What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1472111
to do male impersonation but just embodying the characters. Other changes were more overt, though, like the chosen scene from "The Godfather." "The (original) 'Godfather' scene had a female character that was eye candy, so we deliberately chose a man for that," Davis said. Nardeep Khurmi ("Land of Gold") played that role. 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. Chelsea Javier, who wrote and starred in "Smile or Hug," was among the actresses performing in the Geena and Friends table read. 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. A conversation between Geena Davis and Nina Jacobsen, director of "The Hunger Games," was planned to take place beforehand but was moved to a part of the virtual programming of the festival. 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 will be released July 15. The three spoke about the making of the movie at the sold-out event. AWARDS SHOW Filmmakers, actors, producers, directors, industry hopefuls and movie aficionados gathered at the Meteor Guitar Gallery June 25 for the awards show. Academy Award-winning actress and festival co-founder Geena Davis said that Bentonville has been an incredibly supportive town that has welcomed people from all over the world and given them a sense of belonging. Davis noted that this year's event had more than 100 special guests and filmmakers, and in the eight years of the festival, approximately 10,000 creative people and artists have been a part of it. Sophia Garza-Barba, a Mexican- American filmmaker, became the first- ever recipient of the M&Ms For All Funkind grant, which was designed for up-and-coming, underrepresented content makers to create more implicit entertainment. The grant awards $20,000 and the opportunity to work with the M&Ms team on a project. Other special honors included the Rising Star Award, which went to Fin Argus for capturing the attention of both the public and the entertainment industry, and the Rising to the Challenge Award to Effie Brown, honoring her success supporting indie film projects on and off screen. Best Narrative Feature went to "Every Day in Kaimuki." Director Alika Tengan and the cast were in attendance. Best Documentary Feature went to Gretchen Stoeltje's "Shouting Down Midnight." Best Short Film went to "Georgia," by Jayil Pak. "Chiqui," by Carlos Cardona won Best Episodic. JULY 3-9, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 41 BFF Continued From Page 39 BENTONVILLE 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) Ashley Edwards (from left), president of programming for the Bentonville Film Festival, Wendy Guerrero, BFF president, Academy Award winning actress Geena Davis (center), actor Fin Argus, Madeline Di Nonno, president and CEO of the Geena Davis Institute, and other actresses arrive for the eighth Bentonville Film Festival awards show at the Meteor Guitar Gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Mary Beth Kemp)