Everything to know about the 10th annual Bentonville Film Festival
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Ashley Edwards (left) and Wendy Guerrero attend the 2021 Bentonville Film Festival awards ceremony and party in 2021 in Bentonville. Photo: Justin Ford/Getty Images for BFFoundation
Northwest Arkansas' Bentonville Film Festival, chaired by actress and producer Geena Davis, is back next week for its 10th run.
Why it matters: The festival highlights women and other underrepresented groups in film, both on screen and behind the scenes. It also draws a big crowd that includes celebrities.
State of play: The event will include about 75 film screenings, including narrative features, documentaries and short films. Some have been making their way around the film-fest circuit to events like Sundance and Tribeca, and others will premiere in Bentonville, festival president Wendy Guerrero told Axios.
- Panels are planned on subjects like AI in storytelling and analyzing women in STEM on screen. There's also a pitch-a-thon, where filmmakers will pitch their projects to a panel of media professionals, including Lisa Ann Walker, who plays Melissa on Abbot Elementary."
- Singer-songwriter Linda Perry will perform a five-song set Thursday.
- Actors Cassandra Freeman, Tika Sumpter and Michaela Watkins will participate in this year's Geena and Friends event, where they will reimagine traditional comedic narratives with an all-women cast, The Hollywood Reporter stated.
What they're saying: "We started it as a gathering place for artists and storytellers — voices to be heard," Guerrero said. "We saw a blank space and we didn't feel that it was being fulfilled, so that's kind of where we started. And it's really blossomed into one of the largest-growing festivals in the country."
- The sheer scale of the event attracts artists and attendees from all over the world, but the festival has also become a community for filmmakers where people find creative partners and go on to work together, she said.
- The sheer scale of the event attracts artists and attendees from all over the world, but the festival has also become a community for filmmakers where people find creative partners and go on to work together, she said.
The latest: New to the lineup this year is the alumni showcase program that features works from filmmakers who participated in past festivals.
- It's a way to celebrate the festival's 10-year anniversary and show audiences that filmmakers who appeared in the event's early days are continuing to create and thrive, Guerrero said.
Zoom out: Some familiar favorites like "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" and "Beetlejuice" will be screened outdoors at The Momentary. Those screenings, along with a "festival village" with booths and activities for kids, are free and open to the public.
If you go: The festival kicks off Monday and runs through June 16, with events at The Momentary, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Skylight Cinema and Thaden School. Get a pass for $375.