Fayetteville Film Fest and Walton Arts Center are proud to showcase Indie Films Artosphere on Friday, May 12 at 8 pm. Featuring 10 films from independent artists screened during the annual Artosphere, Arkansas’ Arts + Nature Festival, this mini film festival will spark conversations about sustainability and the intersection of art and nature.  

We sat down with some of the creatives behind the mini film festival to learn more about what inspires them. 

Cassie Self, executive director of Fayetteville Film Fest, curated these films based on their focus on themes of nature. These films will represent “multiple genres from animation, narrative and documentary styles, including student and professional,” Self said. As people enjoy the films, Self hopes “that it can broaden their perspective on how different cultures interact with our earth, how we individually hold values around nature and how we can be psychologically affected by the absence of it.”  

One of the films to be screened is Avoesis, which unpacks the idea of nature’s persistence despite human impact, like noise pollution and urban environments. The film’s director, Mykhailo Bogdanov studied both cinematography and environmental science, and combines his interests to spark conversations about nature and sustainability. “Filmmaking is one of the best ways to tell a meaningful story and share it with the world. That’s why, I think I am capable to fuse my passions and tell impactful environmental stories.” 

Bogdanov’s film highlights the interactions between natural life and human commercial impact. “It is important to consider the true power of that nature, but it will only be possible if we protect the environment and fill it with greenery, birds and other important living things.  "The natural cycle of life is the harmony that we belong to, and we shouldn’t disconnect and destroy it,” he continued. “We live in a world that is desperately struggling due to a climate crisis. As a father, I feel tons of responsibility to make sure my kids will have healthy soil under their feet, clean water, a lot of trees and a clear sky above them.” 

When asked what he wanted audiences to take away from the film, Bogdanov said, “I think that Avoesis has a lot of layers to it, and everyone can grab something for themself. Ideally, I would love if viewers will go out in their natural surrounding and start paying attention to everything around them, using their listening and critical thinking.” 

Avoesis is just one of the films you can see at the Indie Films Artosphere on Friday, March 12, at 8 pm. All tickets are $15!  

During Artosphere, there are a few additional opportunities to catch a film. Join us for a special, spooky, free (but ticketed) outdoor film screening of the classic 1963 Alfred Hitchcock horror film, The Birds at Prairie Street Live on Wednesday, May 10, at 8:30 pm. And, watch an unlikely love story unfold between artist Pat Musick and Apollo astronaut Jerry Carr on Friday, May 19, at 7 pm. Following the free screening of The Artist and the Astronaut, the director and music composer will be participating in a Q&A. 

Other Films Screened at the Indie Films Artosphere Showcase: 

Indie Films Artosphere Titles and Schedule 

Pili Ka Mo’o (13:58)   

Director: Justyn Ah Chong 

While much of O’ahu has become urbanized. Hakipu’u remains a kipuka (oasis) of traditional knowledge where great chiefs once resided and their bones still remain. 

To The Bone (5:36)   

Director: Andy Sarjahani 

An Ozarks naturalist and bowhunter reflects on a recent animal harvest as he ponders the cycle of life.  

Diiyeghan (5:58)   

Director: Andy Sarjahani 

A grandfather teaches his granddaughter, a young Gwich’in mother named Alisha, how reciprocity is embedded in all aspects of life. The northern lights warm the caribou, the caribou help feed and sustain the community and the community learns to honor the connections. 

To Sprayer (8:45)   

Director: Farnoosh Abedi 

In the land occupied with the sprayers army, no one has the right to grow any kind of plants either in private or public.  

The Misanthrope (21:31)   

Director: Paulina Sobczak 

After a deadly sickness descends, a heartbroken gravedigger imposes a grevious new law. 

Rain (6:34)   

Director: Mahdi Barqzadegan 

Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.  

Heal The River (5:36)   

Director: Andy Sarjahani 

Hydropower dams, built decades ago, have dramatically altered river systems across Alabama. Downstream of the Harris Dam on the Tallapossa River, families and landowners who have lost property and use of the river have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ask for changes to the operation of the dam through the relicensing process. Their hope is that changes can improve downstream conditions and begin to heal the river.   

Psychogeography of Mourning (8:30)   

Director: Shayna Connelly 

This film uses static imagery and unpredictable sound to reconcile the contradictory interior and exterior experiences that grief elicits. 

Flyover (10:58)   

Director: Brian White 

A day in the life of a modern Midwestern community as a farmhand hunts for the cow he scared away.