Eleven years ago, Bentonville, Arkansas didn’t even have a theatre, so it was a surprising offer when founding sponsor Walmart approached Academy Award-winning actress and activist Geena Davis to start a film festival. The Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) reflects the advocacy of the Geena Davis Institute, which the actress founded two decades ago as a research-based organization championing equitable representation in media.
As one of the few marquee actors who have helmed film festivals, Davis likes to joke that you don’t always have to be a Robert to have a festival (referring to Robert Redford with the Sundance Film Festival and Robert De Niro, who founded the Tribeca Film Festival).
“It was their idea to have a film festival that was based on broadening our representation, not only in front of the camera but also behind the camera,” said Davis. “We launched six months after that conversation, and now this is our 11th year.”
Davis, smartly dressed in high-button jeans and a slim black top, greets you warmly with her broad smile, instantly making you feel welcome, even in the confines of an interview. Throughout the festival, she gladly stops for selfies and chats with festivalgoers and filmmakers. Her image features prominently on the posters, and as Chair of the BFF, she is undoubtedly the fabric of the Festival, not just a figurehead.
“It is through her leadership that this whole thing happened,” says Festival President Wendy Guerrero. “She is a force, and it’s very exciting for us to work so closely with her and bring her vision to life. She’s attending events, getting involved, and going to the movies. I think it’s just really something that she has a big passion for and wants to show up in that way.”
Davis introduces films to audiences, participates in thought-provoking panels, and even presents a family day with special guest Elmo while she reads from her new children’s book “The Girl Who Was Too Big for the Page.” Davis also hosted her much-beloved annual “Geena and Friends,” where she invites fellow actors to reimagine memorable movie scenes through a woman’s lens by flipping the central characters to women. This year, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brenda Song, Toks Olagundoye, and Alysia Reiner joined Davis to perform scenes from such classics as “The Producers” and “The Big Lebowski.”
For those not familiar with Bentonville, located in NW Arkansas, it is a revelation. A rapidly growing area (it is calculated that 36 people a day are moving to the region), which houses the headquarters of Walmart. Modern high-tech office buildings blend with nostalgic charm, creating a town square where families gather for chess nights, music nights, and a weekend farmers’ market. Art and culture are front and centre with the spectacular Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, a sprawling interconnected museum and event space set in the stunning Ozarks on the edge of downtown.
And from no cinemas when the festival launched there are now spectacular spaces to hold screenings and events including the two screen Skylight Cinema, The Momentary, a new contemporary space for visual and performing arts, and the Crystal Bridges Museum where the Festival held events ( NBC’s Al Roker attended an event to launch his new PBS show “Weather Hunters”, an educational series designed to make science and weather exciting for children).
“It’s a real cultural centre and wonderfully flourishing part of the world,” says Davis. “We love being here.”
For the Festival, it has meant growing audiences year to year. “The community here is just so interested in what we’re doing and so curious about film festivals and film and conversations about the industry,” said Festival president Wendy Guerrero.
This year’s festival hosted nine premieres and 28 screenings, concluding with an awards night that saw Lucy Liu honored with the Rising to the Challenge Award, which “recognizes artists who champion storytelling that breaks barriers and broadens representation.” Her film “Rosemead,” directed by Eric Lin, won the Jury prize for Best Narrative. Liu gives a career-turning performance in the heartbreaking story, based on real events, of a Chinese immigrant mother in deteriorating health who must face her son’s disturbing and dangerous obsessions and the difficult choices she is forced to make.
Throughout the seven days of the festival, a diverse range of new voices was showcased. Opening night film, “East of Wall” by first-time director Kate Beecroft, upends the customary male-dominated cowboy culture traditionally seen on film, featuring real-life horse wranglers Tabatha Zamiga and her daughter Porshia, whose acrobatic flips on horses have made her a TikTok sensation.
A docu-fiction film, it showcases the breathtaking expanses of South Dakota’s Badlands with awe-inspiring cinematography by Austin Shelton. Shelton and Beecroft were on an investigative road trip looking for compelling heartland stories when they were introduced to the Zamiga family by chance. With tattooed arms and long blonde hair shaved on one side, Zamiga strikes an imposing figure. Her sprawling 3,000-acre ranch, just outside the small town of Wall, South Dakota, not only houses the horses she rescues and trains, but also the many neglected teens who find a welcoming substitute home there, many of whom played themselves in the movie.
“A lot of people ask me why I didn’t make this a documentary. I love actors and I love writing for women, so to me, I never even thought about making this a doc,” said Beecroft after the screening, which received a standing ovation. “These women and everyone in the cast are artists, and they deserve more than a doc, because I think there’s just so much undiscovered talent out there, and they’re not getting the attention or the spotlight they deserve.”
Of films in competition at BFF this year, the festival documented that 66% are from creators identifying as female or gender non-conforming, 51% identify as BIPOC, Asian, or Pacific Islander 29% identify as LGBTQ 18% are filmmakers over the age of 50, 12% identify as a person with a disability.
Similarly, for narrative fiction films in competition, the festival reports that 60% of the feature leads identify as women or gender non-conforming; virtually half of the cast members are BIPOC, and 17% represent people with disabilities.
This year, the festival launched a Homegrown Competition to showcase stories from Arkansas-based filmmakers. “Sovereign,” by first-time writer/ director Christian Swegal, won the jury prize in this category.
It tells the disturbing and disruptive story of the growing movement of Sovereign citizens who feel justified in taking actions against governments and the law. Based on actual events, the movie is set in 2010 with Nick Offerman giving an astounding performance as a father deeply involved in the extremist movement and the devastating effects it has on his son (played by Jacob Tremblay). The film also features Dennis Quaid, Martha Plimpton, Thomas Mann, and Nancy Travis.
“We’ve grown every year, and we were just marvelling at the attendance this year. It’s growing every year, and all of our events are sold out,” said Davis. “We have an important message that films directed by people who don’t ordinarily get a chance to tell their stories from their perspective can be wildly popular and commercial. People love to see themselves when they go to a movie, so the broader your perspective is, the better.”
