Geena Davis

Coronado Island Film Festival 2022 announces filmmaker awards following big year for the fest

By John Wildman 3 years ago

Coronado Island Film Festival Executive Director Merridee Book, said, “We took another step this year in our growth as a prime destination film festival where filmmakers, especially independent filmmakers, have an opportunity to have their work seen by veteran producers, executives, and top film industry influencers, alongside our film loving audiences. Our award-winning films and our honorees have their work and careers celebrated against the backdrop of Hollywood’s beautiful home away from home a bridge ride across the bay from San Diego. Each year, we become less and less of a ‘best kept secret’ and more and more of the fest you don’t want to miss in November.” 

Coronado Island Film Festival opens this week with awards hopefuls, indie films, and honorees

By John Wildman 3 years ago

The Coronado Island Film Festival (November 10-13) opens this week with an impressive lineup of films with awards-aspirations, as well as the honorees for the 2022 Leonard Maltin Industry Awards Gala. Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light is the Opening Night selection, Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection is the Centerpiece selection, and Maria Schrader’s She Said taking the Closing Night spot, along with CIFF’s traditional screening of Billy Wilder’s classic Some Like it Hot.

THELMA & LOUISE 30th Anniversay Screening: Bentonville Film Festival 2021 Announces Competition Films

By John Wildman 5 years ago

“We are proud to offer audiences an inspirational line up celebrating diversity and inclusion on screen and behind the camera, to demonstrate the power of intersectional equity in entertainment media. Through our unique inclusion qualifiers, we are giving voice to directors who are 71% Female, 75% BIPOC or AAPI and 33% LGBTQIA+,” said Geena Davis, Bentonville Film Festival Chair. “We were excited last year to see our audience grow globally as a result of our virtual component. Come to our Festival this year, in person or virtually, and be transported into stories that can change the world,” said Davis.

LINGUA FRANCA, THE DONUT KING, and FAREWELL lead 2020 Bentonville Film Festival’s Filmmaker Awards

By John Wildman 6 years ago

Isabel Sandoval’s LINGUA FRANCA took home the top prize winning the jury award for Best Narrative Feature. Alice Gu’s THE DONUT KING was awarded Best Documentary, Rachel Harrison Gordon’s BROKEN BIRD was selected for Best Short Film Narrative and Rachel Fleit’s AVA & BIANCA won for Short Film Documentary. Taylor Lee Nagel’s Lady Liberty and Miguel Angel Duran’s Immigrant Voices of America took the honors in Episodic.

Oge Egbounu’s (In)visible Portraits Opens Bentonville Film Festival’s 6th edition debuts with a virtual/drive-in hybrid approach

By John Wildman 6 years ago

Wendy Guerrero , President of Programming of Bentonville Film Festival said: “ Our team has worked hard over the past few months to rethink and rebuild our Festival for 2020, always drawing on our mission to champion underrepresented voices, which has grown even more urgent as we continue these challenging circumstances. Our 2020 program is a celebration of art and diversity, perseverance, and talent. The films in this year’s lineup showcase what we’ve known all along: representation in media, means better content for all.

Geena Davis, Co-Founder and Chair: Cites Coronavirus concerns, the 2020 Bentonville Film Festival moves dates of fest to August

By John Wildman 6 years ago

“This decision comes after careful consideration and consultation with our partners. Our number one concern is the safety of our content creators and our community of attendees. We are grateful for the support and recommendations we’ve received and look forward to welcoming everyone to the 6th edition of BFF this August.” Bentonville Film Festival, Co-Founder and Chair, Geena Davis said.

SHORTS AND TO THE POINT: Alexandre Dostie’s I’LL END UP IN JAIL gives us a woman discovering her inner badass

By John Wildman 6 years ago

Writing this film, my dream was to build that character from hopeless mom to kickass take-no-prisoner woman. The model was based on my mother with hints of Geena Davis’s ‘Thelma’ from THELMA AND LOUISE. It felt right on paper, but you never know how it will translate to screen. Maureen really came alive with Martine Francke’s performance. She is Maureen. She is a genuine badass.

FILM FESTIVAL NEWS: Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival announces their Call for Entries for 2020

By John Wildman 6 years ago

“BFF has an unwavering commitment to support groups and people historically underrepresented in media. This year, 86% of the films selected included key representation by female filmmakers and 62% included representation by filmmakers of color, LGBTQIA, or different abilities. We saw sold out houses for the competition and spotlight films and full audiences for impactful discussions held during the festival,” said Wendy Guerrero, President of Programming for Bentonville Film Festival.

FILMS GONE WILD: 10 Film Festival Programmers to Watch

By John Wildman 7 years ago

In the meantime, now that I have probably exhausted everyone’s patience by blathering on and ranting like an old man carrying a crumpled paper bag and out of date newspaper outside a deli, here is a quick list of ten people that I work with and for that I would suggest filmmakers, film industry types, and people reading the movie industry tea leaves SHOULD be paying attention to: