The Bentonville Film Foundation, in collaboration with founding partner, Walmart, and presenting sponsor, Coca-Cola, announced the winners of the 12th edition of the Bentonville Film Festival June 20 at a high-energy awards gala. Walter Thompson-Hernández’s “If I Go Will They Miss Me” took the best narrative award while Judd Ehrlich’s “Jane Elliott Against the World” was honored as best documentary.“These awards reflect the passion and drive of storytellers, whose work will continue to broaden perspectives and engage audiences throughout the year,” said Bentonville Film Festival chair Geena Davis in a statement. “We congratulate our BFF award winners and we’re so thankful to every filmmaker here for their contributions to the success of this year’s BFF!” Davis, who was unable to attend this year’s festival as she is shooing actioner “The Kellys,” spoke to the enthusiastic audience via video alongside her co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The festival opened with the Kevin Bacon-Kyra Sedgwick thriller “Family Movie.” It closed June 21 with a special screening of the first episode of “Little House on the Prairie,” from showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine. She was honored with the festival’s Rising to the Challenge Award.
Special jury mention for directorial vision: “The Musical,” from director Gisella Bonilla.
Special jury mention for lead performances: “BRB,” directed by Kate Cobb.
Special jury mention (documentary): “Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story,” directed by Ayden MayeriBest Homegrown film: “Baby/Girls,” from directors Jackie Jesko and Alyse Walsh.
Special jury mention (Homegrown): “Filthy,” directed by Lisa Cole.
Best episodic: “Too Romantic,” from writer-director-producer Talia Light Rake
Best short film: “Find the Boy,” from Pauline Goasmat
Special jury mention (short film): “Paper Daughter,” directed by Cami Kwan
Special jury mention (short film): “She Chose War,” from director Sarah Moshman
BFFoundation is a non-profit organization focused on promoting underrepresented voices of diverse storytellers. The core mission is to champion female, non-binary, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, API, and persons with disabilities’ voices in entertainment and media, through research, education, and supporting the production and distribution of inclusive content.
Along with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the foundation also partners with schools and community institutions to educate the challenging effects of stereotyping, unconscious bias, and representation imbalance of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and persons with disabilities. We also utilize media-based tools and content to build positive association and equality-based learning models.