Year: 2007

Running Time: 31:00

Producer/Director: Pam Uzzell

Category: Documentary Short

SOME CALL IT HEAVEN chronicles the history of oil boomtown, Smackover, Arkansas, from its beginnings as a hamlet of 96 people, through the 1920's oil boom, which brought over 30,000 fortune-seekers to Smackover. Many fell victim to the rampant violence, most moved on. Of those who stayed, none was more notorious than Rhena Miller Myer. A circus performer who became stranded in South Arkansas during the Great Depression, Rhena made Smackover her home until her death in 1988. Shrouded in mystery, this talented woman wanted nothing more than to live peacefully with her many goats and share her music with the town. Citizens recall their encounters with Rhena and the gossip that eventually became legend about this lady they called the 'Goat Woman.'

Screenings: Little Rock Film Festival, Indie Memphis Film Festival

Pam Uzzell, a native of El Dorado, Arkansas, began her filmmaking career in 1988 as an apprentice editor in Berkeley, CA. For six years, she worked as part of post-production crews on over 25 feature films, including the Godfather Part III and Terminator 2. After having her first daughter, she began teaching film and video editing at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Being in contact with the creative energy of her students inspired her to return to school and in 1997 she entered the Cinema MFA program at San Francisco State University. Nine long years and another daughter later, she completed her thesis film "Some Call It Heaven." She continues to teach and make films and is head of the media committee for The Dharmata Foundation.

Day: Friday, March 28

Time: NOON

Location: Independence County Regional Museum

Admission: F R E E