FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

From:          Berkshire International Film Festival
Triplex Cinema, Great Barrington, MA
Beacon Cinema, Pittsfield, MA
www.biffma.org

Contacts:   Kelley Vickery, Founder and Executive Director
Lauren Ferin, Executive Assistant
(413) 528-8030

7th ANNUAL BERKSHIRE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2012 FESTIVAL LINEUP

GREAT BARRINGTON (April 23, 2012) The 7th Annual season of The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) will celebrate this year with the latest in independent feature, documentary, short and family films.  The festival runs from May 31 – June 3, 2012 in Great Barrington and June 1 – June 3rd in Pittsfield, MA and will be showcasing over 70 films in independent filmmaking.

Kelley Vickery, founder and director of the Berkshire International Film Festival, stated, “we are thrilled to once again bring to our Berkshire community an incredibly diverse program with over 70 independent films from around the country and indeed the world.” With an exciting season programmed, the festival will kick off with an opening night party at the historic Mason Library and screening of the intimate documentary ETHEL, presented by members of the Kennedy Family. The screening of ETHEL is so special to us as the Kennedys are part of our Massachusetts heritage and we look forward to members of the Kennedy family joining us for the evening and a special Q&A.”  Adding to the excitement, the festival will also present one of the exclusive screenings of MARINA ABRAMOVIC: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT and Ms. Abramovic, the director and producers will be joining the BIFF. “We are especially pleased that she has chosen the Berkshires to screen her film immediately following the NY premiere screening at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City,” said Vickery. The evening will include an event in her honor prior to the screening. The BIFF is very proud to conclude the festival with the closing night presentation of GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, presented by the film’s director and the iconic local artist, Mr. Crewdson himself. Crewdson, who is part of the Berkshire community, will be joining us to celebrate this new documentary based on his work and will conclude with a closing night party at Castle Street. Our 7th Annual Berkshire Film Festival has an array of incredible films, Q&A’s with directors, producers, and actors and a great lineup of festivities.

BIFF has become the festival of choice for filmmakers and film lovers who are seeking a unique Berkshire experience and a place to indulge their passion for film. The Festival connects audiences to compelling documentaries, award-winning international releases with incredible parties and events, all just a short drive from New York City or Boston. Films and events will be held throughout both Great Barrington and Pittsfield, including the Triplex Cinema, the historic Mahaiwe Theatre, the Beacon Cinema and area restaurants.

BERKSHIRE BANK TEAMS UP WITH THE BIFF TO SPONSOR THE SECOND ANNUAL NEXT GREAT FILMMAKER AWARD

Help Us Select The Next Great Filmmaker! Berkshire Bank, America’s Most Exciting BankSM, in collaboration with the Berkshire International Film Festival, team up again to present The Next Great Filmmaker Award.

This award is designed to provide increased exposure and support for short filmmakers and continue to invite the community to voice their opinion through an online voting process. Cast Your Vote! Five short films are in competition and the film with the most online votes will be awarded a $2,500 cash award. Online voting begins today and ends on May 30, 2012.

The five short films in competition are:

1. A GOOD THING – Mark Tobey
2. FELIX – Anselm Belser
3. JUNK – Kirk Hendry
4. PRICELESS THINGS – Sarah-Violet Bliss
5. TICK TOCK TIME EMPORIUM – Morgan Faust

Just by voting, you will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a new Apple iPad! Visit the BIFF website at www.biffma.org,

May 31 – GREAT BARRINGTON OPENING NIGHT FILM & FESTIVITIES

ETHEL

Members of the Kennedy family will be present at the screening and for a Q&A immediately following the film.

ETHEL, a feature-length documentary about the remarkable life of Ethel Kennedy, told by those who know Ethel best: her family. Directed by her Emmy® Award-winning daughter, Rory Kennedy, the film features candid interviews with Ethel and seven of her children. The film is a personal portrait of Ethel’s political awakening, the life she shared with Robert F. Kennedy, and the years following his death when she raised their 11 children on her own.  Intimate, funny, and deeply moving, ETHEL offers a rare look inside a political dynasty strengthened by family bonds, a compassion for others, and a wisdom forged from both hardship and triumph.  Variety wrote,” a fine compilation of archival material, a homemovie writ large and a worthy reminder of what the Kennedys represented, politically and spiritually, during the era of Camelot. The still photos and footage of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, who took their passel of children everywhere — from Cape Cod to Hickory Hill to the Senate Hearing Room — speak to family values of a real, tangible sort that transcends politics and politicking. And in revisiting the catastrophes of the ’60s, ETHEL naturally pulls at the heartstrings.” The film is scheduled for release on HBO in the fall of 2012.  Members of the Kennedy family will be in attendance at the film and will hold a Q&A immediately following the film.

Opening night festivities include a cocktail party and light buffet supper for passholders catered by Max Ultimate Food of Boston at the Mason Library on Main Street in Great Barrington.  This evening is generously sponsored by Jacqueline and Al Togut. The festivities continue that evening with Berkshire Bateria to play at the top of Railroad Street beginning at 9:30 pm to celebrate opening night.

June 1 – SPECIAL EVENT SCREENING AND PARTY

FACE TO FACE WITH THE ARTIST: AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH MARINA ABRAMOVIC

Artist Marina Abramovic, Director Matthew Akers and Producers Jeff Dupre and Maro Chermayeff will be present at the screening and for a Q&A immediately following the film.

MARINA ABRAMOVIC: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT, directed by Matthew Akers, follows the glamorous, fearless, controversial performance artist Marina Abramović as she prepares for what may be the most important moment of her life: a major retrospective of her work at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. To be given a retrospective at one of the world’s premiere museums is, for any living artist, the most exhilarating sort of milestone. For Marina, it is far more. For four decades, she has used her own body as a medium, pushing herself beyond her physical and mental limits, and at times risking her life in the process; now, with the show at MoMA, she has the chance to finally silence the question she has been hearing over and over again throughout her career: “So why is this art?” A mesmerizing journey through the landscape of radical performance, Marina Abramović: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT offers an intimate, engaging portrait of an endlessly intriguing woman who draws no distinction between art and life. Variety writes a “unique four-decade career receives its mainstream platform in THE ARTIST IS PRESENT, an intelligent overview that makes a radical artist’s work comprehensible to audiences with no previous awareness of her or her chosen path. Abramovic fans, among the art world’s most rabid, will salivate at the chance to see their star up close.” Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Nancy Abraham;  Producers: Jeff Dupre, Maro Chermayeff. The film will be on HBO during 2012 and was Winner of the Berlin Film Festival 2012 Audience Award.

Ms. Abramovic has recently revealed a new project in Hudson, New York called the Center for the Preservation of Performance Art. This space will be devoted to pieces that may last several hours or even several days.

This special event will include a cocktail party and light buffet supper for passholders at Aston Magna in Great Barrington prior to the screening. The evening is generously sponsored by GWFF and catered by Castle Street Café. Guests will be shuttled up to Aston Magna from The Mahaiwe.

June 1 – PITTSFIELD OPENING NIGHT SCREENING & HIGHLIGHTS

LIBERAL ARTS

The Seventh Anniversary Celebration continues its’ expansion into Pittsfield and will kick-off at the Beacon Cinema on Friday, June 1st with the huge Sundance hit LIBERAL ARTS.  This romantic comedy tells the story of when thirty-something Jesse is invited back to his alma mater, he falls for a young 19-year-old college student and is faced with the powerful attraction that springs up between them. Directed and written by Josh Radnor, the film stars Zac Efron, Elizabeth Olson, and Josh Radnor.
The BIFF is proud to be presenting the 3rd annual  successful Berkshire Bank’s the Next Great Filmmaker Award in support of the filmmakers of short film. The winner of the Berkshire Bank’s “Next Great Filmmaker Award” will also be announced at this event.  The competition is voted on by the public and on Wednesday, April 25 by viewing the films on the BIFF website, www.biffma.org
Opening night in Pittsfield will include a celebratory cocktail party in the lobby of the Berkshire Bank on West Street catered by Mission prior to the opening night presentation.  The evening is generously sponsored by the Berkshire Bank and is open to passholders and ticket holders to the opening night film.

June 3 – CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING AND PARTY

GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS

Artist Gregory Crewdson, Director and Producer Ben Shapiro and MASS MoCA Executive Director

Joe Thompson will be present at the screening and for a Q&A immediately following the film.

GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, directed by Ben Shapiro. Acclaimed photographer Gregory Crewdson doesn’t just “take” his images, he creates them, through elaborate days and weeks of invention, design, and set-up. The epic production of these movie-like images is both intensely personal and highly public: they begin in Crewdson’s deepest desires and memories, but come to life on streets and soundstages in the hills and towns of Western Massachusetts. In his decade-long project “Beneath the Roses” he uses light, color and character to conjure arresting images, managing a crew of 60 amidst seemingly countless logistical and creative obstacles.   Crewdson says of his work, “My pictures are about a search for a moment—a perfect moment. To me the most powerful moment in the whole process is when everything comes together and there is that perfect, beautiful, still moment. And for that instant, my life makes sense.”

Closing Night Party will be held at the Castle Street Café immediately following the screening. Tickets required.

Festival Special Events & More

THE JURY

The BIFF is honored to have our Third Annual Jury includes actors Mary Kay Place and Karen Allen, Production and Costume Designer Kristi Zea, award-winning Screenwriter John Orloff, Producer Dan Braun, Distribution Guru Josh Braun, Casting Agent Gretchen Rennell,  and renowned Film Critic Kent Jones. There will be five films in competition for feature documentaries and four films in the narrative category.  The award will carry a $5,000 prize sponsored by GWFF USA to be presented on Sunday, June 3rd at Allium in Great Barrington. The films in competition for Narrative are: Nuit #1, Hello I Must Be Going, Your Sister’s Sister, and Nobody Walks. In the documentary category; We’re Not Broke, Fierce Green Fire, Love Free or Die, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare and Chasing Ice.

free sunday screenings at the mahaiwe for the whole family

The morning begins with a selection of kids shorts from Kids Flix Mix for ages 3 to 6, followed by the French film TALES OF THE NIGHT which was a huge hit at the Berlin Film Festival for ages 7 to adult.

THE HOUSE OF MIRTH

This free family film on Sunday is a special collaboration with The Mount’s ongoing celebration of Edith Wharton’s 150th birthday with a screening Terrence Davies’ adaptation of The House of Mirth. The screening will take place at the Mahaiwe.

Considered by many Wharton’s most important work, The House of Mirth, published in 1905, tells the story of Lily Bart, a beautiful woman of limited means living in a society that she describes as a “hot-house of traditions and conventions.” Tempted by luxury and practicality, Lily plans to marry a rich heir but her morality interferes, and so begins her downfall. The House of Mirth reveals the consequences of Lily’s choices.

Davies both wrote and directed the 2000 film which stars Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz, and Laura Linney. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the adaptation outstanding and a “… picture with more sinew and power than almost any other period drama of recent times. It gripped me like a thriller throughout…”
For more information on Edith Wharton and The Mount, please visit EdithWharton.org.

KEN REGAN BOOK SIGNING

In celebration of the debut of his stunning new book “All Access: The Rock ‘N’ Roll Photography of Ken Regan”, Ken Regan will hold a special book-signing on Saturday afternoon in the lobby of the Triplex Cinema, immediately following the Shorts Film Program. With his exclusive access to some of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s biggest names, this new book offers an intimate picture of rock in its golden age.

NEW NARRATIVES SERIES

BIFF will be presenting a fascinating collection of films on June 2 and 3 by emerging filmmakers operating within a cinematic framework directly influenced by the arts. Undetermined by commercial pressures and often made with very low budgets, these works give glimpse to the culture and critical engagements of a new generation, and their experiments with narrative fiction.  Featuring an international selection by award winners Nicolás Pereda, Gabriel Abrantes, Mauricio Arango and many more. The programs will be held daily at 10:00am and 11:30am at the Triplex Cinema and are free and open to the public with the artists present.

BIFF FILMMAKERS SUMMIT

In its seventh year, The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) in association with the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is proud to present its inaugural Filmmakers Summit, a two-day talent academy offered to the 2012 film selection filmmakers. Offering a diverse, multi-dimensional program of panel discussions, lectures, special events, and breakout sessions lead by known industry professionals, the BIFF Filmmakers Summit is designed to celebrate and support the advancement of filmmakers and recognize film as a relevant and important medium. Beginning on Wednesday, May 30, the Filmmakers Summit is an integral part of the festival experience for filmmakers. Ensuring the freshest and most poignant dialogue in conjunction with incredibly unique events, this Summit goes way beyond networking; it will fortify the festival experience.

THE BOSTON LGBT FILM FESTIVAL

The BIFF is proud to be co-presenting a number of films this year with the Boston LGBT Film Festival. Showcasing a diverse range of international, US, and local film, video, and other media, while fostering a greater sense of awareness and community among LGBT and LGBT-friendly audiences, the Boston LGBT Film Festival aims to stimulate thought and encourage dialogue while offering exposure and continued presence for filmmakers, artists and community organizations.  The BIFF will be co-presenting the films GUN HILL ROAD, LOVE FREE OR DIE, THE INVISIBLE WAR, HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, and THE WISE KIDS with the Boston LGBT Film Festival in its 7th season. The Boston LGBT Film Festival will take place May 3 – 13, 2012 at the Museum of Fine Arts and ICA in Boston, MA and the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. As a lover of film and supporter of the arts, the BIFF encourages you to go!  Find out more at: bostonlgbtfilmfest.org.

THE LINEUP: FEATURES, DOCUMENTARIES, SHORTS

Check http://www.biffma.org/ for dates and screening times

FEATURES

2 Days in New York (d. Julie Delpy with: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock, Daniel Brühl, Alexia Landeau and Albert Delpy)

Q & A to follow with actor, Alexia Landeau

Bruna Surfistinha (d: Marcus Baldini with: Deborah Secco, Cássio Gabus Mendes and Drica Moraes)

(Portuguese w/ English subtitles.)

Cafe de Flore (d.  Jean-Marc Vallée with: Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent, Hélène Florent)

Come As You Are (d: Geoffrey Enthoven with: Tom Audenaert, Isabelle de Hertogh, Gilles De Schrijver)

Cracks in the Shell (d: Christian Schwochow with: Stine Fischer Christensen, Ulrich Noethen, Dagmar Manzel)
(German w/ English subtitles)

Der Brand (d: Brigitte Bertele with: Florian David Fitz, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Ursina Lardi, Mark Waschke)
(German with English subtitles)

Farewell, My Queen (d: Bonoit Jacquot with: Diane Kruger, Léa Seydoux , Virginie Ledoyen)

(French w/ English subtitles)

Guilty For the Justice No One Was Innocent (d: Vincent Garenq with: Philippe Torreton, Wladimir Yordanoff, Noemie Lvovsky)
(French w/ English subtitles)

Gun Hill Road (d: Rashaad Ernesto Green with: Esai Morales, Judy Reyes, Isiah Whitlock Jr.)

Happy New Year Grandma! (d: Telmo Esnal with: Nagore Aramburu, Joxean Bengoetxea, Montserrat Carulla)

(Basque w/ English subtitles)

Hello I Must Be Going (d: Todd Louiso with: Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, John Rubinstein)

My Best Enemy (d: Wolfgang Murnberger with: Moritz Bleibtreu, Georg Friedrich, Ursula Strauss)
(German w/ English subtitles)

Nobody Else But You (d: Gérald Hustache-Mathieu with: Jean-Paul Rouve, Sophie Quinton, Guillaume Gouix)
(French w/ English subtitles)

Nobody Walks (d: Ry Russo-Young  with: Olivia Thirlby, John Krasinski, Jane Levy)

Nuit #1 (d: Anne Émond with: Catherine de Léan, Dimitri Storoge, Véronique Rebizov)
(French w/English subtitles)

The Poll Diaries (d: Chris Kraus with: Paula Beer, Edgar Selge, Tambet Tuisk)
(German w/ English subtitles)

Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding (d: Bruce Beresford  with: Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Elizabeth Olsen)

Swerve (d: Craig Lahiff with: Jason Clarke, Emma Booth, David Lyons)

Terraferma  (d: Emanuele Crialese with: Filippo Pucillo, Donatella Finocchiaro, Beppe Fiorello)
(Italian w/ English subtitles)

The Day I Saw Your Heart (d: Jennifer Devoldere with: Mélanie Laurent, Michel Blanc, Florence Loiret Caille)
(French w/ English subtitles)

The Dynamiter (d: Matthew Gordon  with: Arthur Arrington, Joice Baldwin, Casey Brown)

The Holding (d: Susan Jacobson with: Vincent Regan, David Bradley, Kierston Wareing, Georgia Groome)

Your Sister’s Sister (d: Lynn Shelton with: Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt)

The Wise Kids (d: Stephen Cone with: Molly Kunz, Tyler Ross, Allison Torem)

Wunderkinder (d: Markus Rosenmüller with: Gedeon Burkhard, Natalia Avelon and Rolf Kanies)
(German w/English subtitles)
Q & A to follow with Screenwriter, Stephen Glantz

DOCUMENTARIES

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (d: Alison Klayman)

Bhopali (d: Max Carlson)
(Hindi w/English subtitles)

California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown (d: Sascha Rice)
Q & A to follow with Co-Producers, Julia Mintz, Katherine Ripley Frisoli

Chasing Ice (d: Jeff Orlowski)

Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare (d: Matthew Heineman)
Q & A to follow with Director, Matthew Heineman

A Fierce Green Fire (d: Mark Kitchell)
Q & A to follow with Director, Mark Kitchell

First Position (d: Bess Kargman)

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story (d: Andrew Herwitz)

How to Survive a Plague (d: David France)
Q & A to follow with Producer Howard Gertler

In My Lifetime: A Presentation of the Nuclear World Project (d: Robert E. Frye)
Q & A to follow with Director, Robert E. Frye, Executive Producer Diane Love

Jane’s Journey (d: Lorenz Knauer)

Joe Papp in Five Acts (co-d: Tracie Holder, Karen Thorsen)
Q & A to follow with Co-Director/Producer, Tracie Holder, Co-Director, Karen Thorsen,
Co-Producer Daniel Childers

Lemon (co-d: Beth Levinson, Laura Brownson)
Q & A to follow with Co-Director/Producer, Beth Levinson

Love Free or Die (d: Macky Alston)
Q & A to follow with Director, Macky Alston

Surviving Progress (co-d: Harold Crooks, Mathieu Roy)
Q & A to follow with Co-Director Harold Crooks

The Island President (d: Jon Shenk)

The Invisible War (d: Kirby Dick)

The Queen of Versailles (d: Lauren Greenfield)

Under African Skies (d: Joe Berlinger)

We’re Not Broke (co-d: Karin Hayes, Victoria Bruce)
Q & A to follow with Co-Director Karin Hayes, Co-Director, Victoria Bruce

SHORTS

BIFF will present three short film programs which will showcase some 14 shorts from the Berkshires and around the world and will be presented along with filmmakers at selected screenings.

Shorts #1
Tick Tock Time Emporium (d: Morgan Faust), Legacy (d: Bryn Chainey), Color Blind (d: Khadija Dakite), American Homes (d: Bernard Friedman), Leon Smith: A Life of Art (d: Jay Corcoran) A Good Thing (d: Mark Tobey)
Q & A to follow with filmmakers in attendance

Shorts #2
Priceless Things (d:Sarah-Violet Bliss), Junk (d: Kirk Hendry), The Trigger (d: Marcus Sheperd), Felix (d: Anselm Belser), Ballet Story (d: Daria Belova), Wind Is Blowing On My Street (d: Saba Riazi), Ken Regan Rock Photographer (d: Stephen Menick)
Ken Regan Rock & Roll Book signing and Q & A with filmmakers in attendance to follow

Shorts #3
Mondays at Racines (d: Cynthia Wade), Saving Face (d: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy)
Q & A to follow with filmmakers in attendance

VENUES AND TICKETS

Venues for all of the weekend-long events and screenings will include the Triplex Cinema and the historic Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington and the Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield.

Passes are on sale now at $250 and $500 – $150 passes are sold out.  Individual tickets go on sale Friday April 27 and may be purchased online at www.biffma.org or by phone at 1-866-811-4111. Tickets can also be purchased by visiting the Triplex Cinema or the Mahaiwe Box Office in Great Barrington or the Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield.

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

Premiere sponsors of the festival include the Triplex Cinema, Beacon Cinema, Studio Two, GWFF, The Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Sciences, The Red Lion Inn, Berkshire Bank, Jacqueline and Al Togut and Max Ultimate Food. Supporting sponsors include Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Inc., Stella Artois, Abbotts Livery, Medoff Inc., Karen Allen Fiber Arts, Stonover Farm and Days Inn/Comfort Inn.

Berkshire International Film Festival is a 501©3 non-profit.  For more information, to join as a sponsor, volunteer, become a REEL Friend or make a contribution to BIFF, please contact kelley@biffma.org or lauren@biffma.org.

###    END    ###

Smithsonian magazine, May 2012

1. Great Barrington, MA

Big-city smart meets New England natural in an art-rich mountain setting. 

You’ve got to slow down when Route 7 leaves behind the wide-open valley of the Housatonic River to enter Great Barrington. The road becomes Railroad Street there, right of way to pedestrians stalled in the crosswalk trying to decide whether to have sushi or chimichangas for dinner. Others carry yoga mats, bags of farmers market produce, books, CDs, double espressos and all the other stuff it’s hard to find in surrounding Berkshire Mountain villages like Stockbridge and Lenox.

Compared with them, Great Barrington (pop. 6,800) is like a big city where you can get anything you want, to borrow the chorus from “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” by hometown boy Arlo Guthrie. He was 18 when he wrote the satirical ballad about true events on Thanksgiving Day 1965, when he got arrested for illegally dumping some of Alice’s trash, ultimately making him ineligible for the Vietnam War draft. Trinity Church, former abode of the celebrated Alice, is now the Guthrie Center, a stage for folk music, starting point of the annual “Historic Garbage Trail Walk” and a place for interfaith spiritual exchange in a town where there could be something contrarian in the water.

Or in the food. At the forefront of the big-chain-grocery-store-defying, eat-local movement, Great Barrington is devoted to its family farms, farmers markets and co-op. Berkshire Grown, an organization that promotes the production and marketing of locally grown food, spreads the word with lectures by writers like Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma and most recently Food Rules).

Great Barrington’s latest unconventional endeavor is to mint its own currency, an experiment launched in 2006 aimed at getting people to buy everything—not just food— local. Almost 400 businesses in the area trade BerkShares bills; the 5 BerkShares note features W.E.B. Du Bois, the great African-American author and educator whose boyhood home just west of town is a National Historic Landmark.

Incorporated in 1761, around the same time as Stockbridge and Lenox, Great Barrington, too, attracted rich summer people who built Gilded Age mansions like Searles Castle, now a boarding school. But Great Barrington grew up as a mill and railroad center, its blue-collar ring never excised. About 125 miles from New York City, it attracts a hip crowd from the Big Apple, along with New Englanders and recent immigrants from Asia and Mexico.

“Great Barrington is a small, manageable, economically and ethnically mixed town. That’s what I love about it,” says locally renowned Northeast Public Radio director and commentator Alan Chartock, who proudly lives in a house once owned by one of the judges at the Lizzie Borden trial.

When passenger trains still stopped in town, they brought performers from New York, booked to appear at the Mahaiwe, a vintage 1905 vaudeville theater. Now lovingly restored, it offers a year-round schedule of jazz, rock, dance, lectures and HD broadcasts from London’s National Theater and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Executive Director Beryl Jolly, who came to Great Barrington from New York’s Public Theater, calls it the Mahaiwe Mix, no categories excluded, for the whole “big mix of people you see walking down Railroad Street.”

Early summer brings the Berkshire International Film Festival to the Triplex Cinema, and classical music performed on historic instruments to the Aston Magna Festival at the Bard College Simon’s Rock campus. Not to mention such famous cultural institutions as Tanglewood, Shakespeare & Company, the Norman Rockwell Museum and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival just a country drive away.

Then there’s the frame that nature put around the picture, with 1,642-foot Monument Mountain to the east and the rest of the Berkshires to the west—such cozy mountains! Orchards are sheer walls of pink in the spring, farm fields thick with corn in the summer. Fall leaf-peepers train cameras on golden oaks and crimson maples. Honking geese pass over ice-coated bogs and ponds in the watershed of the Housatonic River. All this, and bagels, too. Arlo got it right. — Susan Spano

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/The-20-Best-Small-Towns-in-America.html#ixzz1sbv6ggHO

BIFF’s REEL FRIENDS Film Society, the Beacon Cinema and IFC are proud to present a special screening of the critically-acclaimed documentary film, PINA, directed by Oscar-nominated director Wim Wenders on Thursday, February 2. In this exhilarating new 3D film in, German master Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, The Buena Vista Social Club) shoots in 3D to capture the brilliantly inventive dance world of legendary choreographer Pina Bausch. Wenders had conceived with Bausch a dance film like none seen before, one which would take the fullest advantage yet of new 3D technology to put the viewer deep inside Bausch’s playful, thrillingly unpredictable pieces. After her untimely death in 2009, Wenders continued with the project, turning it into the most exciting tribute he could imagine. Sensual and visually stunning, PINA uses 3D to remarkable effect, taking the audience into Bausch’s work in her imaginative sets (a gliding monorail, a bare stage covered with chairs, a towering man-made waterfall) and powerfully rendering the beauty and sheer physicality of the dances and dancers of her Tanztheater Wuppertal ensemble.

BIFF is also pleased that Ella Baff, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow, will join us to talk about the life of Pina Bausch and lead a discussion and Q&A immediately following the screening. This special event will kick-off at 6:30 with a wine and cheese reception upstairs at the Beacon followed by a private BIFF REEL Friends screening of PINA at 7:30 and the Q&A with Ella Baff. This film is in 3-D. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased through our office at 413-528-8030.

Download Entry Form

General Rules: 

1. There is No Entry Fee associated with this festival.
2. Films must be shot, but not necessarily edited, on a smartphone, tablet or other mobile communications device. Special consideration will be given to films that are also edited on the original device.
3. Films must be submitted for judging on DVD (NTSC format Only, HD format preferred). Please test before sending. Entrants must also submit original digital files on a separate DVD, CD or Flash Drive (QT or AVI formats only). No media will be returned.
4. All films must be must be a Berkshire Premier.
5. Entry materials submitted will not be returned to the entrant.
6. Total film running time must not exceed 10 minutes in length, including front and back credits.
7. Film subject matter is limited to Fiction. This includes Action, Comedy, Drama, Experimental, Horror, Fantasy, Mockumentary, Noir, Sci-Fi and Thriller. **Please note animated and documentary films are not accepted at this festival. 
8. 10 films will be selected for presentation. There are no prizes associated with selection. The glory of participating in this fun event will have to be its own award!
9. Submitted films must be the entrant’s original work and shall not infringe on any copyrights. Contestants agree that they have obtained all required permissions regarding music and/or images presented in the submitted short film. By entering the festival, the entrant agrees that The Beacon Cinema and The Berkshire International Film Festival will not be held liable for any copyright infringements committed by your film.
10. The Beacon Cinema and The Berkshire International Film Festival reserve the right to not screen any film(s) for any reason it deems valid. Films containing images that are excessively violent or pornographic in nature will not be considered appropriate for this festival.
11. Entrants will retain all ownership rights to their films submitted.
12. By entering this festival, contestants agree to give The Beacon Cinema and The Berkshire International Film Festival the right to screen the submitted film and use it on its Website and Facebook site, as well as the web and social media sites of Cultural Pittsfield, during and after the contest period.

How to Enter: 

Deadline for entry is January 30, 2012 

• Entry Form – Must be filled out clearly and completely.
• Entry Media – Films must be submitted for judging on DVD (NTSC format Only, HD format preferred). Please test before sending. Entrants must also submit original digital files on a separate DVD, CD or Flash Drive (QT or AVI formats only). No media will be returned.
• Include BOTH the Entry Form and Film Media in a self-addressed envelope. And send to Smartphone Film Festival c/o Berkshire International Film Festival, P.O. Box 237, Great Barrington MA 01230.
• Festival Contact: Lauren Ferrin, lauren@biffma.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

May 23, 2011

From: Berkshire International Film Festival

Great Barrington, MA 01230

Contact: Kelley Vickery, Founder and

Executive Director -(413) 528-8030

THE BERKSHIRE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WRAPS THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY YEAR

Juried Prize and Best of Fest Audience Awards Announced

Great Barrington, MA – Today, the Berkshire International Film Festival announced the winners of the annual BIFF Juried Prize Award and the BIFF Audience Award. In the Juried documentary category, the winner was CRIME AFTER CRIME directed by Yoav Potash, the powerful documentary film on the legal battle to free Debbie Peagler, a woman imprisoned for over a quarter century due to her connection to the murder of the man who abused her. She finds her only hope for freedom when two rookie attorneys with no background in criminal law step forward to take her case. Michael Rymer’s FACE TO FACE won in the Juried narrative category, a compelling human drama based on the play by Australian playwright David Williamson. The Jury prize is sponsored by GWFF USA and was presented at a brunch Sunday at allium Restaurant . Serving on the BIFF Jury were actors Jayne Atkinson, Michel Gill and Peter Riegert, producer and distribution guru Josh Braun, writer and director Courtney Hunt, screenwriter John Orloff, casting director Gretchen Rennell and production designer Kristi Zea. The Audience Award Winner for best documentary feature was also CRIME AFTER CRIME and the Audience Award Winner for best narrative feature was Berkshire native Alethea Root’s directorial debut of PART TIME FABULOUS, an expose on what it’s really like living with Clinical Depression. The film stars Jules Bruff and both Root and Bruff were in attendance at the BIFF.

The winner of the Berkshire Bank “Next Great Filmmaker Award” was Dustin Grella’s short film PRAYERS FOR PEACE a stop-motion animation confronting the memory of the artist’s younger brother killed in the current conflict in Iraq. Grella was on hand to accept the award in an emotional ceremony during the opening night in Pittsfield followed by the award-winning film, BUCK, which received a standing ovation and a Q&A with director Cindy Meehl.

Highlights of the 4-day festival included the opening night screening of the documentary PAGE ONE; INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES. The film was greatly received by a packed house at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, and the audience enjoyed a wonderful Q&A afterwards with directors Andrew Rossi and producers Kate Novack and Josh Braun. The Opening Night party, catered by Max Ultimate Food, and film was generously underwritten by Jacqueline and Al Togut. Friday evening BIFF opened in Pittsfield night with a sold-out screening of BUCK also sponsored by Berkshire Bank. Saturday evening in Great Barrington, the Mahaiwe was yet again filled for the Douglas Trumbull Tribute and the presentation of Terrence Malick’s TREE OF LIFE which Trumbull served as a visual effects advisor. The speakers were Arish Fyzee and Richard Yuricich, long-time friends and colleagues, as well as John Whalan, President of Black Ice Entertainment, Diane Pearlman, Executive Director of Berkshire Film and Media Commission and Eugenie Sills, Found of the Women’s Times. The Tribute evening was generously sponsored by GWFF USA. The BIFF also presented a special screening of WHITE IRISH DRINKERS with a Q&A with stars Karen Allen and Peter Riegert immediately following.

This year, BIFF presented films at the Hancock Shaker Village and held a very special presentation of LETTERS TO ELIA (sponsored by the Berkshire Film and Media Commission) written and directed by Pittsfield native, Kent Jones and Martin Scorcese. Jones, who was presented with a key to the City of Pittsfield by Mayor James Roberto the day before, led a Q&A following the screening.
Screening 70 features, documentaries, and shorts, BIFF hosted two dozen filmmakers and offered free children’s programs, Berkshire filmmakers, a Human Rights Watch Film presentation and panel discussion, the BIFF annual collaboration with Jacob’s Pillow with a special presentation of NEVER STAND STILL, and parties in the BIFF Tent at Town Hall and throughout downtown Great Barrington and Pittsfield including a filmmaker cocktail party sponsored by the Red Lion Inn.

Other films screened at the festival included ‘Beginners,’ ‘Copacabana,’ ‘Happy Happy,’ ‘Henry of Navarre,’ Kinyarwanda,’ My Afternoons with Margueritte,’ ‘On The Ice,’ ‘Habermann,’ ‘The Trip,’ ‘Chasing Madoff,’ ‘Granito,’ ‘Miss Representation’ ‘Rebirth,’ ‘Troubadours’, ‘We Were Here,’ ‘You Don’t Like the Truth; 4 Days Inside Guantanamo’ and ‘Youth Producing Change,’ and some unforgettable short films by filmmakers in the Berkshires such as ‘Born Sweet,’ ‘Strangers No More’, ‘We Still Live Here,’ ‘You Take Yourself Wherever You Go,’ ‘Evolution Made Us All,’ ‘All In the Game,’ ‘Shudder House,’ and ‘I’m Coming Over.’

Premiere Sponsors of the 2011 BIFF include the Triplex Cinema, the Beacon Cinema, GWFF USA, Studio Two, Jacqueline and Al Togut, Max Ultimate Food, The Red Lion Inn, Berkshire Bank and Berkshire Living. Presenting Sponsors include Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Stella Artois, Karen Allen Fiber Arts, Medoff Inc., Abott’s Livery and Kwik Print.

With over 700 film submissions this year, the Berkshire International Film Festival has quickly become a destination festival that filmmakers seek due to the enthusiastic audiences it attracts.

BIFF 2012 will be held May 31 – June 3, and submissions will open October 1, 2011.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

May 23, 2011

From: Berkshire International Film Festival

Great Barrington, MA  01230

Contact: Kelley Vickery, Founder and

Executive Director -(413) 528-8030

Trumbull Tribute Will Include 2011 Palme d’Or Winner Tree of Life

(Great Barrington, MA) – Today, the Berkshire International Film Festival announced that legendary filmmaker, visual effects pioneer, inventor and Berkshire resident, Douglas Trumbull, will receive the annual BIFF Achievement in Film Award at the Festival’s 6th Anniversary held June 2 – 5, 2011 in Great Barrington and Pittsfield, MA.  The evening celebrating Mr. Trumbull will be held on Saturday, June 4 at the historic Mahaiwe Theatre, and will include the TREE OF LIFE, Terrence Malick’s recent film  which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes yesterday and Trumbull served as the Visual Effects Advisor.  In addition to TREE OF LIFE, the BIFF will also screen Trumbull’s critically-acclaimed film BRAINSTORM starring Natalie Wood, Christopher Walken and Louise Fletcher in the afternoon.

BIFF is privileged to pay tribute to Mr. Trumbull whose legendary career included the Special Photographic Effects Supervisor for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); Visual Effects Supervisor for such classics as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977),  Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), and Blade Runner (1982), each of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.  Mr. Trumbull also directed Silent Running (1972), Brainstorm (1983), Back to the Future… The Ride (1991) and numerous other special format films.  Mr. Trumbull also received the American Society of Cinematographer’s Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the 2010 Science Fiction Hall of Fame. In the 90s, Trumbull moved his studios to Sheffield and employed dozens of Berkshirites, creating a rich and exciting new industry in this community. “We are thrilled to be honoring Mr. Trumbull, one of the most important and influential people in our community at this year’s BIFF,” said executive director Kelley Vickery. The Berkshires celebrates the iconic, groundbreaking work of Mr. Trumbull and his contributions to all of us in this community. We are proud to call him our own.”

The evening will begin with a cocktail party at allium restaurant followed by the Tribute and is open to $250 and $500 passholders only.

For passes, tickets, sponsor and volunteer opportunities and further information on the Berkshire International Film Festival, visit our website at www.biffma.com or call
413-528-8030.

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From: Berkshire International Film Festival
Triplex Cinema, Great Barrington, MA 01230
Beacon Cinema, Pittsfield, MA 01201

Contacts: Kelley Vickery, Founder and Executive Director
Lauren Ferin, Executive Assistant
(413) 528-8030

BERKSHIRE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2011 SEASON IS ANNOUNCED

Sixth Anniversary Presents the Opening Night Hit Film “Page One – A Year at the New York Times” and Closes with Award-Winning Film “Buck”

Lenox, MA – The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) today announced the selection of films that will screen from June 2rd through June 5th, 2011 in Great Barrington and June 3rd through June 5th in Pittsfield, MA. The film festival will feature some 70 US and international independent feature films, documentaries, and shorts. In addition, BIFF will host Q&A sessions with filmmakers, a special screening of Pittsfield native, Kent Jones and his latest film on Elia Kazan written and directed with Martin Scorcese, and the BIFF has partnered with the Human Rights Watch Film Festival to showcase films from the festival which will conclude in an exciting panel discussion with award-winning filmmakers and professionals in the field. This year’s festival will feature films from 15 countries and host over two dozen filmmakers. The sixth anniversary will also include the expansion to Simon’s Rock and the continuation of the successful Berkshire Bank’s sponsorship of the Next Great Filmmaker Award, and the Juried Prize Award for narrative and documentary films sponsored by GWFF USA.

The festival kicks-off in Great Barrington with the Sundance documentary hit which puts the spotlight on one of the great journalistic institutions “Page One; Inside the New York Times” directed by Andrew Rossi. “Page One” is in the great tradition of a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Andrew Rossi’s riveting documentary PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES deftly gains unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media Desk. With the Internet surpassing print as our main news source and newspapers all over the country going bankrupt, PAGE ONE chronicles the transformation of the media industry at its time of greatest turmoil. Writers like Brian Stelter, Tim Arango and the salty but brilliant David Carr track print journalism’s metamorphosis even as their own paper struggles to stay vital and solvent, while their editors and publishers grapple with up-to-the-minute issues like controversial new sources and the implications of an online pay-wall. Meanwhile, rigorous journalism is thriving—PAGE ONE gives us an up-close look at the vibrant cross-cubicle debates and collaborations, tenacious jockeying for on-record quotes, and skillful page-one pitching that brings the most venerable newspaper in America to fruition each and every day. Opening night festivities include a cocktail party and light buffet supper for pass-holders catered by Max Ultimate Food from Boston at the “BIFF Tent” behind the Town Hall in Great Barrington prior to the screening of “Page One.” Jacqueline and Al Togut generously sponsor the opening night event

The Sixth anniversary celebration continues its’ expansion into Pittsfield and will kick-off at the Beacon on Friday, June 3rd with a cocktail party at the Beacon catered by Mission prior to the opening night presentation of the Sundance Audience award-winning film “Buck” by director Cindy Meehl and the winning short film of BIFF and Berkshire Bank’s Next Great Filmmaker Award. “Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems. BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real life “horse-whisperer”, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses – and people – with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, BUCK is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds. The director will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening and will also be the closing night film of the BIFF on Sunday, June 5 at the Mahaiwe. Berkshire Bank is generously sponsoring the Pittsfield opening night event.

The 2011 Festival tribute will be held on Saturday, June 4, at the Mahaiwe Theater and will be announced shortly. GWFF USA will once again sponsor this event and the cocktail party will be held at allium on Railroad Street in Great Barrington.

In addition to the 28 narrative features, 20 documentaries, 22 shorts from 19 different countries, BIFF will host some special events throughout the weekend including GWFF USA’s Juried Prize Award for narrative and documentary filmmaking, WAMC’s The Roundtable live from the Triplex on Friday, free family film screenings and a panel discussion called “Small Acts, Big Changes” on Human Rights with award-winning filmmakers and industry professionals on Sunday, special screenings at Simon’s Rock College and Hancock Shaker Village, a special preview screening of the documentary on Jacob’s Pillow and a special event sponsored by Berkshire Media and Film Commission of A LETTER TO ELIA written and directed by Pittsfield native, Kent Jones and Martin Scorcese on Saturday. The BIFF is honored to have our second annual Jury include, actors Peter Riegert, Jayne Atkinson, and Michel Gill, award-winning screenwriters Courtney Hunt and John Orloff, distribution guru Josh Braun, Production Designer Kristi Zea and casting agent Gretchen Rennell. There will be four films in competition, for both categories of feature documentary and narrative, and the award will carry a $5,000 prize sponsored by GWFF USA to be presented on Sunday, June 5th at allium in Great Barrington. We are also very pleased to present the second annual “Next Great Filmmaker Award” sponsored by Berkshire Bank – you can cast your vote until May 31 at www.biffma.org – vote today and be part of the excitement!

Premiere sponsors of the festival include the Triplex Cinema, Beacon Cinema, Studio Two, GWFF, The Red Lion Inn, Berkshire Bank, Berkshire Living Magazine, and Max Ultimate Food. Supporting sponsors include Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Inc., Stella Artois, Abbotts Livery, Medoff Inc., Karen Allen Fiber Arts, Stonover Farm, and Kwik Print.

Venues for all of the weekend-long events and screenings will include the Triplex Cinema, the historic Mahaiwe Theatre, and Simon’s Rock all in Great Barrington, MA. The Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield will showcase all the BIFF films and events except the special screening at Hancock Shaker Village.

“It is with great enthusiasm and excitement that we announce the 2011 line-up of films, events, and awards. Our 6th anniversary continues with the strong tradition of celebrating the best in independent film and brings those filmmakers and stories to our unique community that not only encompasses the Berkshires but reaches from New York City to Vermont, and from Boston to D.C. “The BIFF continues to grow on all levels and truly has become the kick-off to the cultural season of this great cultural community; our dedicated board and staff members, the incredible audiences, our REEL FRIENDS society, the amazing volunteers, and of course the filmmakers that have had a home at the BIFF over the years continue to raise the level of our organization,” remarked Executive Director Kelley Vickery. “This year BIFF has risen to our new challenges, and capitalized on them with the incredible year of special screenings and collaborations each month for our REEL FRIENDS film society in Great Barrington and the Beacon. The BIFF is also very proud that we will host the second annual Juried Prize with a phenomenal Jury comprised of industry professionals sponsored again this year by GWFF, and our second annual collaboration with Berkshire Bank to bring our community the Next Great Filmmaker Award with the voting going on now! With all the growth and change one thing remains the same, and above all BIFF continues to bring the best in independent film to our community.”

The festival will also have five short film programs which will showcase some 22 shorts from the Berkshires and around the world.

Passes are on sale now at $250 and $500. The $150 passes sold out this month. Individual tickets go on sale Monday, May 2 and may be purchased online at www.biffma.org or by phone at 1-866-811-4111. Tickets can also be purchased by visiting the Triplex Cinema, the Mahaiwe box office in Great Barrington, or the Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield.

Berkshire International Film Festival is a 501©3 non-profit. For more information, to join as a sponsor, volunteer, REEL Friend or make a contribution to BIFF, please contact kelley@biffma.org or lauren@biffma.org.

2011 PROGRAMMED FILMS
Feature and documentary films from the US include, “A Letter to Elia” directed by Martin Scorcese and Kent Jones, “A Novel Romance” directed by Allie Dvorin “Beginners” directed by Mike Mills, “Bellflower” directed by Evan Glodell, “Buck” directed by Cindy Meehl, “Crime After Crime” directed by Yoav Potash, “Granito” directed by Pamela Yates, “If A Tree Falls; The Story of the Earth Liberation Front” directed by Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman, “Miss Representation” directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, “Never Stand Still” directed by Tom Honsa, “Norman” directed by Jonathan Segal, “On The Ice” directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, “Page One; A Year at the New York Times” directed by Andrew Rossi, “Part Time Fabulous” directed by Alethea Root, “Rebirth” directed by James Whitaker, “The Four Faced Liar” directed by Jacob Chase, “The Myth of the American Sleepover” directed by David Robert Mitchell, “Troubadours” by Morgan Neville, “We Still Live Here” directed by Anne Makepeace, “We Were Here” directed by David Weissman, “Whisper in the Darkness” directed by Sean Branney, “Windfall” directed by Laura Israel, and “!Women Art Revolution” directed by Lynn Hershman.

International feature and documentary films include “A Barefoot Dream” (South Korea) directed by Tae-gyun Kim, “Copacabana” (France) directed by Marc Fitoussi, “Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Dairies)” (India) directed by Kiran Rao, “Dusk (Schemer)” (Netherlands) directed by Hanro Smitsman, “Face To Face” (Australia) directed Michael Rymer, “Feathered Cocaine” (Iceland) directed by Örn Marino Arnarson and Thorkell S. Hardarson, “Habermann” (Germany/Czech Republic/Austria) directed by Juraj Herz, “Happy Happy (Norway) directed by Anne Sewitsky, “Henry of Navarre” (German/France/Spain/Czech Republic) directed by Jo Baier, “Hitler in Hollywood” (France) directed by Frederic Sojcher, “Illegal” (Belgium) directed by Olivier Masset-Depasse, “Kinyarwanda” (Rwanda/US) directed by Alrick Brown, “L’Amour Fou” (France) written by Pierre Thoretton, “La Prima Cosa Bella (Italy) directed by Paolo Virzi, “Monga” (Tawain) directed by Doze Niu, “My Afternoons With Margueritte” (France) directed by Jean Becker, “Position Among The Stars” (Netherlands) directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich, “Red Light Revolution” (China/Aust) directed by Sam Voutas, “The Child Prodigy” (France) directed by Luc Dionne “The Green Wave” (Germ/Iran) directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi, “The Life of Fish” (Chile) directed by Matias Bize, “The Team” (Canada) directed by Patrick Reed, “The Trip” (UK) directed by Michael Winterbottom, “You Don’t Like the Truth; 4 Days in Guantanamo” (Canada) directed by Luc Côté and Patricio Henriquez and “Youth Producing Change” directed by various teen filmmakers from various countries.

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–
Kelley R. Vickery
Executive Director
Berkshire International Film Festival
413-528-8030

www.biffma.org