The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival kicks off its 30th anniversary with a screening of Samuel D. Pollard and Rex Miller's "Citizen Ashe," detailing the evolution of Arthur Ashe from groundbreaking tennis legend to public figure, at 7 p.m. today in Horner Hall at the Hot Springs Convention Center, 124 Convention Center Blvd., Hot Springs.
The concluding film, 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Malco Theater, 817 Central Ave., Hot Springs, will be Julie Cohen and Betsy West's "Julia," focusing on Julia Child, chef, author and the television star who introduced the concept of the "celebrity chef."
Centerpiece selections in between include:
• CJ Hunt's "The Neutral Ground," exploring the social upheaval caused by the planned removal of Confederate statues in New Orleans, at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Arlington Resort & Hotel, 239 Central Ave. and 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Malco Theater.
• E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's "The Rescue," chronicling the rescue of a boys soccer team trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand, 7 p.m. Thursday at the Malco Theater.
In all, the festival will screen 84 films, including American and international full-length features and shorts.
The festival returns to a hybrid of in-person/in-theater and online screenings. A complete schedule and ticket information are available at hsdfi.org.
This year also marks the inaugural program for new director of programming Greta Hagen-Richardson. This year's honorary chair is Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences CEO Dawn Hudson.
The festival will also hand out two awards: The 2021 Career Achievement Award, to Pollard, and the 2021 Impact Award, to recent Academy Award-nominee Garrett Bradley.