Arkansas Business

Arkansas native Jeff Nichols, whose films include "Take Shelter" and "Shotgun Stories," will receive the "Emerging Master" award next month at the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Nichols will receive the award following a screening of his latest film, "Mud," a drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon.

Nichols filmed "Mud" in and around Stuttgart and Dumas in late 2011. The shoot caused a bit of a buzz, with Witherspoon sightings at the Dumas Dollar General Store and Little Rock's Cafe Bossa Nova restaurant.

The film also features the work of other Arkansans, including Mary Ellen Hunthrop of Stuttgart, who was Witherspoon's stunt double, and then 15-year-old Jacob Lofland of Yell County, who plays "Neckbone."

Written and directed by Nichols, "Mud" is the story of two 14-year old boys who encounter a fugitive (McConaughey) who needs help in escaping capture and assistance in rekindling an old romance, the former girlfriend is played by Witherspoon.

The film opens April 26.