Editor's Note: As we do every year, the What's Up! staff looked back to see what arts stories we published in 2022 that we expect will have a lasting impact on the culture of our community in 2023. This one was co-written by April Wallace and Monica Hooper and published July 3.
The eighth Bentonville Film Festival, which champions underrepresented storytellers on and off screen, was an epicenter of activity after two years of operating at understated levels due to the pandemic. This year its events and screenings were well attended, some even sold out.
The first week of activity offered lots of in-person events and locations where audiences could see actors, filmmakers and industry experts face to face, while the second week had continued virtual programming.
REEL MAGIC MORNINGS
Each weekday of the festival began with a celebrity coffee chat in the morning at Thaden School in Bentonville. Audiences were invited to listen to Hollywood insiders talk about what they do best, what they care about and about being in the public eye.
The first of these events began with a discussion among KUAF's Kyle Kellams and Dave and Jenny Marrs of HGTV's "Fixer to Fabulous." They talked about what makes their show resonate with other families around the country and the behind-the-scenes work, as well as what it's like to raise a big family and live in Arkansas.
Author and activist Virgie Tovar, one of the nation's leading experts on weight-based discrimination and body image, spoke about fat phobia, activism and embracing one's body with joy in the June 23 event with Magdalena Arroyo of the University of Arkansas Office for Diversity and Inclusion.
Tovar said that despite around 70% of women being considered higher weight people, they are often treated as a minority within American culture. That means overweight women face discrimination in employment due to negative stereotypes and they are less likely to experience comprehensive preventative medical care because doctors are fixated on their weight.
"From Bronx to Bentonville," the final Reel Magic chat of the week, was with Sonia Manzano, who portrayed Maria on Sesame Street for 44 years, and the other creators of "Alma's Way." They crafted the new PBS Kids series to give children confidence in their own brain power, and to focus on inclusiveness and authentic representation in kids' media.
Manzano told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette earlier that dreaming of being the same things that white children did seemed taboo at the time because she didn't see herself represented on screen.
Topical conversations among industry leaders took place each weekday morning of the festival, also at Thaden School, with some events cropping up at the Meteor Guitar Gallery.
GEENA AND FRIENDS
Geena and Friends, perhaps the most popular of the Bentonville Film Festival events, took place at Thaden School Theater the evening of June 23 with a star-studded cast doing an hourlong variety of table reads from male-centric movies reimagined for an all-female cast.
This year's event featured Geena Davis with Angela Sarafyan ("Westworld"), Brianne Howey ("The Exorcist"), Chelsea Javier ("Smile or Hug") and Ashlie Atkinson ("Gilded Age"). Together they re-created popular scenes from "The Godfather," "The Hangover," "Pets," "Stuber," "Spiderman" and "Central Intelligence." The five actresses performed after having worked together on them for only a day.
Davis told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette shortly ahead of the event that she thought it would be "a really fun way to show people that most roles could be played by either men or women."
The whole evening garnered laughs, both from the audience and the actresses. Davis concluded by saying that a lot of roles for TV and film could be played by "most anybody; it doesn't have to be who you first think."
FILM SCREENINGS
Moviegoers had a variety of screens on which to view festival films this year with theaters at Thaden School, The Momentary, Skylight Cinema and Walmart World Room in downtown Bentonville.
The world premiere of "The Seven Faces of Jane" was shown in Fermentation Hall at the Momentary on the festival's opening night. The contemporary, experimental film was created by seven directors -- Gillian Jacobs, who also starred in the film; Gia Coppola, granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola; Boma Iluma; Ryan Heffington; Xan Cassavetes; Julian Acosta; Ken Jeong; and Alex Takacs -- none of whom knew what the other was doing, only their placement of the segment and a crucial "story kernel" they were to base their part of it around.
Four of the seven directors attended the world premiere for a discussion about the making of the film and their part in it following the screening.
Two other films made their world premieres at BFF, including "The Good Egg," about a woman nearing 40 who considers an unconventional egg donor after failed in vitro attempts, and "Smile or Hug," which was about an art teacher who gets dumped on her 30th birthday and works through her loneliness with her students.
A Bike and Film Social for filmmakers and community members to meet, ride and enjoy art together concluded with a screening of "As We Have Always Done," a film that featured local cyclist Rachel Olzer.
The Geena Davis Outdoor Theater and festival village opened late in the afternoon of June 23 in the courtyard of the Momentary, where lots of family favorites played on the big screen for free, including "Beetlejuice," "Encanto" and "Mulan." The outdoor theater did a special screening June 24 for the 10th Anniversary of "Hunger Games" with movie-related giveaways.
On June 26, the final day of the festival's in-person events, "Where the Crawdads Sing" author Delia Owens, the film's director Olivia Newman and its producer Elizabeth Gabler came to Skylight Cinema for an extended preview screening of the movie, which was to be released soon after on July 15. The three spoke about the making of the movie at the sold-out event.
UPDATE
Since the 2022 Bentonville Film Festival concluded, the organization partnered with Black Girls Film Camp to virtually showcase 10 short films created by the teen BGFC filmmakers in August as a part of their Monthly Movies initiatives. The dates for 2023 have also been announced: June 13-18.
This year’s Geena and Friends event featured Geena Davis with Angela Sarafyan (“Westworld”), Brianne Howey (“The Exorcist”), Chelsea Javier (“Smile or Hug”) and Ashlie Atkinson (“Gilded Age”). Together they re-created popular male-centric scenes from “The Godfather,” “The Hangover” and other movies. The actresses performed after having worked together on them for only a day. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/April Wallace)