“Kili Big” Image Courtesy of The Bentonville Film Festival
WORLD PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY “KILI BIG” AND NARRATIVE FEATURE “7 DAYS” TAKE HOME TOP HONORS AT THE 2021 BENTONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL WITH JURY AWARDS
The Bentonville Film Festival recently announced the jury prize winners for their seventh annual Festival. The week-long Festival, led by Academy Award-winning actor and Festival Chair Geena Davis, is known for its dedication to championing female, non-binary, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and people with disabilities’ voices in entertainment with Films Directed by 71% Women, 75% BIPOC/API and 33% LGBTQIA+ Filmmakers. BFF is presented by BFFoundation in partnership with founding sponsor Walmart and presenting sponsor Coca-Cola.
Kili Big world premiered at the Festival and was awarded Best Documentary, where director Ida Joglar and subjects were in attendance. Roshan Sethi’s 7 Days, took home the jury award for Best Narrative Feature. Americanized, by Erica Eng, was selected for Best Short Film and NOW with Fiona, by Fiona Dawson, won for Best Episodic.
The 2021 BFF Jury included six experts across three categories: Narrative judges included Founder & CEO of Marginal Mediaworks, Sanjay Sharma, and Executive Director of CAPE, Michelle Sugihara; Documentary judges included Head of Film at Marginal MediaWorks Milan Chakraborty, and Head of Whistle Studios, Melanie Johnson; Episodic and Short judges included EVP of Digital and Social at 4 Media, Tom Hoehn, and Attorney at ASManagement, Alexander Shekarchian.
In the BFF 2021 juried competition program, 71% are directed by women, 75% by people that are BIPOC or API, and 33% by people of the LGBTQIA+ community. 70% of these films are written by women, 70% by people that are BIPOC or API, 32% by people of the LGBTQIA+ community and 87% feature a female lead, 81% a BIPOC or API lead, and 30% an LGBTQIA+ lead. 96% of these films have a cast and crew that was made up of more than half of people from these same communities.
The full list of 2021 Bentonville Film Festival award winners and honorees are below:
| Jury Award Winners: Narrative Film Award: 7 DAYS, Director: Roshan SethiDocumentary Film Award: KILI BIG, Director: Ida JoglarShort Film Narrative Award: AMERICANIZED, Director: Erica EngEpisodic Award: NOW WITH FIONA, Director: Fiona Dawson Special Recognition Awards: Honorary Mention, Narrative Feature: WAIKIKI, Director: Christopher Kahunahana Honorary Mention, Documentary Feature: YOUTH V GOV, Director: Christi CooperHonorary Mention, Short Film: NAHJUM, Director: Sebastian Torres Greene |
| For more information about the 2021 Bentonville Film Festival, visit bentonvillefilm.org and follow Bentonville Film Festival across social media channels: Facebook Twitter Instagram |
