World Premiere of ‘Cries from the Cotton Field’ Slated for May 8

A documentary filmed as part of a faculty research fellowship through the U of A’s Rome Center will have its world premiere next month.

Larry Foley’s documentary Cries from the Cotton Field chronicles the journey of 19th century Italian immigrants and their journey from northern Italy to the Arkansas Delta, and ultimately to Tontitown, the community they founded that has become a haven of Italian culture and cuisine in the Northwest Arkansas region. The world premiere, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 6-8 p.m. May 8 at the Dr. Marsha Jones Performing Arts Center at Springdale Har-Ber High School, with no RSVP required.

The Fayetteville premiere will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the David & Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral & Visual History but is already sold out. Another screening is scheduled for May 28 at Butterfield Trail Village in Fayetteville. To RSVP, contact Riki Stamps at rstamps@btvillage.org.

Foley, a professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media, filmed parts of the documentary during his time in Italy as a Rome Center faculty fellow in the fall 2022 semester, where he visited several sites critical to the story of the Tontitown Italians.

“One of the best scenes we filmed was at a Catholic Church in Valli del Pasubio,” Foley said during an interview shortly after his time as a fellow. “We filmed a Mass at the same location where on All Saints Day 1895, a special service was held to bless the immigrants soon headed to chase the American dream in Arkansas. The priest even allowed us to put a microphone on him.”

Additionally, Foley recently earned an International Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts Award of Excellence for the documentary’s promotional trailer, beating out nearly 1,900 other entries. Following the world premiere, Arkansas PBS will broadcast Cries from the Cotton Field this fall, and the documentary will be released to streaming channels shortly after.

“We’ve been working on this film for more than two years, and we can’t wait to finally show it to folks,” Foley said. “It’s an epic journey of hope, faith, hardship and resilience, told in first person by a colorful and determined priest, a Moses-like figure with a curious past. I enjoyed working with a talented team in Italy and the U.S., including several U of A students who served as production assistants. So, it has been a teaching’ project.”

Foley added that he is also working on an Italian version of the film, with plans to screen it in Rome at a later date.

The Rome Center Faculty Fellowship offers faculty the opportunity to conduct research or scholarly work on a project uniquely appropriate to the Rome Center as the U of A education and research hub in Europe. The fellowship provides round-trip airfare and housing for the grant period. 

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.