The Kaleidoscope Film Festival in its third year has morphed and expanded into an LGBT arts and culture festival.
Now titled the Kaleidoscope Festival, Friday-Aug. 19, will include nine days of movies (17 features and 22 shorts, all making their Arkansas premieres), parties, gallery shows and literary and culinary events celebrating the diversity of the LGBT community, centering on North Little Rock's Argenta Arts District.
Festival Director Tony Taylor says the film lineup, available online at kaleidoscopefilmfestival.com, includes selections from major festivals, including Sundance, Berlin, Venice, Tribeca and SXSW (South by Southwest).
Cheryl Dunye, director of The Watermelon Woman, cited as the first film by and about a black lesbian, will be on hand for the film's 20th anniversary screening, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock. Dunye will also receive the inaugural Kaleidoscope Trailblazer Award.
Among the festival's nonfilm highlights:
• "Michael Shaeffer: Film Flash Focus Record," works on paper re-creating movie posters, opens with a reception, 6-9 p.m. Friday at Argenta Gallery, 413 Main St., North Little Rock. Admission is free. The exhibition will be up through Aug. 31. Call (501) 225-5600.
• 6 p.m. Sunday, "Bacon and Brine X South on Main: Chef Pink and Local Cuisine," South on Main, 1304 Main St., Little Rock. In coordination with chef Matthew Bell, Crystal "Chef Pink" DeLongpre of California's Bacon and Brine will help create a special farm-to-table menu for a dinner at South on Main. The event will feature a screening of Hungry, a documentary following the lives of women in the restaurant industry, as well as a conversation with Chef Pink and Courtney Rae, both featured in the film.
• 6 p.m. Monday, "Dinner and Conversation with Armistead Maupin," in partnership with Oxford American, South on Main. A conversation, moderated by Sara A. Lewis, with Maupin, the author of Tales of the City, and the opportunity to buy a book to be autographed by Maupin, who will also receive the inaugural Kaleidoscope Career Achievement in Literature Award.
• 7 p.m. Wednesday, Bryan Borland and Seth Pennington of Sibling Rivalry Press will host "Songs of Ourselves: A Queer Literary Salon," Flyway Brewery, 314 Maple St., North Little Rock. Arkansas LGBT writers will share from their work and the work that inspired them.
• 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Aug. 19, Drag Queen Brunch with Rhiannon Cortez, Tempest duJour and "Cherry Pop," South on Main.
Visit kal2017.com, for the full festival lineup, a schedule and to buy tickets.
Weekend on 08/10/2017