Homegrown Northwest Arkansas doc pedals into the spotlight
Allyson de la Houssaye describes her movie " Ridge to River: The Arkansas Traverse" as the world's most expensive home video. Whatever the cost, she hopes it will be an introduction to cycling in the Natural State for audiences across the film festival circuit.
The big (motion) picture: Her 52-minute feature documentary — recorded in Arkansas and starring Northwest Arkansans — is set for its premiere at the 11th annual Bentonville Film Festival next week.
State of play: The film follows nine men over five days in October 2023 as they bicycle 472 miles from the state's northwest corner to its southeast corner, much of it on backroads and gravel.
They visit historic sites along the way, including part of the Trail of Tears and one of the state's World War II Japanese American internment camps.
"All of the riders are from different backgrounds, different economic brackets, but they all like to come together, get on the bike, and that's where they kind of hash out the things going on in their world," de la Houssaye said.
Its two scheduled screenings within the festival's new "Homegrown" section are sold out, said de la Houssaye, who directed and produced the film through her AWAL Productions company in Bentonville.
Context: The guys at the film's center connected organically during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mike Rusch, one of the riders and creator of the route, told Axios.
Early in the creation of weekly meetup rides, the men started telling their wives jokingly they were in a prayer group, Rusch said. They evolved into what is now Bentonville Ride Club.
"It was almost a spiritual experience," he said of finishing the traverse. "What began as a physical challenge became a relational experience" because they learned how to ride together and relate to each other, he said.
Past Arkansas flicks at BFF include " Hard Miles," directed by R.J. Hanna, who attended Bentonville High School, in 2023 and " Colbert: All Students Can Learn" about former Fayetteville School District superintendent John L. Colbert.
What she's saying:"Having a ride like Arkansas Traverse, and then documenting it and showing it to audiences, is going to increase tourism, which in turn can lead to economic stimulation for places like the [Arkansas] Delta and Arkansas City … that desperately are hoping tourism can revitalize their city," de la Houssaye said.
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