The BIFF is behind us and summer is in full swing. Is it just us or does it seem like somehow there is even more to do this summer in the Berkshires than ever before??
We hope you are taking in all the great plays, performances and exhibits our amazing community has to offer…but don’t forget about film! Keep in mind that the BIFF is now year-round!
Join the REEL FRIENDS and live the BIFF twelve months a year! Starting next month we are back in full swing with monthly screenings and events.
It's been a full year since BIFF 2009! REEL FRIENDS who joined last year and would like to continue receiving invites to screenings and parties this summer and fall renew your membership on biffma.org or by calling 413-528-8030.
A HUGE thank you to our WONDERFUL 2010 volunteers who never cease to amaze!
A few thoughts from
Richard Stanley on the
5th Anniversary of the
Berkshire International Film Festival
It is truly amazing how much this little festival has grown and changed in only five years. BIFF Founder and Director Kelley Vickery has worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality, and it has been her continued vision and unwavering commitment to film and to this community that has allowed the festival to firmly establish itself as an integral addition to the Berkshire’s cultural offerings.
Kelley’s idea clearly touched a nerve amongst many like-minded people in this community, and when she first approached me about working together, the idea was very much for and about the Berkshires. However, because of the quality of the films Kelley selected and has continued to select with the help of the BIFF Advisory Board, word got out to our natural neighbor, and each year more and more film lovers have made their way to the Berkshires from New York City. Today, more than half of the audiences are New York City residents who make a weekend getaway or second home owners who come back to the Berkshires earlier in the season than they have in the past to catch the BIFF as it kicks off the summer cultural calendar. The number of visitors the festival draws has tripled over the past five years, and as it pulls more people each year, the BIFF continues to contribute to the overall economic development of Berkshire County.
When I began thinking about building the Triplex in Great Barrington, I did not set out to build a movie theater really. The idea was to discover some mechanism that would bring people downtown. Businesses had moved out of the downtown area to shopping centers on the outskirts, and Great Barrington had lost that New England flavor that today keeps residents here and draws visitors in. What I saw in the BIFF was this very idea recreated. The festival fulfills the mission that I saw for the Triplex. If you look at the name of Pittsfield’s new cinema, the Beacon, this same vision continues. BIFF expanded into Pittsfield this year and collaborating with the Beacon gave people a reason to go back downtown. If you were in Great Barrington or Pittsfield the first weekend in June, then you experienced the real sense of community and potent excitement.
What we have regained in Great Barrington and are quickly moving towards in Pittsfield, is a sense of place. As people come back downtown to watch film, do their shopping, or go out to dinner we are recreating the character of these places that developed over time and was briefly lost. From a personal perspective, my involvement with the BIFF was a no-brainer. Amongst loving film and a willingness and desire to create opportunities for up-and-coming entrepreneurs, the festival was an idea I could easily get behind and is today a reality I am continuously proud to support.
More than ever this year, we were reminded of how proud BIFF is to be a part of this community.
Filmmakers and visitors could not say enough about the wonderful audiences. Julie Tortorici from MILESTONE spoke of an, “amazing festival, packed with great films, awesome cocktail parties and an incredible welcoming community”. Jenny Stein of PEACEABLE KINGDOM commented on, “an unforgettable weekend in Western Massachusetts…with lengthy Q&A sessions with an engaged and inspired audience”. Jason Lehel from GAIA stated that, “rarely in life, let alone at film festivals, is the hospitality, individual attention, sense of community, and good old fashion fun so abundant”.
So a big huge THANK YOU from the BIFF to the Berkshires. You put a smile on our faces!
With this in mind, we are keeping you, our wonderful audience, engaged this summer and into the fall. For next month’s 3rd Sunday REEL FRIENDS film and brunch, we will be screening Cambria Matlow and Morgan Robinson’s BURNING IN THE SUN a film that follows 26 year-old charmer Daniel Dembele, equal parts West African and European, who decides to return to his homeland in Mali and start a local business building solar panels—the first of its kind in that sun drenched nation.
Director, Cambria Matlow, will be in attendance. REEL FRIENDS, check your emails soon for the invite and if you have yet to join the REEL FRIENDS or your membership is up for renewal sign up on biffma.org or call 413-528-8030 and don’t miss out!!
BIFF 2011 will be held June 2-5, and submissions will open October 1, 2010!
About BIFFThe Berkshire International Film Festival aims to create a world-class festival as an integral part of the cultural fabric of the Berkshires. BIFF will showcase not only the latest in independent feature, documentary, short, and family films but also lively panel discussions and special events focusing on filmmakers and talented artists from both sides of the camera.
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