BENTON — Almost four years ago, about 100 yards from Hunter West’s house in Jonesboro, 14 men, ages 18 to 27, and four juveniles were arrested in a human-trafficking case in which the men were having sex with a 12-year-old girl.
“That arrest kind of woke [me and co-writer Austin Lott] up and made us realize that [human trafficking is] a problem that happens everywhere, and not just in a big city or overseas,” said West, the director and co-writer of Ridge Runners.
Ridge Runners will be the closing film Saturday for the fourth annual Royal Film Festival at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St. in Benton. The festival will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
“We got a really good spot at a film festival that is really well attended,” said West, founder and creater of FlyDog Productions. “That means a ton to us.
“We want people to see [the film] because it does have a message behind it, and we want people to know about it.”
The film, which was mostly paid for through KickStarter, has also been shown at festivals in Los Angeles; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Fayetteville.
“Every festival that we have gone to, we have won some kind of audience award, or fan favorite,” West said.
West, who graduated from Arkansas State University with a degree in radio-television, said he is also excited to see the premiere of the film With You, which is scheduled to show at 7 p.m. Friday.
“There is a ton of central-Arkansas actors in it, people I know,” West said. “There is going to be a ton of people in it.
“I am also looking forward to seeing Ladies Night, which is directed by Johnnie Brannon. It won best short film in Fayetteville and is really good.”
West said the documentary Oma and Us — about a Japanese prison camp during World War II — by L Tanner Smith is a great film.
Lisa Goodwin, the director of the festival, said it originally started as a women’s film festival, but in the second year, organizers opened the festival to everybody.
“We opened up the submissions in six months in advance, and we narrow it down to a select few,” Goodwin said. “We get a great response for it every year as it gets bigger and bigger.”
There is a $10 fee for filmmakers to enter the festival.
“A lot of these are independent films, and they aren’t going to be seen in any theater,” Goodwin said.
Kayayo, which is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, is about children in Africa who are employed to serve as “living baskets” to transport items. According to Goodwin, Kayayo was selected for the festival’s Young Players Award.
“The youth in the theater program selected the film,” Goodwin said.
Friday’s lineup will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the film Righteous Indignation: A Tribute to Michael Nickerson. Nickerson, 33, died in 2016 as a result of complications from surgery.
“This was his first film,” Goodwin said. “He had done theater before, and this will be the first time the film is being shown.”
Saturday’s lineup will start at 10 a.m. with the feature film I Am Still Here.
“Some of the films are short films, meaning they are 30 minutes or less, and feature films are typically 30 minutes or more,” Goodwin said.
Tickets for the film festival are on sale now and are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Tickets cover both Friday and Saturday admissions.
“To me, it broadens the arts in our area,” she said. “There isn’t a festival between Hot Springs and Little Rock.
“This way, people are able to see what is going on and broaden their spectrum a little bit.”
For more information, call (501) 249-3169, or to purchase tickets, visit theroyalplayers.com or ticketleap.com.
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.