Arkansas Cinema Society’s Filmland wraps record-breaking fest,handing out more than $85K to winning filmmakers
The Arkansas Cinema Society’s Filmland Presented by the Tyson Family Foundation announced the award winners for the 9th Annual edition of the film festival which concluded a record breaking event at the Arkansas Museum of Film Arts (AMFA). Prize money and film production packages presented to the winning films and filmmakers totaled more than $85,000.
Ben Harrison’s The Robbery won the Audience Award for Filmland: Arkansas Feature receiving a Panavision New Filmmaker Program Equipment Grant – $60,000. Alexander Jeffery’s The Old Man at the Bar took the Audience Award for Filmland: Arkansas Pro Short Film and $15,000. Caleb Ferguson’s My Little Sunrise won the Audience Award for Filmland: Arkansas Student Short, which, for the first time, came with a $500 cash prize. Filmland’s track record has been impressive with feature winners the past two years each having gone on to make films in Arkansas, with the help of the Panavision equipment grant.
Kenneth Farmer received the Yancey Prosser Acting Award for his performance in Princeton James’ Hoop Street.
Levi Agee was the winner of the Filmland: Arkansas Short Film Pitch Contest with his pitch for The Adoption of Micah. In an emotional acceptance, Agee said he hadn’t made a film in more than 10 years. His winning pitch won him a $5000 cash prize, a generous Lighting and Grip Equipment Grant from Film Gear Rentals and a guaranteed premiere screening at Filmland 2027.
Regarding the just-concluded film festival, ACS Executive Director Kathryn Tucker said, “This year, Filmland broke records across the board – in submissions, audiences, ticket sales, media attention, and the grants and cash prizes we were able to award to Arkansas filmmakers. Helping Arkansas storytellers tell their stories here at home is at the heart of our mission, and having filmmakers like Kelly O’Sullivan, Joe Swanberg and Josephine Decker alongside incredible Arkansas talent – and Matthew McConaughey here supporting that mission – was a tremendous boost for our film community. Thanks to partners Variety, LRCVB, Panavision, and all our generous sponsors, we’ve grown every year, but this year we really saw the fruits of nearly a decade of work. And seeing that growing film community supported across the aisle – with the Governor, state legislators, and the Mayor of Little Rock all showing up – felt incredibly encouraging for the future of film in Arkansas.”
Along with participating in a Q&A following a Premiere Presentation screening of Andrew Patterson’s The Rivals of Amziah King, as well as “A Conversation with Matthew McConaughey and Jeff Nichols,” McConaughey received the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award, a proclamation from Governor Sarah Huckabee, and a declaration of August 14, 2026 as Matthew McConaughey Day in the City of Little Rock. Judge Reinhold held court as the featured guest at a 40th Anniversary screening of the comedy classic Ruthless People. The Arkansas Filmmaker Spotlight screening of Josh Loeb’s romantic comedy In Spite of Ourselves included Loeb, director of photography Gabe Mayhan, and composer Jim Fairchild, former lead guitarist of Modest Mouse. Swanberg attended with his latest film, The Sun Never Sets, and Josephine Decker took part in an in-depth discussion of her filmmaking process with SXSW’s Peter Debruge following the closing night screening of her festival hit, Chasing Summer.
Filmland’s impressive lineup of filmmaker panels and conversations with special guests included; “Composing for Cinema: A Deep Dive” with Josh Loeb and Jim Fairchild, “How to Shape Your Film with Sound Design” with PostRed’s Beso Kacharava & Tina Babakishvili, “Framing History Through the Lens of Filmmaking” with Michael Gunn (The Brink of War) & Dr. Christian Ostermann (Executive Director of the National Cold War Center), and an Arkansas Film Incentive Roundtable, with Sen. Clarke Tucker, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, Rep. Tippi McCullough, and Arkansas Film Commissioner Christopher Crane.
For more information on Filmland and the Arkansas Cinema Society, please go to: filmland.org.
Filmland is made possible by ACS Headline Presenting Sponsor: the Tyson Family Foundation; Premiere Presenting Sponsor: the Rahman Family Fund; Presenting Sponsor: Saracen Casino Resort; McKibbon Hospitality, Jeff & Tamra Davis, Mary Olive & John Stephens; Workshop Sponsor: the Windgate Foundation; Marketing Partner: Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau; Industry Partner: Panavision; Media Partner: Variety; and Youth Education Partner: City of Little Rock.
(L to R Front Row) Levi Agee (The Adoption of Micah), Caleb Ferguson (My Little Sunrise)
(Photo by Wildman)
2026 Filmland Film Festival Filmmaker Award Winners
Filmland: Arkansas Feature Audience Award
The Robbery
Directed by: Ben Harrison
Professional Shorts Audience Award
The Old Man at the Bar
Directed by: Alexander Jeffery
Student Shorts Audience Award
My Little Sunrise
Directed by: Caleb Ferguson
Yancey Prosser Acting Award
Kenneth Farmer (Hoop Street)
Arkansas Cinema Society Pitch Contest Winner
Levi Agee (The Adoption of Micah)