The 2019 Award Winning Films and honorees at the Saturday night Awards Ceremony, presented by AMI, showcased our commitment to diverse, inclusive filmmakers. With 86% of this year’s programming represented by female filmmakers and 62% represented by filmmakers of color, LGBTQ+ or different abilities, the sold-out showings of these films prove again that inclusion is not only the right thing to do – it’s good for business.
The show was hosted by producer and host of Ozarks at Large for KUAF, and NPR affiliate, Antoinette Grajeda, and presenters included BFF co-founder and chair Geena Davis, co-founder Trevor Drinkwater, festival President of Programming Wendy Guerrero, Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media CEO Madeline DiNonno, VP of Beauty and Style for AMI Gwen Flanburg, Walmart Senior Buyer for Music and Movies Cody Allison and Coca-Cola’s Louis Martin among others.
Actor and advocate Jamie Brewer was presented with BFF’s second See It, Be It, an award recognizing her unwavering commitment to representing and championing those with intellectual disabilities both on screen and off, ensuring media accurately reflects the world in which we live.
“Yellow Rose” from director Diane Paragas, wins Bentonville Film Festival’s top prize with the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature, and distribution offer from one of BFF’s distribution partners, with Best of Fest going to “The Garden Left Behind”.
The full list of awards and honorees include:
Jury Award Winners:
Best Narrative Film: YELLOW ROSE, Director: Diane Paragas
Best Documentary Film: SAME GOD, Director: Linda Midgett
Best Family Film: SWEET INSPIRATIONS, Director: Brittany Yost, EMMETT, Director: Bridget Stokes
Best Short Film: ME TAMBIÉN, Director: Valerie Vallejos
Best Episodic: HYSTERICAL WOMEN, Directors: Whitney Uland & Nora Kaye
Audience Award Winners
Best Narrative Film: OLYMPIA, Director: Gregory Dixon
Best Documentary Film: OUR QUINCEAÑERA, Director: Fanny Veliz Grande
Best Short Film(s): FLIGHT, Directors: Kia Moses & Adrian McDonald; MADE PUBLIC, Director: Foster Wilson
Best Episodic: HYSTERICAL WOMEN, Directors: Whitney Uland & Nora Kaye
Best of the Fest: THE GARDEN LEFT BEHIND, Director: Falvio Alves
Additional Awards Include:
Samsung Create Award: Abigail Durkin, Austin Johnston, Peter Schwammlein, Isabelle Tindall of The Thaden School
Rising Star Awards: Jadiel Dowlin, Michela Luci
See It, Be It Award: Jamie Brewer
Autism “Can Do” Award: Garret Nichols (Presented by John’s Crazy Socks and Cox Communications)
The 2019 Bentonville Film Festival is presented in partnership with founding sponsor Walmart and presenting sponsor Coca-Cola. 2019 BFF sponsors also include MARS, Unilever, Sony, Viacom, AMC Theaters, Universal, NBA, ConAgra, VUDU, Johnson & Johnson, Samsung, Hisense and Media Partner, AMI.