Bentonville Film Festival set for May 2-7

The third annual Bentonville Film Festival will be May 2-7, 2017, event organizers announced Wednesday. The festival opens for film submissions Monday and selected films will be announced in March.

The 2017 event will include an expanded short film competition and add a commercial competition. Returning events include: narrative and documentary film screenings, industry-focused panel discussions, musical performances and celebrity events. The annual “A League of Their Own” softball game also will return to celebrate that film’s 25th anniversary.

Actor Geena Davis and ARC Entertainment CEO Trevor Drinkwater co-founded the festival, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is a founding sponsor. Coca-Cola is a presenting sponsor and AMC Theatres, Lifetime, Starz and VUDU are distribution partners.

Attendance to this year’s Bentonville Film Festival increased 70 percent over the debut event with approximately 63,000 seats filled throughout the week. Thirty-three competition filmmakers out of 34 competition films attended, as well as notable guests Meg Ryan, Soledad O’Brien, Nia Vardalos, Kathy Najimy, Bruce Dern, Constance Wu, African American Film Critics Association President Gil Robertson, Robert Townsend and musicians Joe Walsh and Darius Rucker.

Films can only qualify for the competition portion of the festival by containing two or more of the following characteristics: female or diverse lead, female or diverse director, female or diverse writer, female or diverse production company, gender and diversity balanced cast, gender and diversity balanced crew.

More information about the festival is available at www.Bentonvillefilmfestival.com.

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