BRAU HAUS BRUNCH SHOW! 

Cover and insert for Tin Tin Can’s Strange Vibrations album.

As many of you may have already seen in the local press the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute’s beloved place of residence for the past nearly 20 years is now under foreclosure by Arvest bank. This was not a surprise by many of those involved with the organization during the past year. Unfortunately this is the result of poor planning by individuals affiliated with the board from previous years. The real hurt resulted after the purchase of the adjacent parking lot next to the Malco in 2008. Prior to that the building had been completely paid for by benefactors of HSDFI, but when the parking lot was purchased the Malco was put up for collateral. So when the balloon payment became due on the parking lot during the 20th annual film festival, HSDFI did not have the funds to pay for it. This along with the fact that Arvest would not refinance has resulted in the present situation. Yes ladies and gentleman. The building was jeopardized for a parking lot. Which is for sale…if you know anyone who is interested.

Prior to taking up residence in the Malco, the offices for HSDFI were located in the back upstairs offices of what is now the Poets Loft. The first ever Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival took place at both the Central and the Malco theatre.

The 21st Annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is still going to take place and it will happen with the help of volunteers and it will likely be one of the best festivals we’ve ever had here in Hot Springs. This is due largely to the fact that despite recent financial woes to HSDFI in previous years the festival itself continues to get better and better. This would not be the case had it not been for previous festival directors, Melanie Massino, Darla Dixon, Michael Mueller, Dan Anderson and scores of other staff, volunteers and interns.

We’re still receiving films from all around the world from filmmakers who have heard nothing but good buzz about the festival and we will always have the support of documentary filmmakers from all around the country. A good festival whether it be music, film, art, etc. always mirrors the city that it’s in and it’s the charm of downtown Hot Springs and the people here that make the HSDFF so great.

The present situation with HSDFI can be examined in many different ways and no one particular person is to fault for what has happened. The Malco is one of the largest and most grandiose buildings in downtown Hot Springs. The architecture is unparalleled and I only wish I could go back in time to see it in it’s former glory. Tom Nichols of KVRE 92.9 in Hot Springs Village remembers being a radio DJ on the 2nd floor of the building where a small stage, dance studio and old offices lay dormant and quite nearly forgotten. The 3rd floor stairwell is magnificent even in it’s current condition, old layers of rotten and burned wall paper peeling off the walls everywhere you see.

Like it or not this is the state of many of the old and historic buildings in downtown Hot Springs and unfortunately no one in this city has the money  or the interest to do anything about it. HSDFI board members past and present had many hopes and dreams of remodeling and rebuilding the facility to house a state of the art film institute that would promote filmmaking and art in Hot Springs National Park but it has never come to fruition and it would seem at this point that it likely never will. The overhead of the facility which encompasses more than 600,000 sq. feet is simply too much for this small non-profit to afford.

Although it would be a great shame to loose access to this historic entertainment gateway in Hot Springs National Park, there are always other venues where films can be displayed as long as the public still comes and I am confident that they will come as they do every year from all around the country. What will happen to the Malco is uncertain at this time. HSDFI is taking measures at attempting to retain the building but at the current time the worst case scenario is that HSDFI will have to move from it’s current location. This itself will be a large undertaking as there is an archive of over 17,000 films in the upstairs library which will need housed in a climate controlled area. For this task, if it is required, we will certainly be calling upon the help of volunteers in the community.

This foreclosure has been eminent since even prior to the 20th Annual Film Festival and powerful members of the community had made small attempts to help avoid this from happening however due to lack of grant funding, the refusal of Arvest to refinance and indecision and mismanagement from the board the foreclosure proceedings have officially begun. I have no administrative power currently and have just been volunteering my services to help in monitoring film traffic and chairing the screening committee. Though I do this as a volunteer I also do it in part because I’ve invested a great deal of my time during the past 4 years to this non profit organization.

I personally think that there is an unseen opportunity here for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute to begin anew. The festival has done much already to recreate itself as a more independent festival and filmmakers from around the globe cherish it’s spirit and its non-competitive atmosphere. The festival has been privileged to be able to have the Malco as it’s home for the past 20 years and the downtown historic district of Hot Springs National Park is certainly an appealing aspect of the festival for both filmmakers and those who attend the festival each year. Hopefully no matter what happens we will be able to continue to rent or have access to the Malco in the future whether or not the Institute is able to retain ownership of the facility. My only hope is that it does not become an empty storage place of fond memories like so many other historic buildings in downtown Hot Springs.

I often stand in the Malco and feel the missed opportunities that were never realized. There is so much unused real estate left vacant in the lower and upper floors in much of downtown. If there are people in the community who are interested in highlighting the importance of this historical theatre located here in downtown Hot Springs then I encourage you to help by going to the local Garland County Historical Society to assist in doing research on the building. It is not far fetched to theorize the possibility of opening a museum in the Malco especially due to it’s place on the national historic registry as well as it’s original segregated rear entrance.

I would also encourage those of you who still write letters to please write to city officials regarding this situation. I know that no one in downtown Hot Springs wants to see another towering dead relic to be standing as a monument to the past glory of Hot Springs. As regards HSDFI, I know that it is difficult for many people to get behind an organization that they do not know or do not necessarily understand and it is because the organization no longer has a face. It’s hard even for me at this current time to really understand and see what there is to save other than this culturally historic theatre. When in doubt about what to believe in regards to a non-profit organization you’re always supposed to go back to the mission and the mission of HSDFI is to provide unique educational and cultural opportunities, to advance the documentary genre as a meaningful art form, and to establish the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival as the premier documentary film festival in the world.

I personally feel that since it’s inception that HSDFI has indeed established the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival as a premier doc fest in the world. I also feel that the documentary genre has clearly established itself as a meaningful art form. While HSDFI does it’s best to provide educational and cultural opportunities to the community year round, it is really the annual festival that makes a truly cultural and educational impact to the community of not just Arkansas but to the South and the rest of the country.

Friends are inquiring about what is to become of the Malco? Clearly the Malco is forever linked to the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. It’s a part of the balance in the downtown art culture which is rapidly changing every year with the influx and departure of artists and talent both young and old. The Hot Springs Documentary Film festival is what brought me home to Hot Springs and I will always be privileged to have been a part of it. My suggestion to the board and to the community is to concentrate on helping to put on an amazing 21st Annual Documentary Film Festival October 12-21st 2012. This festival is bigger than any board of directors, or bank and it belongs to the people of Hot Springs not just one person or a handful of people with varying principles and economic interests.

In the coming months I hope that there will be attempts on behalf of the community to assist in various fundraising projects, sure. But beyond all of the fundraising and patting each other on the backs let’s try focusing on something greater and even perhaps beyond our reach. If it’s possible and HSDFI is able to retain the Malco let’s actually turn it into something not worth forgetting or jeopardizing for a parking lot. Let’s open it up for the public to come and see. It is a dusty old jewel when it comes to entertainment here in Hot Springs National Park and I will reemphasize how much of a shame it would be if it were neglected perhaps even more than it is now. 

Today I woke up to French toast made for me by a very lovely girl. We watched the first season of Flight of the Conchords and Eagle vs. Shark before she left for work and now I feel the urge to speak in a New Zealand accent and invent silly lyrics to song. Yesterday I bought her a little yellow cactus and enough groceries to last for the week. God I hate being impoverished.

I walked my dog around the block of our neighborhood. We went down Plain Street. There wasn’t really anything plain about it. I saw a Robin take a shit on a dog eared fence.

Decided to take a bike ride down to the Malco. Going by a Mexican church I overheard a black woman talking about monkey’s. I saw a gang of black kittens frolicking across Rector St. with their mother. One of ‘em had a hurt paw so there was a bit of a hitch in his step.

I cringed a little at the words on the marquee as I steered my bike onto Central off of Ouachita that said, “We’re here and we’re here to stay” 

Tin Tin Can is a Chicago based band with an incredible sound. Very privileged to have been able to do the cover art for their new album Strange Vibrations. 

Arkansas Short Selection 2012. Footage taken in the historic malco theatre at 817 Central Avenue Hot Springs National Park AR. Features footage also taken in the abandoned upstairs portion of the second and third floor. The Malco Music Hall as it was originally called was built in 1946 in the shell of the Princess Theatre which burned down on Christmas Eve of 1935. The 2nd floor housed a dance studio, radio station and offices, the 3rd floor held apartments..and possibly a brothel…A fire in 1957 did extensive damage to the upstairs and has been abandoned ever since. The Malco is also among the last remaining theatres in the US to still have it’s original segregated entrance partially seen in this short film. The Malco Theatre is home to the longest running documentary only film festival in the US. I had the privilege of working there. The theatre is currently being foreclosed upon by Arvest Bank after refusing to allow the non profit organization to refinance. While the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival may continue on, it will be difficult without the theatre. Please lend your voice in helping to save the Malco so that it may continue to be a place where art can be made and seen by the viewing public.

I missed my greyhound in Spokane. Subconsciously I guess I wanted to stick around a little longer. It was a nice town. The first greyhound attendant was gay. The second had grease beneath his fingernails. I wondered if he was a mechanic.

There was a girl sitting across the aisle from me on the bus. She had two black eyes. I asked her if she had been in a car wreck just because I was curious and I was too tired to worry whether or not I was being an asshole. She laughed and said, “Yeah. Something like that.” she wasn’t too down and out because she continued to giggle with her friend and look over at me periodically. The bruises on her face had started to heal and yellow so that you could tell it had been a few days since her pummeling. As we exited town the street lights made her face a little more yellow than usual and so I started to wonder just how much she had actually healed. Sitting with her friend looking through photos on her iPhone I heard her say “look at that picture of me while I was still pretty.” I wanted to tell her she would be pretty again one day but you probably shouldn’t say things like that to strange silly girls on greyhounds.

I looked back behind me at an old woman who’d curled herself up across two seats in order to sleep. I decided to imitate her. When I woke up outside of Seattle it was raining & my back hurt something awful. I told my friend that I wouldn’t expect anything else when she apologized about the sky. We went to Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe and waited for it to open. I picked up a Stranger. We went to the pier and looked at the Seattle ferries. Then we went and saw the first ever Starbucks. I watched street performers and we gorged ourselves on Pike Place treats. I napped on the grass until the sun came out. I saw Raphaela and I met her boyfriend Jim. She has written a novel. She lives in the Capital Hill neighborhood which I have been told is very trendy and delightfully queer. On the bus ride back to Shoreline there was a scary looking bald man reading Ishmael. In the corner of the bus there was a large intimidating Native American holding a tiny homemade dream catcher.

Spokane bum

Today we are driving to Spokane where I have a 4 o’clock Greyhound to meet that will take me on to Seattle. I’ve heard that Spokane is a dead city but that doesn’t matter much to me since I will just be passing through.

Leaving the never ending trains of early morning Montana where the wind is high and its appropriate to wear a light jacket…in July.

I met a strange kid named Frank who referred to himself as a stunt devil. I jumped off a rock into the Little Black Foot River. The Little Blackfoot not to be confused with the Big Blackfoot both of which are spring fed & snow fed. The Big Blackfoot is referred to often in the book/film “A River Runs Through It” and there is said to be good trout fishing there.

Frank threatened to push me in before I jumped. I told him I was waiting for the sun to come back out from behind the clouds. It was cold, colder than the cold spring holes of Arkansas.

Frank had a new ACL but his leg had gotten infected. “I’m getting surgery on it Friday,” he said. He kept calling people over to the bridge so they could see him hang from a bar over the water. He kept saying he would dive off the rock if it wasn’t for his infection. “Come back next year and I’ll show you how to dive in,” he said. He was driving his mom’s truck. On the front there was a custom plate that said LoggerLady.

Helena is a clean city. I never saw a bum. I guess if there were bums they’d freeze to death in the winter. During our trek up to Mount Helena I discovered that the wealthy live like kings on mountaintops.

I keep remembering Wyoming. There was a sign advertising buffalo hunts and meat but I never saw any damn buffalo just cows and snow fences.

1100 ft incline up Mount Helena…no problem