{"id":19922,"date":"2021-07-29T15:10:09","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T19:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=19922"},"modified":"2022-01-17T14:17:51","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T19:17:51","slug":"bretonville-2021-film-festival-news-announcemnt-by-greggwmorris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/bretonville-2021-film-festival-news-announcemnt-by-greggwmorris\/","title":{"rendered":"Late, Late Breaking Cinematic News<\/span><\/small>
2021 Bentonsville Film Festival Led by Academy Award\u00ae Winning Actress Geena Davis Launches August 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Narrative, Documentary, Short and Episodic Film Competition April 2 to April 8<\/h3>\n
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Bentonville, Arkansas \u2013 <\/strong>This year\u2019s fest combines virtual and safe in-person activations, including premieres, conversations, awards, and events to produce a hybrid experience for attendees. Festival passes and single tickets are on sale now.<\/p>\n

This year attendees will enjoy a 30th anniversary screening of Thelma & Louise<\/em><\/a> at the 112 Drive-In (Fayetteville, Arkansas) Tuesday, August 3, followed by an exclusive conversation with the film\u2019s star and Festival Chair, Academy Award\u00ae winner Geena Davis and Academy Award\u00ae-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri.<\/p>\n

The film, which first premiered in 1991, is an empowering tribute to trailblazing women. Davis\u2019 (Thelma) and Susan Sarandon\u2019s (Louise) iconic strong female lead performances cemented the revolutionary film as a feminist classic that still resonates today.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to offer audiences an inspirational lineup celebrating diversity and inclusion on screen and behind the camera, to demonstrate the power of intersectional equity in entertainment media,” said Davis, Bentonville Film Festival Chair. “Through our unique inclusion qualifiers, we are giving voice to directors who are\u00a0 71 percent female, 75 percent BIPOC or AAPI and 33 percent LGBTQIA+.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were excited last year to see our audience grow globally as a result of our virtual component. Come to our Festival this year, in person or virtually, and be transported into stories that can change the world,\u201d said Davis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to come together in the heartland to share stories of inclusion at the 7th<\/sup> Annual BFF. The mission of the Festival has always been to create a platform that champions a multitude of new, diverse voices. The silver lining from last year\u2019s 2020 virtual Festival was the unique opportunity to expand our capacity and thereby, our audiences, with more than 30,000 virtual attendees,\u201d said Wendy Guerrero, President of Bentonville Film Festival and Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>The Festival is a welcome celebration of art and creativity, and is central to our mission of supporting filmmakers from diverse backgrounds. With exciting and fresh narratives from some of the most up-and-coming voices in film, this year\u2019s competition lineup is one we can\u2019t wait to share with Festival audiences,\u201d said Guerrero.<\/p>\n

The Bentonville Film Festival is an annual event and globally recognized platform that aims to amplify female, non-binary, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and people with disabilities\u2019 voices in entertainment. The week-long Festival, presented by the Bentonville Film Foundation, in partnership with founding sponsor Walmart and presenting sponsor Coca-Cola, is known for its dedication to championing marginalized and underrepresented voices in film with 65 percent of the competition titles directed by women.<\/p>\n

In the BFF 2021 juried competition program, 71 percent\u00a0 are directed by women, 75 percent by people that are BIPOC or AAPI, and 33 percent by people of the LGBTQIA+ community. Seventy percent of these films are written by women, 70 percent by people that are BIPOC or AAPI, 32 percent by people of the LGBTQIA+ community and 87 percent feature a female lead, 81 percent a BIPOC or AAPI lead, and 30 prcent an LGBTQIA+ lead.<\/p>\n

Ninety-six percent of these films have a cast and crew that was made up of more than half of people from these same communities. The Festival\u2019s director of programming, Ashley Edwards, and film curator, Drea Clark, led program selections for this year\u2019s competition lineup.<\/p>\n

In 2020, the Bentonville Film Festival\u2019s hybrid virtual program saw more than 30,000 attendees over the course of the Festival. More Festival programming announcements are forthcoming, including special events, panels and jury. Passes and tickets for the 2021 Bentonville Film Festival can be purchased here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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2019 Past Winners<\/p><\/div>\n