A surprise film screening will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to celebrate the opening of Argenta Community Theater.

A screening of Small Town Murder Songs, which premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 17) by the Little Rock Film Festival as the first of three events to celebrate of opening of Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock.

The 75-minute film stars Peter Stormare as a police officer in a small Canadian Mennonite town who hides his violent past until a murder upsets his plans.

A reception at 6:30 p.m. will precede the screening, which will be moderated by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist and chief film critic Philip Martin. A Q & A with Ed Gass-Donnelly, the film's director, will follow.

Tickets are free and may be obtained from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 16) and beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday (Feb. 17) at the theater until they run out. There is a limit of two tickets per person. 

Other events include an invitation-only dinner and dedication of the theater Friday (Feb. 18) and a gala celebration with President Bill Clinton, Gov. Mike Beebe, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and North Little Rock Mayor Henry Hays Saturday (Feb. 18). 

For more information call Kyla Bryant at (501) 353-1443 or send her an e-mail. 

Watch the film's trailer: