There are perceived barriers that keep those unfamiliar with opera from embracing it. Boring is one such complaint. But really, take Faust. There is a souled soul, poison, the devil, seduction and death. Or Don Giovanni — sword fights, seduction. I mean, lots of seduction. And then, spoiler alert, Don Giovanni is dragged into hell. The new documentary, "Aria: Opera on the Edge," is a 90-minute reminder that even making opera, or a career in opera, is anything but boring.
"Aria: Opera on the Edge" will be shown as part of this year's Bentonville Film Festival, but it's not going to be in Bentonville. It will be screened at Opera in the Ozarks' home, the Inspiration Point Center for the Arts. Karen Day, the director, will be with the film at Inspiration Point Thursday, June 18.
This will be the fourth year Karen Day has had a film at the Bentonville Film Festival. Her documentary "Bamboo and Barbed Wire," about parallels between Japanese American internment camps and contemporary attitudes toward refugees, screened at the festival in 2019. She says she embraces her subjects for her films in a variety of ways.
Day: When I was in Washington, D.C. at the D.C. Independent Film Festival, they arranged a tour for me into the Library of Congress archives of moving images, which was tremendously exciting.
I went in, met the women, and those women have been there for 25 years. And the first year I went to Bentonville in 2015, which was their inaugural year, I premiered a film called "Girl from God's Country" — history of gender bias in Hollywood.
They remembered me soliciting all of the information they had. They said to me, "By the way, just last week we got in some incredible information on the very first African American female filmmakers that were practicing at 12th and Vine. You know, during the redlining time, we're talking Troost Avenue. If you cross it, you are lynched. You should do a movie about that."
Well, I'm already deep in production on a film about Catholic nuns — Benedictines, nuns in the crossroads. I'm on festival tour with "Aria" and I go home. And then Bentonville embraced the new film, "Aria: Opera on the Edge," in a big way.
And of course, Gina and Madeline were in that movie I'm talking about from 2015. And that is, of course, their raison d'être — to raise up minority voices. I mentioned this to them and they're like, oh, let's go. Let's do this.
So I was reluctant. And yet the movie comes to me now. I'm a former war zone reporter and I make the statement I'll never, unfortunately, be out of work doing that kind of social justice focus. I'm just at this point trying not to go to the DRC because of Ebola and not to be in Gaza. But the ideas actually are always there, Kyle. It's just putting yourself in the path of the oncoming semi.
Kellams: Okay, so with "Aria," how did you put yourself in the path? What steps were taken to, to again, move this to something that eventually is something we can all see?
Day: Okay, so I'm just going to say it out loud what everybody's thinking. Opera. Ugly, boring, dying slowly and Italian.
And that's exactly what I thought. But besides being, you know, punishing myself with a jack of all trades — anyway, I was also the publisher of the largest lifestyle magazines in Idaho, and I met Cecilia Violetta López, who was raised in the beet fields by undocumented Hispanic parents singing mariachi, who got a music scholarship to the University of Nevada.
I interviewed her for the magazine because she was an aspiring opera singer who had actually developed her own career against the odds in Europe, because they're far more integrated, long, long history of opera, as anybody knows.
And I heard her story about the level of discrimination. She could not get an agent because opera is a dusty, gatekeeping industry. And I thought, well, the worst part was that while she was aspiring to do this, she had lost custody of her daughter. And that was affected by the fact that the judge said, you're a Hispanic opera singer. You're not going to be able to financially care for your daughter.
And so I went crazy. You know, for me, this was another reason to say, well, I cannot say I don't like opera so far, but I really don't know about it. And, you know, much like Afghan warlords — I don't really like them, but I don't know them. So I'm going to get into it. And that's how this film started.
I was inspired by the social justice aspect of the incredible amount of discrimination that mirrors universal discrimination across the board, whether it's work or art or whatever.
And what this story is really about — how I pitch it — Louie Romero said, if you can't pitch it in one line, I don't want to hear it. And the one line for this particular movie is it's a hero's journey in song.
These people came to opera in the most unlikely ways. But the passion, the art, the challenge — it comes from deep within the human instrument. You don't use microphones and you have to project to, in the Met, 4,000 people. And the amount of work, the physicality and the passion and dedication and heartbreak that it takes was no different than anybody else who's aspiring to a dream against unlikely odds.
Kellams: Now, the presentation — when the film is here, we have Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point, just outside of Eureka Springs. There's a nice connection that's going to happen, right?
Day: It's really wonderful. Bentonville embraced the idea of expanding it not only physically to Eureka Springs, but the idea of introducing, just like we're talking about, the art of opera with film.
So we're premiering the film, and then we have the live performance from Ben and Cecilia, who are in the trailer. And then we have a Q&A with myself and the singers, and you hardly ever get to talk to the opera singers after a performance. Pavarotti never did that.
Kellams: When you're putting together a film, there are obviously aesthetics as well. You respect the people you're talking to. You want to share their story, but then you also want it to look good. How do you manage those two missions, or are they kind of the same?
Day: First of all, this is my 22nd film and I was in TV before that. And I'm also a journalist.
The difference is I say making a film is easy writing because you have a tremendous team. From my cinematographer to my first AC — these young women have been with me for almost 20 years. We're so close. You can't do it without a team. They have a different vision. They have a different skill, just like you producing your show.
And this is one thing when I do the Q&A, I'm always like, really? Everyone should be up here because they contribute their skills. I couldn't do it alone. I might be the bossy visionary.
Kellams: How important are festivals, especially one like the Bentonville Film Festival that's committed to women and filmmakers of color — people who are not traditionally thought of as having the access of white male filmmakers?
Day: Well, Bentonville is my favorite festival. And I'll tell you why — not only because my personal mission is to raise, you know, I always say I'm just providing the platform. I'm lucky enough to hear their stories and be able to project it. So I was doing this in my work before Bentonville actually started.
But that festival itself really focuses on your community, which is wonderful, and focuses on the filmmakers as much as the films. And many times the films get the fanfare, the media — the larger festivals like Tribeca or Sundance or South by Southwest are focused on the media and getting more clicks.
Bentonville is really focused on bringing meaningful stories that expand that dialogue. And you're so lucky to have them there, because I remember the first time we got there, the traffic, the infrastructure did not support it. And how it has been supported by their sponsors and Gina herself to make it one of the top festivals — 50 best festivals by MovieMaker magazine.
Different focus than let's get it out there and make money on it.
Kellams: Are you a filmmaker who can rest? You kind of alluded to this when our conversation started — you have a project done, you've probably got other ideas, you've got other branches out there.
Day: Slap me now.
My crews call me a breatharian because I don't stop to eat much. I am so inspired by the world, by the stories, by people. And also I'm inspired by the fact that I've been given the capability to tell stories.
And I'll tell you the bottom line. I have worked for Harvard Global Health and Human Rights on five films, for a doctor who's been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine twice. Dr. Thomas Burke and I go around the world with him making 15-minute films about the grassroots interventions he does to save hemorrhaging mothers after birth, or babies who can't breathe, with a solar-powered grassroots intervention of a CPAP machine. We were just at the largest refugee camp in Kenya, the Kakuma.
Anyway, the point being — I get to make those films, and they literally save lives. How many people can say they save lives with their work? I'm not a doctor. Right.
And ironically, in some ways, all movies can save lives, because what I'm talking about is reaching across the divide to communicate with people and touch them at the deepest place of our humanity. That's why it's so important. It's why your work is important. It's why Bentonville Festival is important. It's why TikTok is important.
Karen Day is the director of several films, including "Aria: Opera on the Edge." The movie will be screened at the home for Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point on Thursday, June 18, beginning at 3 p.m. It's part of the 2026 Bentonville Film Festival.
Following the showing of the movie, two of the artists profiled — soprano Cecilia Violetta López and tenor Ben Gulley — will perform on stage in Eureka Springs. After that, a question and answer session.
"And then you can meet me in the lobby and say, wow, I didn't know I would like opera so much."
You can find more information about the June 18 event at operaintheozarks.com.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
