BIFF 2009 Season is Announced

BIFF Line-Up Includes the Award-Nominated Opening Night Film “William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe” and Over 70 Films from 13 Countries

Great Barrington, MA - The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) today announced the selection of films that will screen from May 14 thru May 17, 2009, in Great Barrington, MA.  The film festival will feature over 70 US and international award-winning independent feature films, documentaries, and shorts as well as panel discussions, Q & A sessions with filmmakers, special screenings of the finalists from the Berkshire Student Film Festival, and a special afternoon discussion with the famed NYU film professor, Richard Brown.  The Festival will represent films from thirteen countries and host over two dozen filmmakers.  Venues for all of the weekend-long events and screenings will be the Triplex Cinema, the historic Mahaiwe Theatre and a free kids film morning at the Mason Library, all in downtown Great Barrington, MA. 

            “In this year of great political transformation, we have chosen to bookend the festival with two films that document the full spectrum of activism that has inspired change in our country over of the last 40 years”, said BIFF director Kelley Vickery.

Opening the Festival will be the grand jury nominated film from Sundance  William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe. Emily and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr., and represented activists protesting the Vietnam War. When the inmates took over Attica prison, or Native Americans stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer. Arthouse Pictures will release the film later this year.  Sarah and Emily Kunstler and others will be in attendance. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

            The Closing Night Film presentation is The Yes Men Fix the World directed by Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno which premiered at Sundance in January and won the audience award at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival in February.  Yes Men, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are two guys who just can't take "no" for an answer. They have an unusual hobby: posing as top executives of corporations they hate. Armed with nothing but thrift-store suits, they lie their way into business conferences and parody their corporate nemeses in ever more extreme ways - basically doing everything that they can to wake up their audiences to the danger of letting greed run our world.

Feature and documentary films from the US include, Anvil! The Story of Anvil directed by Sacha Gervasi;  Burning Plain directed by Guillermo Arriaga; Children of Invention (US) directed by Tze Chun; Emmanual Jal: War Child directed by Karim Chrobog; Food, Inc. directed by Robert Kenner; Gigantic directed by Matt Aselton;  Motherhood directed by Katherine Dieckmann; Sorry, Thanks directed by Dia Sokol; The Meaning of Life directed by Hugh Brody; Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight directed by Wendy Keys; Once More with Feeling  directed by Jeff Lipsky; Pressure Cooker directed by Jennifer Grausman; Prince of Broadway directed by Sean Baker; Spike by Robert Beaucage; The Answer Man directed by John Hindman; The Garden directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy; The Good Soldier directed by Lexy Lovell and Michael Uhys; The Reckoning directed by Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis; The Twenty directed by Chopper Bernet; The Wrecking Crew directed by Denny Tedesco; Treeless Mountain directed by So Yong Kim; and Who Do You Love? directed by Jerry Zaks.

International feature and documentary films include Alone in Four Walls  (Germany) directed by Alexander Westmeier; Azur and Asmar (France) directed by Michel Ocelot; Burma VJ (Denmark) directed by Anders Ostergaard; Correction  (Greece) directed by Thanos Anastopoulus; Egon and Donci (Hungary) directed by Adam Magyar; Eldorado (Belgium) directed by Bouli Lanners; In the Loop (UK) directed by Armando Iannucci; Lake Tahoe (Mexico/Spain) directed by Fernando Eimbecke; Summer Hours  (France) directed by Oliver Assayas; The Country Teacher (Czech Republic) directed by Bohdan Slama; The Disappeared (Argentina) directed by Juan Mandelbaum; The End of the Line (Denmark) directed by Rupert Murray; The Girl from Monaco (France) directed by Anne Fontaine; The Glass House  (US/Iran) directed by Hamid Rahmanian; and Milking the Rhino (Italy) directed by David E. Simpson. 

The BIFF has chosen six Berkshire filmmakers to showcase their films including: Impulse to Soar directed by Mati Kiin; The Goodrich Project directed by Rick Derby; Poet and Poverty directed by Sean Dougherty, Tana Ross and Freke Vuijt; Animal Tricks directed by Sanjiban Sellew; Cowboy Yoga directed by Hal Clifford; Bach of the Antarctic directed by Ben Hillman; and Pretty Dead Flowers directed by Justin Liberman.

The festival will also present two short film programs, which will showcase some 28 shorts from seven countries around the world including France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, United Kingdom and Israel.

BIFF SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS:

Opening Night festivities include a cocktail party with light supper and desserts at Pearl’s prior to the screening of William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, with other Great Barrington restaurants as well as galleries and merchants staying open into the evening with special promotions for festivalgoers.  In addition, the festival is closing off Railroad Street and will host a DJ dance party in the street free to the whole county.

            The Berkshire International Film Festival is thrilled to announce NYUs famed film professor, Richard Brown, will be presenting a discussion on the history of film using his incredible library of over 50 interviews with the industry’s elite.  Brown has taught his popular class, Movies 101, for over 35 years at NYU, and holds special classes at Harvard and Yale.  TV Week described the AMC celebrity series as engaging, enlightening…and hugely entertaining.  This event is not to be missed.

Panel Discussion #1:  Truth Be Told: Documentary Filmmaking Revealed

Making a documentary is not as easy as it looks on YouTube.  In this dynamic and lively conversation, you will join with panelists as they share their insights into the techniques, methods, and strategies of documentary filmmaking in today’s global culture. You'll see some short clips from their films, and hear about how they got started in filmmaking, how the world and the field has changed - and why they stay in it.  In this not-to-be-missed panel, these passionate and award-winning filmmakers will get both personal and poetical... a rare inside-view into the challenging creative process of a nonfiction filmmaker.

Panel Discussion #2: After the Film Festival, Then What? The Future of Independent Distribution

Traditionally, filmmakers are dependent on funders, investors, festivals, sales agents, distributors, exhibitors and the press, to get their films out to audiences. In today’s economy, filmmakers are engaging more and more with self-distribution strategies -- especially with the multitude of digital distribution opportunities online, and the shutting down of traditional, old school distribution companies. The Internet affords filmmakers creative new ways to reach their audiences directly. Come participate in a conversation with festival filmmakers to learn about how they are planning to get their film "out there," and what kind of lifespan they see for their films online, on TV, in classrooms, in communities, and in theatres around the world.

The BIFF will present the first annual BIFF Kids! free film screenings at the Mason Library.  BIFF Kids! will screen the Spanish short film TORERO followed by the 75-minute Hungarian film EGON AND DONCI.  Both films are without dialogue and are appropriate from age 5 and up.  Tickets are available on a first come/first serve basis and may be picked up at the Triplex Cinema during normal business hours.

            In addition to these films, the festival will showcase the winners of the Third Annual Berkshire Student Film Festival.  The BSFF received nearly 20 films from 6 different Berkshire area schools. First Place, Andrew Boyce with GOODNIGHT, ELLA; Second Place, Alexa Green/Missy Matoon with ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS; Third Place, Nik Rhodes, Jake Coan and Eva Petkanas with GREENER.  Honorable Mentions are Alexa Green- SLINGSHOT SALLY; Andrew Campoli, Emilly Rowe and Julia Moore- NO MAN'S LAND; Lars Nelson- DIRGE; Claire Meyer, Eliza Fairbrother and Susanna Yudkin- RICHIE AND JANET. The finalist’s films will be shown on Sunday during the festival.  The award ceremony will be held after the screening of films with an ice-cream social at the Triplex provided by SoCo Creamery in Great Barrington.

Premiere sponsors of the event include the Triplex Cinema, GWFF, Berkshire Living Magazine, Studio Two, The Red Lion Inn and Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Inc.  Supporting sponsors include Stella Artois, Abbotts Livery and Medoff Inc.

“Entering into our fourth season, I am more than ever amazed at the variety of talent and the vibrancy of filmmaking skill found in the titles we are presenting.  A staggering 500 plus films were submitted this year, a testament to the talents working all over the globe to share their stories with passion and commitment,” said Festival founder and director, Kelley R. Vickery.  “It is with great pride, through the hard work of many individuals, that we present an incredible fourth year with over 70 films representing a thirteen countries.  BIFF is showcasing the best in feature films, documentaries and shorts today.  BIFF is also showcasing the talents of our own Berkshire filmmakers and Berkshire students.”  Vickery continued, “I am proud of how the community has embraced the festival, and I am confident that BIFF will continue to be an integral part of the Berkshire cultural community.”

Passes are on sale now at  $250 and $500 - $125 passes sold out in February.  Individual tickets go on sale Friday, April 10 and may be purchased online, by phone at 1-866-811-4111 or by visiting the Triplex Cinema or the Mahaiwe box office.