Since the 2018 Bentonville Film Festival is a wrap, we wanted to look back at our favorite moments from this year’s festival. We had such a blast at BFF, seeing so many great films, inspiring panels, fun vendor booths and LOTS of celebrities! Favs below …!
Jenna Laurenzo
- “Lez Bomb” and “Miss Arizona.” “Lez Bomb” won the Jury Award for Best Narrative Film and will receive a guaranteed distribution offer from a BFF distribution partner. We loved this amazing feature starring Jenna Laurenzo, who also wrote and directed the film! We also were excited that “Miss Arizona,” another one of our favorite films, won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. This film follows a former Miss Arizona pageant winner on an adventure with four women she meets while volunteering at a local shelter. The film was directed by Autumn McAlpin and featured fantastic female cast members, including Johanna Braddy, Robyn Lively, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson and Missi Pyle. Also, fun fact: Steve Guttenberg was part of the cast in both films. Check out the full list of winners here.
- Stalker alert … our editor may or may not have a HUGE #girlcrush on Lea Thompson … just saying! Lea Thompson and her daughters Madelyn Deutch and Zoey Deutch starred in “The Year of Spectacular Men.” We loved seeing this family of strong females on screen in this narrative film, which was the Centerpiece Screening at BFF on May 4. “The Year of Spectacular Men” was Thompson’s feature film directorial debut, and it was written by her daughter and co-star Madelyn Deutch.
- Geena & Friends panel. This fun panel featured Geena Davis and her celebrity guest friends acting out scenes from famous films in a gender role-reversal without changing the dialogue. Davis was joined on stage by Meg Ryan, Alysia Reiner, Stephanie Beatriz, Natalie Morales and David Alan Basche. Some of film scenes were from “Die Hard,” “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” We can still hear the laughs!
Wish you could relive this year’s Bentonville Film Festival? Well you can through the pictures we took throughout the festival! Check out our photos from Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5. And save the dates April 30 to May 5, 2019, in your calendar for next year’s festival! It’s sure to be bigger and better … if that’s even possible! #beourBFF
Lea Thompson and her daughter Madelyn Deutch pose for pic before the screening of their film “The Year of Spectacular Men”
Geena & Friends panelists Alysia Reiner, Meg Ryan, Natalie Morales, Geena Davis and Stephanie Beatriz
Geena & Friends panelists Meg Ryan, Alysia Reiner, Natalie Morales and Geena Davis act out a scene from “Die Hard”