Year: Work-in-Progress

Director: Martin Lavut

Producer: Dennis Mohr

Consultant/Producer: Hava Gurevich

Category: Documentary Feature

Photographer Mike Disfarmer of Heber Springs, active from the World War I era until his death in 1959, occupies an increasingly important place in the history of American photography. Disfarmer captured the faces of the American heartland at a defining period in history.  He documented the families of the farmland as they struggled through World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II.  He also captured the post-war boom and the optimism of the 1950’s. In doing this he created a vivid visual record of life in and around Heber Springs, Arkansas. In recent years, Disfarmer has been “discovered” by New York photography dealers, and original prints of his work now possess considerable value.

DISFARMER: A PORTRAIT OF AMERICA discovers an American master, examines his influence on the Manhattan art world, and explores the legacy he left to his home town.

Trailer: http://www.public-pictures.com/

Disfarmer Images: http://www.disfarmer.org, http://www.disfarmer.com

Martin Lavut (director) studied acting at California’s Pasadena Playhouse, and New York’s American Theatre Wing. He acted with Compass/Second City’s Saint Louis Company. He then went on to write and direct numerous theatrical, television-drama and documentary films, including award-winning dramas, WAR BRIDES, CHARLIE GRANT'S WAR, and THE MARRIAGE BED; and the documentaries,  WITHOUT A HOBBY IT'S NO LIFE, ORILLIA, and AFTER DARWIN. Most recently, Martin completed REMEMBERING ARTHUR, a highly acclaimed documentary about his close friend, Canadian filmmaker, Arthur Lipsett.

Dennis Mohr (producer) has over ten years of development and production experience in film, television, and new media. He has been employed as a Special Consultant for the Miramax-Dimension Films and Ten Thirteen Productions feature film THE WORLD OF TED SERIOS, the true story of a hard living ex-bellhop from Chicago who claims to be able to project his thoughts onto Polaroid film. His most recent documentary, REMEMBERING ARTHUR, produced for CHUM Television, Bravo! and TVOntario, about filmmaker Arthur Lipsett, has garnered numerous accolades during the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006, and screenings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

With a background of over 20 years in the visual arts field, Hava Gurevich (consulting producer) has been an artist, educator, researcher, gallery director and photography dealer in Chicago and New York. She is currently director of “Art2Art.org” and an organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of rural Arkansas portrait photographer, Mike Disfarmer, disfarmer.org. Hava spent many months in Heber Springs, Arkansas, conducting interviews, collecting oral histories, and gathering research on the town and the photographer.

Day: Sunday, March 30

Time: 3:15 PM

Location: Independence Hall, UACCB

Admission: F R E E

Producer Dennis Mohr and consultant/producer Hava Gurevich attending