arrest of three teenagers accused of killing the boys as part of an alleged satanic ritual. The subsequent media storm and trials set off a series of events that reverberated for years to come. Special 30th anniversary screening.

Prior to the screening, director Joe Berlinger to receive the Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award

Get tickets at this link: https://hsdff2026.eventive.org/Film_Guides/6aa0cb40f7697c1710b6e5b2

10/03/2026

Watch the trailer for PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS, directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. A special 30th Anniversary screening of the film takes place on Sunday, October 11 at 6 PM at The Arlington in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Prior to the screening, Berlinger will receive the Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award for his three decades of using nonfiction storytelling to investigate crime, injustice, and abuses of power.

Tickets are available at this link.
https://hsdff2026.eventive.org/Film_Guides/6aa0cb40f7697c1710b6e5b2

https://youtu.be/Ra122rQHJUk

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills is a 1996 Amer...

10/02/2026

We had a marvelous sneak preview event in Hot Springs Village earlier this week and got a Q&A out of a few of our friends!

Consensus is that you should all line up for those Shorts Programs! And buy all your friends some tickets!

Get tickets and passes at hsdfi.org. See you soon!

10/02/2026

Get ready to do the Time Warp again with this crowd-pleasing doc about a Shadow Cast of Rocky Horror fans in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

TIME WARP screens on Saturday, October 10 at 6:45 PM, followed by a Q&A with director Allison Berg, executive producer Jen Rainin, producer Susan Margolin, and the film's subject, Kenny Starling.

SYNOPSIS:
For more than fifty years, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has entertained and inspired audiences around the world. In the small town of Rock Springs, Wyoming, Kenny Starling stages the first Shadow Cast performance of the beloved film. When conservative critics try to stop the performance, Kenny and the cast take a stand to defend their art and perform in their hometown. Time Warp is a bold and inclusive film that celebrates q***r joy, the power of community, and the empowering legacy of a cinematic classic.

Don't dream it! Be it! And check the link below for tickets and more info:

https://hsdff2026.eventive.org/Film_Guides/6a97830867bb7f0295cdc2e9

10/02/2026

Watch an excerpt from THE STORY OF DOCUMENTARY FILM, an extraordinary event screening in 2-hour intervals over 8 days of the festival.

Drop in for some early documentary history, choose your favorite decade(s), or get a special pass and see the whole thing!

The first screening begins October 10 at 9:30 AM at The Arlington in Hot Springs.

Tickets and passes available at hsdfi.org.

Watch an excerpt at the link below.

https://youtu.be/MdSnPy_GyKk

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

10/01/2026

is offering an amazing opportunity to see a documentary event!

THE STORY OF DOCUMENTARY FILM is a feature in 16 hour-long chapters that takes viewers from the 19th century origins of the form to present day. Screenings take place in 2-hour intervals beginning on October 10 and run for the duration of the festival. Drop in for some early film history, your favorite decade, or get a special pass to see the entire film!

See below for more info about this extraordinary film from Mark Cousins.

SYNOPSIS
The beloved, deeply inquisitive filmmaker Mark Cousins (The Story of Film) presents his latest epic masterpiece about the ceaselessly fascinating world of film — this time turning his attention to the cinema that is nearest and dearest to our hearts: the documentary. Spanning 16 hours in 16 chapters, Mark covers the sweeping history of documentary, from its late 19th century origins to today. As always, the journey is international in scope, surprising in its revelations, and inspiring in its creative exploration. Each two-hour program features two chapters. Separate admission or pass required for each program.

Get tickets here: https://hsdff2026.eventive.org/Film_Guides/6aa722203dbd704a134bbb56

10/01/2026

Watch the trailer for our Centerpiece Feature, THE OTHER SIDE OF MEMORY, directed by Nick Capezzera. This World Premiere presentation screens Tuesday, October 13, at 7 PM in Cinema 1 at The Arlington.

Director Capezzera will attend and participate in a post-screening Q&A.

For tickets and more information, visit hsdfi.org.



https://vimeo.com/1226208596?fl=pl&fe=sh

A Korean adoptee returns to Seoul to seek answers about his past and to find his biological parents, leading to personal discoveries that reshape his understanding of family.

09/30/2026

Join us on October 13 at 7 PM for our Centerpiece Selection, the World Premiere of acclaimed filmmaker Nick Capezzera's THE OTHER SIDE OF MEMORY. Nick has made a personal and moving documentary about family and identity that we can't wait to share at .

Nick will be in attendance at the screening and will join us for a post-show Q&A.

SYNOPSIS:
With affecting vulnerability, director Nick Capezzera documents a decade long-search to locate his Korean birth parents and reconnect with a cultural heritage he left behind as an infant. As Nick journeys to Seoul to trace the threads of his origin story, a more complex understanding of identity begins to emerge, unraveling his previous contemplations around family and bringing new meaning to his ideas of belonging. Both a personal exploration, and a cross-national examination of nature and nurture, Capezzera invites viewers and himself to welcome grey areas in his quest for answers.

Tickets available at this link:
https://hsdff2026.eventive.org/Film_Guides/6aa0ccd1f472bd0eed30b6e0

09/22/2026

We're thrilled to honor Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning director Joe Berlinger with this year's Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award. Joe joins us on Sunday, October 11th at 6 PM to receive his award and share his landmark documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. He also kicks off our Filmmaker Forum, participating in a conversation about his career with award-winning filmmaker Allison Berg on Monday, October 12, at 9:15 AM.

JOE BERLINGER IS an Academy Award nominated and multiple Emmy-winning filmmaker who has spent more than three decades using nonfiction storytelling to investigate crime, injustice and abuses of power. His landmark films include Brother’s Keeper, the Paradise Lost Trilogy, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and Crude. Berlinger’s work has helped secure the freedom of seven wrongfully convicted people, including three from death row, while advancing causes ranging from criminal-justice reform to environmental and human-rights accountability. A recipient of Peabody, DGA and Sundance awards, he has also brought socially consequential storytelling to global audiences through 19 Netflix productions, including his acclaimed Conversations with a Killer series.

THE BRENT RENAUD CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD is named for award-winning Arkansas-native documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud, who with his brother Craig documented life in conflict and hot zones around the world. Brent was killed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine in 2022 while trying to tell the stories of the country's refugees. Every year HSDFF gives our career achievement award in his name to a filmmaker telling important stories that change the world, just as he did.