2023 FESTIVAL FAQ

GENERAL INFORMATION FAQ

The 9th annual festival will take place in Bentonville and the Northwest Arkansas region during June 13 – 18, 2023 with on-demand streaming through June 25. This will include selections of competition title (Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Shorts, Episodic) alongside exciting work across all festival sections; featuring panels that challenge industry norms, and conversations that emphasize independent artists in the art of film, storytelling and technology; and curated studio spotlight films with celebrity conversations.

The Bentonville Film Festival will take place in Bentonville, AR on June 13 – June 18, 2023. Select festival films will be available through June 25th our on-demand site, watch.bentonvillefilm.org. Passes and individual tickets are on sale now.

With over 75 competition films to include features, shorts, and episodics, there’s bound to be something that appeals to fans of all genres. However, the majority of our festival content may be best suited for mature audiences and probably isn’t appropriate for kids. Please check the ratings prior to selecting that film if you want to watch with children under the age of 17.

BOX OFFICE FAQ

There are no tickets sold in-person at the festival, all transactions must be made online through the BFF website. Ticket and Festival Pass assistance will be available during the week of the festival at our Box Office that is located at BFF Headquarters at The Meteor Guitar Gallery.

Yes, all screening tickets are transferable.

We do not offer venue seating selections/reservations. All seating is general admission and first come, first served. We have a reserved section at each screening and panel for our passholders, this seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. The reserved seats will be released and available for general admission patrons five (5) minutes prior to the event start-time.

Lines form at the venue approximately 15 minutes prior to screening start time. We will begin loading attendees 10 mins prior to scheduled start time.

Late arrivals will be allowed entry on a space available basis.

Our Box Office will be open the week of the festival and assist with on-line orders. However, to prevent delays in entry we highly recommend contacting boxoffice@bentonvillefilm.org in advance if you misplaced your confirmation email. We will be able to resend your confirmation and ticket.

No. Free events are first come first served and subject to available seating.

The show must go on! Outdoor screenings/events will take place rain or shine. Attendees will be notified in advance in the unlikely event of cancelation due to severe weather conditions,

Outside food and beverages are not permitted, however there will be free food and drink options (while supplies last) at the Festival Village.

Dogs are permitted within outdoor festival venues but must remain on a leash and in owner’s possession at all times. Service animals are welcome to all festival venues!

Bentonville Film Festival is committed to improving overall experiences for our audiences, filmmakers, and staff, in alignment with our central mission. We consider inclusion and accessibility the cornerstones of our core values, and it is our aim that our programs and platforms reflect those tenets to the best of our abilities. In-person screenings and event venues are accessible to mobility devices. Select virtual screenings will have closed captioning available. We will make every effort to include an ASL interpreter for our festival speaking events.

Our goal is to make all experiences (in person and online) as accessible as possible for all participants. This is an ongoing effort with many improvements still in process. Filmmakers participating in the festival will have an avenue to submit their accessibility needs. For attendees with inquiries regarding accessibility, or to request an accommodation, please contact programming@bentonvillefilm.org

We sure do, please call 479-318-0885 to leave us a message with your need or concern. Someone on our team will return your call within 48 business hours. For questions regarding tickets and passes, please email boxoffice@bentonvillefilm.org.

IN-PERSON SCREENINGS AND EVENTS FAQ

We offer 3 in-person passes for you to enjoy our festival in Bentonville, AR as well as On-Demand. Click here to see those options.

Festival Village is an exciting event every year at the festival. This year, our Festival Village is located just outside The Momentary in Bentonville and is where our free outdoor family friendly films will play, where our sponsors will have booths with free giveaways to include food and drinks, and, new this year, where we are introducing a FREE Food Fest Experience with Celebrity Chefs, led by Aaron May. Other attending chefs will include Food Network Star Christian Petroni, Top Chef Winner Ilan Hall; BBQ Hall of Fame Burt Bakman, and Famous LA Chef Ray Garcia.

This event will include demos and sampling of brands by Gordon Ramsay, Guy Fieri, Bob’s Big Boy, Meat District, Sonic, Cinnabon and a sneak peek food offering from Netflix.

Please note these are the brands that will be sampled and only the celebrity chefs listed above will be at the festival. So, while we too love Guy Fieri and Gordon Ramsey, they will not be at this year’s festival.

We sure do! It is first come first serve seating at our outdoor theater area. Feel free to bring blankets to sit on the ground if chairs are already taken.

Thursday, 6/15

  • 3pm Netflix’s Deepa & Anoop: Family Experience
  • 5:30pm Trolls World Tour
  • 8:00pm Mission Impossible 1

Friday 6/16

  • 12:30pm Snow White
  • 2:30pm Space Jam
  • 5:00pm Sing 2
  • 8:00 Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Saturday 6/17

  • 11am Beauty and the Beast
  • 12:30pm Frozen
  • 2:30pm Encanto
  • 4:00pm Presenting You Tube’s Gracie’s Corner: Live Performance and Photo Op
  • 5:00pm Mission Impossible 6
  • 8:00pm Maverick

ON-DEMAND FESTIVAL SCREENINGS FAQ

We offer an On-Demand Film Pass and single on-demand tickets for access to watch.bentonvillefilm.org. Select films are available for streaming from June 13 – June 25, 2023. Those options are now on our ticket page.

Most of the films will be available to watch at your leisure for at least 24 hours from starting a film from June 13-25, but there are a select few that have date and/or time restrictions or may be viewed unlimited throughout the festival week. Specific information on each film are available on our website, here.

You can watch content on PCs running Windows 7+, and Intel-based Macs running OSX 10.12+. You can also watch films on Android tablets and phones using Chrome, and on iPhones and iPads using Safari. Additional system requirement information is below:

  • What are the requirements for Windows computers?
    • Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10
    • Supported browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera. We recommend using the latest version of your browser. Internet Explorer is not supported.
  • What are the requirements for Mac computers?
    • Mac OSX 10.12 or later
    • Supported browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Opera. We recommend using the latest version of your browser.
  • Can I watch content on my iPhone/iPad?
    • Yes, you can watch content using Safari on iOS 11.2 or later. Please note that you must have “Screen Mirroring” turned off for content to play.
  • Can I watch content on my Android Device?
    • Yes, you can watch content using Chrome on Android 6.0 or later.
  • Can I Chromecast content?
    • You can Chromecast from a Chrome web browser on PC and Mac computers as well as Android devices by selecting the cast button in the bottom right-hand side of the player.
  • Can I AirPlay to my AppleTV?
    • You can AirPlay from most browsers if you have Apple TV by selecting the cast button in the bottom right-hand side of the player.
  • What happens if I forget my password?
    • Use the password reset option on the login page to reset your password. You will need access to the e-mail address you use to log in.
  • Why does video playback stall or not play smoothly?
    • We use adaptive bitrate streaming which means the streaming quality will automatically adjust based on your internet speed. If your internet connection is poor or inconsistent you may experience problems during playback. If you’re on wifi, try moving closer to your router.

You will also receive an On-Demand Access email with a link and voucher code approximately one hour prior to the festival start time, or if you are watching an event with a specific start time, you will receive an email approximately one hour prior to specific event. Please make sure to check your junk folder or spam folder if you don’t receive the link. All event times are based on Central Standard Time including online demand movies end time. Remember you have direct access to your virtual events from your Elevent order history page. If you have issues finding the email from the event go to your order history, and you will be able to click on a view link.

Please check back often as we will be updating this section with more information as we get closer to our festival.