Bentonville readies for inaugural film festival

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Organizers of the Bentonville Film Festival say ticket sales continue to outstrip expectations for the inaugural event.

Trevor Drinkwater, chief executive officer for presenting organization ARC Entertainment, said his production team is ready for the festival planned May 5-9 in various venues in Northwest Arkansas.

Drinkwater partnered with actress Geena Davis and her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to create the festival. The 54 films selected for inclusion share a common interest in gender and diversity issues, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Sunday (https://bit.ly/1FoeTCh ).

Thousands of tickets will be sold for the festival, and Drinkwater says Bentonville enters the scene as one of the larger events of this type in the country.

“It confirms the mission of the festival is being fulfilled,” Drinkwater said. “The town of Bentonville, and Northwest Arkansas, was ready for a film festival.”

The first festival already has generated a substantial amount of interest, said Kalene Griffith, president and chief executive officer of the Bentonville Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“The quick sellout of the limited All Access Passes and the ’Pitch Perfect 2’ screening is a great example of the area’s response to the film festival,” she said. “We continue to hear people talk about the excitement of the screenings and the panel discussions.”

Ed McClure, a member of the board of directors for Rogers Little Theater and the chairman of the organization’s production committee, said Northwest Arkansas residents are fortunate to have such an event.

“It’s a world-class festival, with recognizable, bankable stars,” McClure said.

Veteran actor Robert De Niro is expected to join high-profile guests such as Rosie O’Donnell, Melissa Joan Hart, Alysia Reiner, Soledad O’Brien and Davis, the festival’s chairwoman, on the numerous panel discussions sprinkled among the film offerings. Many filmmakers and actors are expected to join the festivities during the course of the week.

Victory Theater, the downtown home of Rogers Little Theater, will serve as one of the festival’s official venues. Discussions to use the nearly 100-year-old theater started about three months ago, McClure said. The venue was originally a movie theater, including in 1929, when it showed the first movie with sound in Rogers history.

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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, https://www.arkansasonline.com