While the 17th annual Arkansas Shorts is expected to showcase more local filmmakers than ever with the premiere of many Inception to Projection films, one former Hot Springs resident featured at the festival is being shortlisted for the 96th Academy Awards.

Lisa Cole's 17-minute film, "Bienvenidos a Los Angeles," will screen in block eight of Arkansas Shorts, which is named for the theme "Take Action." The block begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Historic Malco Theatre.

"I tell people it's about three women helping one another in the City of Angels, which LA is often dubbed," said Cole. "So, basically, the quintessential Los Angeles story in that the city is such a melting pot with people from all over the world."

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She said the story is based on a real-life experience in which her babysitter tried to reunite with her 5-year-old son, bringing him back to California from Mexico, but met obstacles when he was detained at LAX Airport.

"We used to cry together a lot over the fact that he was not here with her, and she misses him so much," she said.

The mother sent the child to live in Mexico when he was 1 year old when she realized she could not afford child care at the time. Whenever he was old enough to start kindergarten, she hoped to have him come to live with her.

"I don't want to give too much away, but everything that happened at the airport, happened in real life in terms of the story," she said.

In real life, Cole was the one who went into the airport to pick up the child, but for the purpose of the film, she took herself out as to not tell the story from her perspective.

"It's just an honor to be on that list with some of our filmmaking heroes like Wes Anderson and Pedro Almovadar, Alfonso Cuaron; I mean, the list is pretty amazing," Cole said. "And then also to have it coincide with Arkansas Shorts where I believe we're nominated for a Jury Award for Best Drama, so that's exciting, too, to be able to share the film with my hometown."

With over 180 films in consideration for this round, Cole's was selected among 14 others for the Oscars shortlist. The film has screened at over 50 festivals worldwide so far, winning 19 awards, including the Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase. The film has been invited to screen at three academy-qualifying film festivals.

Voting starts Thursday, Jan. 11, for the shortlist, and runs through Jan. 16. After voting, only five will advance to the nomination, which will be announced on Jan. 23. If Cole's film makes it, the final voting will run from Feb. 22-27 ahead of the 2024 Oscars in March. Until then, she's busy campaigning and trying to get the votes she needs against some stiff competition.

"We're really an underdog in terms of, we're up against some of these household names, the big name directors, and also John Travolta is the star of one of the films, and Brittany Snow is starring in another one," she said.

"So, we're essentially the underdog in that regard, but what we have is a film that sort of deserves to be heard and a story that's really important, and we think that the film speaks for itself."

Cole has worked as a screenwriter for about a decade, but the project represents her big return to directing. Having several other shorts under her belt, she has been previously nominated for awards.

A short she created as a student, "Serendipity Lane" was a regional finalist in the Student Academy Awards and was the first acting credit for Jonesboro native Wes Bentley of "Yellowstone" fame.

After a long break, she started directing short films again just before the pandemic.

"Elizabeth decided to share her story, and we wanted to make it, to put a face of humanity on a complex issue, which is immigration," Cole said.

With deep roots in the Hot Springs filmmaking scene, Cole grew up attending the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, her mother helping to come up with the idea all those years ago. Now Cole sits on the board of the festival.

She says she's seen tremendous growth in recent years and is hopeful Arkansas and Hot Springs are on the right track to becoming a film destination.

"We have nowhere to go but up," she said. "So, now that Arkansas is working out their tax rebate system, I think Hot Springs will be poised to be a great location for more productions to come. I'm really excited about that, and I actually have a feature that I want to shoot there in the next year."

For more information, or to buy tickets, visit:

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Stacey Patino, left, acts out a scene with Destiny Faith Nelson at LAX Airport during the filming of "Bienvenidos a Los Angeles." (Submitted photo courtesy of Jordie Hennigar) Ethan Mendez, left, and Stacey Patino on set at LAX Airport during the filming of "Bienvenidos a Los Angeles." (Submitted photo courtesy of Jordie Hennigar)