BENTONVILLE -- The Bentonville Film Festival will expand its competition to include short films and series content, use new venues and feature a lounge geared toward youth, festival officials announced Wednesday.
A celebration is planned to mark the 25th anniversary of A League of Their Own with Geena Davis, Rosie O'Donnell, Lori Petty and other cast members. More details regarding the celebration will be released later, according to officials.
Festival tickets
There are six multi-event packages available. They range from $100 to $1,000 and can be bought online at www.bentonvillefilm….
Single-event tickets will go on sale April 6.
Source: Staff report
All Things BFF
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• Sign up for the newsletter at www.bentonvillefilm….
• A phone app will be available to download in April.
Source: Staff Report
"I'm so excited to be heading into our third annual BFF," Geena Davis, festival co-founder and chairwoman, said in a news release.
The festival will be May 2-7. Its competition is expanding to include 18 short films and four pieces of episodic and web series content in addition to its 38 feature-length documentary and narrative films.
The festival claims to be the only film competition in the world to guarantee theatrical, television, digital and retail home entertainment distribution for its winners, through AMC Theatres, Lifetime and Starz.
Davis, an Academy Award winner, and Trevor Drinkwater, president and CEO of ARC Entertainment, co-founded the festival in 2015. Its mission is to champion women and diverse voices in media.
Davis also is the chairwoman of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a research-based organization working with media and entertainment companies to educate and influence the need for gender balance.
A 2016 study from University of Southern California researchers found only one-third of speaking characters -- of 21,000 characters in more than 400 films and TV shows released from September 2014 to August 2015 -- were female even though women make up slightly more than half of the U.S. population. The study also found just more than 28 percent of characters with dialogue were from nonwhite ethnic groups while racial/ethnic minorities comprise nearly 40 percent of the population.
"BFF is the once-a-year opportunity for studios, broadcasters, digital content creators, filmmakers and advertisers to convene and collaborate on improving how media reflects women and diverse voices," Drinkwater said in the news release. "We are looking forward to another year of great progress."
The inaugural year had an estimated regional economic impact of $1.3 million, according to Drinkwater.
Festival officials partnered with Visit Bentonville for the event's second year to advertise in markets within driving distance such as Kansas City, Mo.; Tulsa, Okla., and Oklahoma City.
Attendance increased from 37,000 the first year to 63,000 the second year, according to Gina Allgaier, festival chief engagement officer.
The Samsung Create Short Film Competition and the Lifetime Screenplay Competition will return to this year's festival. The festival also will include The Weinstein Co.'s Three Generations, starring Elle Fanning and Naomi Watts, and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
Festival activities will again be focused on Bentonville downtown square. The new event center Record on Southwest A Street will be used for panels and workshops.
The Cinetransformers, mobile movie theaters, will return for their second year. The Meteor Guitar Gallery will again showcase nationally recognized acts in the Axe Music Lounge.
A new STEAM lounge will illustrate hands-on methods for using media to inspire youth to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, arts and math, according to the release. The INsideOUT Lounge -- where festival sponsors share products focusing on mind, body and spirit -- also will expand.
Downtown Bentonville retailers and restaurateurs said they saw more foot traffic during last year's festival.
"We're getting to meet people who haven't necessarily come to Oven and Tap before," Luke Wetzel, co-owner and chef at Oven and Tap said last year. "The attraction brings people to the square that we wouldn't necessarily see on a regular basis."
NW News on 03/22/2017