As the Oscar-winning actor looks back on the Bentonville Film Festival’s growth since 2015, festival chair Geena Davis knows this year is all about “staying true” to its roots while spotlighting local Arkansas production with a new homegrown category.
“For a while, now, we’ve been nationally recognized as one of the fastest-growing festivals in the country, and we’re really proud of bringing audiences and filmmakers from all over the world,” Davis says.
The 11th edition of the festival runs June 16-22 in Bentonville, Ark. with founding partner Walmart, presenting partner Coca-Cola and a partnership with Variety’s Producers to Watch. This year’s lineup features 28 feature films in competition, including nine world premieres, curated by artistic director Drea Clark. Among those include the Danielle Deadwyler-led thriller “40 Acres,” topical Sundance documentary “Heightened Scrutiny” and opening night selection “East of Wall,” directed by Kate Beecroft.
Finding a new way to spotlight local films has been an ongoing conversation with production companies and producers for years, says Bentonville Film Festival president Wendy Guerrero. “We have found a huge rise in really wonderful productions with filmmakers, directors and producers and this year, they rose to the top,” she adds.
Those titles include “West of Greatness: The Story of the Westwego Muscle Boys,” “Beyond the Ashes: An Adaptive Trail Story,” “Abigail Before Beatrice” and “Sovereign,” which stars Nick Offerman and Jacob Tremblay. Being included here is extra personal for local filmmakers like “Abigail Before Beatrice” director Cassie Keet.
“I think it’s really important to show where we live and how beautiful it is,” Keet says. “People don’t think of Bentonville or Arkansas in general as a huge epicenter of the entertainment business, but we have so many wonderful things to offer with gorgeous locations and people who are really dedicated to their craft.”
While major hubs like Los Angeles have struggled in recent years with record-low production rates, states like Arkansas will have to increase incentives to become more competitive. Over the years, Bentonville has expanded its presence within the state of Arkansas by collaborating with other festivals and organizations, including the Arkansas Cinema Society, which was founded by filmmaker Jeff NIchols.
Diversity has also been a huge pillar of the festival since the beginning. This year, 66% of directors in the screening lineup identify as female or gender nonconfirming, while 29% identify within the LGBTQ+ community and 18% of filmmakers are over the age of 50. And with on-screen representation, 49% of leads identify as BIPOC.
“A lot of other festivals have different verticals or programs that emphasize native or tribal women, but really what Geena said when we started the festival is that she just wanted to reflect the population,” Guerrero says. “It wasn’t such a radical idea, it was just, ‘Why don’t we look at stories that do that and do that well?’ It’s actually very easy to do.”
Additional programming will honor Lucy Liu with the Rising to the Challenge Award on June 21. Davis will also read from her new children’s book during the “Read With Sesame Street’s Elmo & Geena” event.
But out of all the events and stars like Mimi Rogers, Betsy Brandt and Elmo expected to be in attendance, Davis is most looking forward to her long-standing tradition “Geena and Friends” where she, along with other female actors, act out all-male scenes from popular movies.
“It’s the big event of the festival because it points out that plenty of male roles could be played by females or people with disabilities. Even if it’s a serious movie, it’s just funny,” Davis says with a laugh of her own.
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