Megan McLachlan was in Arkansas for the 12th Annual Bentonville Film Festival, which champions inclusion in all aspects of entertainment media.
While the weather was cooler in Bentonville this year, festival tickets were the hottest thing in town. Demand was up for the Geena Davis-led festival, with screenings sold out throughout the day.
“We put a big effort into earlier socialization of what the program was,” said Wendy Guerrero, President of Programming for the Bentonville Film Festival. “We had earlier deadlines, and we also had some really fun movies, like Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick’s Family Movie. We also implemented a stand-by line this year.”
While the films always skew toward supporting women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ communities, this year Guerrero said she noticed a significant trend.
“There are always themes we see coming through, but definitely maternal health and women’s health were a big theme this year,” Guerrero continued. “We’re going to continue to screen and show films surrounding that. Baby/Girls was in our line-up, which was a homegrown Arkansas film about teen pregnancy. And we also have The Ebony Canal, which is about black maternal health. Over the years, we’ve really made that a big little sidebar that we definitely want to seek out.”
Purchase Happens in One Place Panel
In addition to all of the amazing screenings, Bentonville Film Festival also has panels. I got to pop into one moderated by Leah Collins, host of OWN’s Maxxed Out about the retail landscape pertaining to home design, with panelists including Jennifer Maune (Semi-Finalist, MasterChef), Kate & Adam Ritter (Creators, Homekynd App), and Mary & Jon Pierre (Hosts, Awkward Rooms).
“Word of mouth is the main source of conversion sales in my opinion,” said Jon Pierre. “Any time you’re overlooking the idea of building that trust through social media, if you can convert word of mouth people, then you’re going to do well.”
His wife, Mary, said she always cringes when people ask her about trends.
“When I first started in this design world, people would always ask me what my design style was and what trends I was after,” said Mary. “I don’t believe in trends. It’s about the feel. It’s about how does it make you feel. Don’t pick that accent wall because that’s what’s trending right now. Do it because it works best for you and you can visualize it in your home.”
Jenny Lester’s Our Bodies & Other Shames, a Beautiful Story with Universal Appeal
Our Bodies & Other Shames follows three childhood friends who reunite for one night when one of them gets a cancer diagnosis. Having grown up Jewish orthodox, they each wrestle with their relationship with their upbringing, encountering their younger selves during their sleepover. It’s a gorgeous intersection between religion and womanhood that highlights the pressure of both facets.
During a Q&A following the screening, screenwriter and star Malka Wallick stated she started the project as a way for her and her acting friends to have something for their reels. But through the writing process, it turned into something else.
“I didn’t know that I needed to excavate my relationship to my community and my faith and childhood until I started writing it,” said Wallick, who’s fantastic in her screen debut. “By the time I was writing what would become the feature, I thought, this is going to be really angry. And the more that I wrote it and the more these girls came to me, the more I fell back in love with my community and less angry.”
Paired with Alexa Wolf’s enchanting cinematography, director Jenny Lester sprinkles fairytale wonder into adult reality, skillfully weaving three different timelines into one cohesive narrative that gives the audience hope.
‘It has to be me! It has to be me!” said Lester when she realized she wanted the job to direct. “[Malka] and I spoke so much in the same language as far as girlhood, Judaism, and taste. And it all came together.”
Orange is the New Black‘s Alysia Reiner supports the cast as Aviva, Sheva’s (Wallick) mother who finds comfort in the rituals of her religion.
Filmed in 18 days on an indie budget, Our Bodies & Other Shames is a testament to how far good original storytelling, direction, and acting can go.
Banchi Hanuse’s Fascinating Ceremony Documentary Honors the Nuxalk People and the Return of the Ooligan Fish
Banchi Hanuse’s documentary Ceremony is a project that was 12 years in the making. As a resident of the Indigenous nation, Hanuse was tasked by the community to tell the story of the decline of the ooligan fish, a cultural staple that’s been prominent for generations.
“I wanted the story to not be something traumatic or retraumatizing to my community,” said Hanuse in the Q&A with Deadline’s Matthew Carey after the screening. “I really wanted to share a hopeful story, a healing story, and something that can make the Nuxalk people feel empowered. I struggled with this story, wanting it to be about the ooligan but feeling like it couldn’t stick with just that story.”
Hanuse doesn’t hold the audience’s hand, instead inviting them to catch up with these families and friends. Luke Connor and Jean-Philippe Marquis’ vibrant cinematography makes the green water pop and the area come to life. You really do feel like you’re dropping in to visit, whether it’s listening to the local radio station or learning a history lesson on a walk.
“It was important for everyone to understand our pain first and be able to listen to it,” continued Hanuse. “I also made this film for the Nuxalk community with that in mind.”
Sheryl Glubok’s Welcome to the Fishbowl Unites All Your Favorite Supporting TV Actors in One Film
In Sheryl Glubok’s Welcome to the Fishbowl, Natalie Gold stars as a budding writer escorting a seasoned writer to Telluride to pick up an award. The roadtrip comedy also stars Marin Hinkle (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Jeremy Swift (Ted Lasso), and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes, Covert Affairs, Never Have I Ever). So how did this Avengers-level grouping of your favorite supporting TV actors come together? It all comes back to a hit HBO series.
“We started brainstorming and asked, who could be really great in the part?” said Glubok in the Q&A following the screening. “We were watching Succession at the time, and Natalie Gold! Every time she was in a scene, we wanted to see more of her. And thank god she said yes! That’s where it all started.”
“I had to learn how to drive a stick and I still can’t do it,” said Gold, who drives through the rugged Colorado terrain in the film. “It was beautiful in the mountains.”
“[Gold and I] only had one scene together,” said Marin Hinkle, who plays Gold’s former boss, Vivian. “All I can say is I think I was asking Sheryl to write more and more so we could have more scenes. We actually shot the phone calls in real life, talking on phones with one another. It’s rare that people get to do that.”
Gold coming on board meant that they had to find their Storm Grandquist, the pompous writer at the center of the trip. Enter: Mr. Swift. In addition to Succession, Glubok also spent some time watching Ted Lasso.
“We realized the part of Storm is really challenging,” continued Glubok. “There are dramatic parts and a lot of comedy. I felt like I needed a comedic actor as the right fit because comedy — I’ll say it! — is harder.”
Katherine LaNasa Accepts Variety Virtuoso Award
From Seinfeld to Two And a Half Men, Valentine’s Day to The Lucky Ones, Katherine LaNasa’s TV and film resume is longer than the line in The Pitt waiting room. After she received Variety’s Virtuoso Award, LaNasa spoke to me on the red carpet about what it’s like to have all this hard work pay off.
“It’s really beautiful,” said the Emmy winner. “In Louisiana saying, we have a saying, ‘Lagniappe.’ It means extra or more on more. I think I would have been happy to keep working, but these awards up my chances of working. That’s the thing that’s most rewarding about it. I’m getting to do things and they’re easier to do than before The Pitt.”
Of all the characters on the show, her Dana Evans captures the essence of Pittsburgh more than any other. Where does that come from?
“New Orleans reminds me of Pittsburgh. It’s probably a similar sized city. A lot of Catholics and Italians. I’m Italian and my mother’s family is French Catholic. The people feel very similar. New Orleans has an accent that sounds Brooklyn. [Dana] felt like my mom’s sisters. The essence of her is a combination of those women.”
Kelsey Ianuzzi’s Show Me The Line IVF Documentary Should Be Mandatory Viewing for Congress
With Show Me the Line, director Kelsey Ianuzzi saw what her friend and writer Abbey Crain was going through with IVF and wanted to document it so other people knew what women go through.
“I was a product of IVF myself,” said Ianuzzi in the Q&A following the screening. “So I also had this personal relationship with it.”
Show Me the Line follows four Alabama women as they struggle with IVF and bodily autonomy rights in their state. These women lay themselves bare on screen, including participant Emily Capilouto. Ianuzzi captures some real vulnerability with these women, documenting the moment Emily learns she’s pregnant and also the moment she learns she’s not. It’s a gut-wrenching but important watch.
But if you don’t know a lot about the IVF process, you probably still know more than most.
“Someone asked me if IVF is a pill,” says Jamie Heard in the film.
One of the most startling aspects of this documentary is how little people — specifically men — know about the process, especially those in power.
The doc culminates when two of the women sneak a recording device into a meeting of the Federalist Society and learn what this legal group really thinks — and doesn’t know. One man mispronounces “ovaries” as “ovalries.”
The 2026 Bentonville Film Festival took place from June 15 through June 21.
