Roling Rock Tuesday

Celebrating Year 8: Little Rock Film Festival Grows in Scope

In its 8th year, the Little Rock Film Festival will be expanding to a full week of screenings, parties and special events beginning Monday, May 12 and extending through Sunday, May 18. To accommodate the increased traffic, new venues like Stickyz Rock 'N' Roll Chicken Shack, 107 River Market Ave., Little Rock, and The Joint, 301 Main St., North Little Rock, have been added to their nearly dozen venues, spreading across downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock.
This year will also mark the return of the Clinton School of Public Service-- long a favorite venue for LRFF audiences.

The city has been abuzz about the debut of the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., Little Rock, as the flagship home for the LRFF. The brand new state-of-the-art 315-seat theater will allow the festival to screen films for the first time in Digital Cinema Projection and Dolby 7.1 surround sound. As a throwback, as a young person I remember seeing first run films at the now gone main street Center Theatre and many black exploitation films at the dubious Arkansas Theater on Louisiana Street.

In 2014, the LRFF will program more than 100 films from around the world, most with filmmakers in attendance. The festival will continue to champion the best in Southern Filmmaking with two early announcements out of the Sundance film festival-- the documentary, "Rich Hill," and the narrative feature "Little Accidents."

"Rich Hill," directed by Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos, was filmed in Missouri and tells the powerful and emotional story of three boys growing up on the edge of poverty in rural America. It won the Sundance U.S. Grand Prize for Best Documentary.
"Little Accidents," directed by Sara Colangelo, features an impressive cast, including Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook, Chloë Sevigny and Josh Lucas, and tells the story of a devastating mining disaster in an Appalachian coal-mining town, which links the lives of three very different residents in a web of secrets.

Little Rock Film Festival recently launched a completely revamped website created by Aristotle. Festival passes are on sale now at the new site and remain at the same price points they have been for the past three years. The passes are organized into convenient Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels. For the first time a Student pass is available, the equivalent of a Silver Pass but for half the price with a valid ID.
For more details or to purchase passes, click here.

Having Trouble Getting Care? Speak Up!

Are you or a client having problems accessing HIV care or services with a health plan? We want you to Speak Up!

The Speak Up project wants to hear about difficulties people living with HIV are having accessing health care, such as:

• Problems getting prescription drugs
• Trouble accessing primary care
• Difficulty accessing HIV specialists

Go to our Speak Up web page and report any problems you or a client face with new Affordable Care Act health plans, or existing plans.

When you Speak Up, you’ll help thousands of others across the country.

This national project, led by AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School, will monitor, catalogue, and analyze the problems experienced by people with HIV in the new system.

Speak Up will identify issues that need to be addressed, bring them to the attention of state and federal policymakers, advocate for change, and report back to the community.

Let your voice be heard. If you can’t get the care you need, Speak Up!

If you Created an Online Account at Healthcare.gov, you can still get some in person assistance at 349-7777 before April 15!  Do it Today!!