Children’s Remake of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ At Real Art Ways

For most 11 year olds, keeping their attention on one thing is nearly impossible. But that wasn’t the case for three boyhood friends from Mississippi during the ’80s.

Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos and Jayson Lamb spent seven years of their youth recreating their favorite movie — Steven Spielberg’s 1981 “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — shot-for-shot.

After a falling out in their teenage years kept them from finishing their last scene of the movie — the iconic airplane explosion (they shot the film out of sequence) — the boys, now grown adults, reunited in their 40s with some of their original cast to finish the action adventure tribute. A documentary about their journey to finishing that last scene as well as a Q&A with Zala and a showing of the boys’ original fan-made film will be screened at Real Art Ways in Hartford on Saturday.

Directed by Jeremy Coon (producer of “Napoleon Dynamite”) and Tim Skousen (“The Sasquatch Gang”), “Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made” gives a look into the 20-year reunion between Strompolos and Zala while also sharing the story of their personal lives and friendship.

When Coon and Skousen came across the children’s remake they immediately became passionate about it because it went far beyond a story about kids remaking their favorite movie, it was a story about growing up and dealing with life’s challenges.

“Someone said something about documentaries that stuck with me: You don’t find them, they find you,” says Coon in a phone interview from Los Angeles. “This one found us.”

The documentary debuted at several festivals including South by Southwest, DOC NYC and Fantasia International Film Festival and is currently on a national tour.

“There are two types of documentaries: those that are serious and those that are super fun,” says Coon. “We made both. The focus was to be inspired and entertained, to go home afterward feeling it’s never too late to follow your childhood dreams”

“RAIDERS! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made” will be shown on Saturday at Real Art Ways in Hartford, 56 Arbor St., at 3 p.m., followed by a Q&A with Eric Zala and screening of the fan-made version. This event is open to the public. Admission is $5 for Real Art Ways members, $4.50 for senior and student members, $11 regular admission and $7 for seniors (65+) and full-time students with ID. For more information visit realartways.org.