A film festival involving Hollywood stars and several corporate sponsors will debut this year in Bentonville, running May 5-9. The Bentonville Film Festival, announced today, will focus on women and diversity in its films.
Film star Geena Davis will serve as the festival's host, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles-based marketing and publicity firm Rogers & Cowan.
The festival will include the screening of about 75 films in addition to panel discussions, family film nights and an awards show. Davis will host the awards show, according to the news release.
Davis has appeared in many films, winning an Academy Award for her work in “The Accidental Tourist” in 1989. She later founded the nonprofit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which works to promote gender balance in entertainment.
Films included in the inaugural festival must meet several criteria related to gender or minority representation, according to the news release. Films will be accepted starting Jan. 15, and those accepted will be announced in March.
“The Bentonville Film Festival’s goal is to build a research based, commercially viable platform which will support a full offering of creative endeavors for female and minority content creators representing their perspectives which can often be crowded out in larger, franchise film projects,” Tyler Drinkwater, chief executive officer of festival partner ARC Entertainment, said in the news release. Other partners include Wal-Mart, AMC Theaters, Coca-Cola and Kraft Foods.
More information on the festival can be found via bentonvillefilmfestival.com.