Uplift, taking place primarily at the Route 66 Theater in Webb City, features workshops for aspiring filmmakers and screenings of films from the four-state area of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma.
"We have some amazing filmmakers in our four states, and it was just a joy to bring them all together and see what people were doing, because I had no idea. I had no clue," said Steve Head, President of Great Wonders Productions, which organized the festival.
Great Wonders Productions, a nonprofit based in the Joplin Metro Area, was founded last year with the aim of promoting filmmaking in Southwest Missouri that has "socially redeeming qualities." One of the awards given out by the festival will be "Most Inspirational Film."