It was a privilege attending yesterday's virtual press conference for the Bentonville Film Festival, where Oscar-winner Geena Davis joined President of Programming Wendy Guerrero to announce that their festival will now be produced as an annual program of the Bentonville Film Foundation (BFFoundation). The BFFoundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in the state of Arkansas, led by a board of directors and operated by year-round and seasonal staff. Davis will serve as Chair of the Festival, while Guerrero will take on the additional role of the President of the Festival and the BFFoundation.
From the beginning, the Bentonville Film Festival has championed essential works from diverse filmmakers, including one of my personal favorite coming-of-age dramas, Lindsay MacKay’s masterful debut feature “Wet Bum,” starring the extraordinary Julia Sarah Stone (“Come True,” “Allure”). Both Davis and Guerrero welcomed my suggestion during yesterday's Q&A to showcase their remarkable archive of past festival selections, and I was delighted to learn that they are already doing this via their monthly BFF Movie Mondays series, featuring live filmmaker question and answer sessions moderated by RogerEbert.com contributor Carla Renata.