Hearst Film Scene

08/27/2026

Be sure to get this on your calendars. Three days of shorts and features, narrative films and documentaries, all from Midwest creators.

🎬 Did you know CFCT hosts the Cedar River Film Festival every year at the end of October?

And this year, we’re excited to have local artist Mija Henderson bring the festival to life with our poster artwork!

For all things Cedar River Film Festival, follow Cedar River Film Festival and stay tuned as we gear up to announce this year’s lineup…There may be something extra exciting brewing for Halloween weekend.

08/24/2026

A few revisions to the Hearst Film Scene schedule for you. Definitely no shortage of film events this fall at The Hearst Center for the Arts plus the 3-day Cedar River Film Festival at Cedar Falls Community Theatre.

08/06/2026

Film adaptations of Philip K. Dick's writings are hit and miss. Best to read before you watch. He was highly prescient: which comes through loud and clear in his writing. Highly commend picking up one of his novels or short story collections.

08/01/2026

In terms of DYSTOPIAN VISIONS there are two key writers to look at George Orwell (1984; Animal Farm) and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World). Huxley was particularly precognizant of how humans would adopt and use future technologies. This is very evident in this interview from 1961. Plenty to ponder in this 7 minute clip.

“Technology was made for man and not man for technology.”A few ye...

07/31/2026

And now for another edition of...if movies were books.

07/29/2026

Be sure to get the 4th Annual Cedar River Film Festival on your calendars for 10/30-11/1. We've had a record number of submissions this year! Can't wait to share with you the best of what's come in. This will be a WONDERFUL weekend of regional/midwest films.

07/23/2026

A couple years back Uberto Pasolini released his own unique version of The Odyssey (minus the mythological) without the fanfare of Nolan's Epic; but definitely with lots of critical embrace:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18vqmjr1Jv/

07/15/2026

This review fits well with our summer posts on LITERATURE and FILM. I'm sure many of us read all or portions of Homer's ODDYSSEY in elementary school, junior high, high school and college. If you haven't picked it up recently - might be a good time for a refresher before you visit your nearest IMAX for an immersive screening of Christopher Nolan's filmic adaptation, which...according to this reviewer...more than lives up to the hype:

The Oscar-winning ‘Oppenheimer’ director has richly adapted the ancient Greek epic into a modern search for meaning.

07/14/2026

I remember as a kid coming across NYT times articles at my great aunt's house telling the story of a grisly murder in Kansas. I later realized these were the 1965 serial pieces that served as the basis of Truman Capote's book "In Cold Blood" (1966). At some point I saw Richard Brooks' film adaptation from 1967 presented in gritty black-and-white. Must've been on television. Definitely a film that haunts the brain for weeks. Still a powerful work of cinema.