Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2025 Announces Filmmaker Awards following innovative 34th edition
The 2025 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Presented by Oaklawn announced the award-winning films and filmmakers at the conclusion of this year’s 34th edition of the festival. Brandon Kramer’s HOLDING LIAT won the HSDFF Critics Prize. Ivy Meeropol’s ASK E. JEAN was named Best Documentary Feature. Kim A. Snyder’s THE LIBRARIANS won the Hot Springs Matt DeCample Audience Choice Award for Best Feature and ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD won the Audience Choice Award for Best Short.
The 34th Edition continued HSDFF’s growth through several innovative new programs and initiatives that came to the forefront last year, including the third edition of the heavily attended HSDFF Filmmaker Forum sponsored by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, Wyncote Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and Video Consortium. The festival included a nod to sports documentaries with special appearances by Chicago Bears’ legend Dan Hampton at a panel discussion of ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 film, THE ’85 BEARS, and Japanese breakthrough player from the 60’s San Francisco Giants, Masanori “Mashi” Murakami, at a screening of Yuriko Gamo Rumer’s DIAMOND DIPLOMACY. HSDFF’s affecting “True Stories: A Live Storytelling Event” showcased visiting documentarians and local storytellers alternating personal tales on the theme of “standing up.” HSDFF’s Centerpiece Gala featured the North American Premiere of André Hörmann’s stirring 10-year-portrait of a boy who dreams of being an American cowboy. The screening featured the film’s director, producer, cinematographer… and the cowboy himself, Crowley McCuistion, who, along with the audience, was seeing the film for the first time.
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2025 winners and their groundbreaking films: Brandon Kramer’s HOLDING LIAT, Ivy Meeropol’s ASK E. JEAN, Kim A. Snyder’s THE LIBRARIANS
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17-time National Emmy Award-winning director Jon Alpert (THE RAGING RABBI) was honored with the HSDFF Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award, which was presented to him by Craig Renaud, Brent’s brother and the director of ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD. Geeta Gandbhir, director of Netflix’s THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR, one of the year’s most acclaimed films, received this year’s Impact Award following an emotional screening of the film.
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Executive Director Ken Jacobson, said, “Throughout the 34th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, I was thoroughly amazed at how deeply engaged our audiences were with the nine days of film screenings, filmmaker conversations and nonfiction storytelling events. From Rex Nelson’s riveting talk on Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, who transformed the state of Arkansas during his time in office, to the exuberance of THE COWBOY and our highly emotional “True Stories” live storytelling event, HSDFF’s audiences embraced the provocative, the profound and the unexpected. Our 3rd annual Filmmaker Forum, which confronted the massive challenges facing the nonfiction film community and the public media sector, was the most impactful, timely and compelling Forum yet. As we look ahead to 2026, HSDFF continues to thrive as a bastion of documentary film here in Central Arkansas.”
The Critics Jury Prize went to Brandon Kramer’s HOLDING LIAT, chosen for its “extraordinary ability to transform an intensely personal story into a universal exploration of grief and resilience. Through its intimate and deeply nuanced storytelling, the film captures the humanity of its subjects and prompts viewers to consider compassion, understanding, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.”
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2025 winners and their groundbreaking films: Brandon Kramer’s HOLDING LIAT, Ivy Meeropol’s ASK E. JEAN, Kim A. Snyder’s THE LIBRARIANS
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A special mention was awarded to Suzannah Hebert’s NATCHEZ. According to the jury, “Much in the spirit of Robert Altman’s NASHVILLE, Herbert’s film is a multilayered, character-driven look at the titular town in Mississippi, a GONE WITH THE WIND-cinematic city wholly dependent on its antebellum tourism industry. NATCHEZ is a beautifully-crafted and sensitive portrait of Black and white residents alike, all reckoning with the high price paid to live inside a fictional Confederate dream.”
Regarding the selection of Ivy Meeropol’s ASK E. JEAN for the Best Documentary Feature, the jury said the thought-provoking film was “as complex as its protagonist. It raises productive questions by juxtaposing E. Jean Carroll’s public role as an advocate for female self-empowerment with the aftermath of her sexual assault. We realize that even those who champion strength can be vulnerable and see how courtrooms can become existential battlefields. We wish to recognize the film and the important conversations it inspires.”
The Jury also presented a special mention to Angela Lynn Tucker’s THE INQUISITOR, “which reflects on the life of charismatic congresswoman and educator Barbara Jordan, a woman of many firsts and a commanding voice during the Watergate investigation. Through her own words, the film illustrates how Jordan’s principles of integrity, equality, and moral courage remain relevant decades later.”
Best Short Documentary Film went to Charlotte Cooley’s LAST DAYS ON LAKE TRINITY. Situated within the broader story of the American affordable housing crisis story, the film probes the lives of three women, all senior citizens, who are being displaced from their trailer park community in Florida. According to the jury, “Told with grace and admirable restraint, the film allows the dignity of the participants to quietly rise to the surface, providing for subtlety and nuance without neglecting the urgent realities facing them. This thoroughly crafted film, which operates at the intersection of reporting on economic hardship and character study, offers something unique in the process.”
A special jury mention went to Brennan Robideaux’s SALLIE’S ASHES. In its statement, the jury noted that, ”In a time when activism is urgent, the filmshows the power of people standing up for their communities and what they believe in. With a character-driven and playful approach, the film paints an endearing portrait of Sallie, and fellow retirees Diane and Savan, as they take on the serious work of organizing against toxic coal ash.”
The Hot Springs Matt DeCample Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film went to Craig Renaud’s ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD. The award is named after the former festival Communications Director, who was one of the film festival’s most passionate supporters until he passed in 2020.
The 2025 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Award Winners:
FEATURE FILMS
HSDFF Critics Prize
HOLDING LIAT
Director: Brandon Kramer
Special Mention
NATCHEZ
Director: Suzannah Herbert
Best Documentary Feature Film
ASK E. JEAN
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Special Mention
THE INQUISITOR
Director: Angela Lynn Tucker
SHORT FILMS
Best Short Documentary Film
LAST DAYS ON LAKE TRINITY
Director: Charlotte Cooley
Special Jury Mention
SALLIE’S ASHES
Director: Brennan Robideaux
MATT DECAMPLE AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
Audience Choice Award for Best Feature
THE LIBRARIANS
Director: Kim A. Snyder
Audience Choice Award for Best Short
ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD
Director: Craig Renaud
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2025 Jury Members
CRITICS CHOICE
Michael Cook, Film Critic, KLRT-TV (NBC) and KARK-TV (FOX)
Lauren Wissot, Contributing Editor, Filmmaker & Documentary magazines
FEATURES
Sarah Childress, Director of Strategy & Operations, Nashville PBS
Kris Higgins, Board Chair, Emeritus, Docs in Progress
Ouida Washington, Producer, Wk Media
SHORTS
Caryn Capotosto, Founder, Museum & Crane Documentary Films
Clint Jukkala, Executive Director, Southern Documentary Fund
Bernardo Ruiz, Filmmaker and 2024 Documentary Film Fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy