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SUMMARY:15th ANNUAL BERKSHIRE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL  ANNOUNCES 2021 LINEUP
DESCRIPTION:BIFF Honoree, Multi Award-Winning, Legendary Actor ALFRE WOODARD to Attend Documentary Film about Beloved International Icon LEONARD BERNSTEIN\nNew England Premiere of TOM PETTY, SOMEWHERE\nYOU FEEL FREE\nFive World Premieres with films about: legendary\nglass artist Lino Tagliapietra, THE BOOKSTORE in Lenox, and Shake & Co’s Famed Fall\nFestival; a New Collaboration with NYC’s Naked Angels Theater Company; TEA\nTALKS with Two World Premieres Featuring Don Gummer and Gerry Moffatt; a Fascinating Panel Discussion with Industry Icons Fred Seibert and Evan Shapiro; Dozens\nof International and National Narrative Features, Documentaries, Short Films; plus BIFF continues its partnership with the Palm Springs International Animated Film Festival.\nGREAT BARRINGTON, MA: August 5, 2021 —The\n15th Annual Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) announces another blockbuster weekend line-up of films, events, and very special guests. The Festival runs from September 9 – 12 in Great Barrington, MA and September 10 – 12 in Pittsfield.\nMA. Marked with strong international programming and an ongoing commitment to presenting the best in documentary\nfilm, the Festival brings together films, filmmakers, industry professionals and fans for a four-day celebration. The lineup features 22 documentaries, 20 narrative features and 18 short films, which represent 20 countries including: Germany, India,\nFrance, Austria, Poland, Australia, Israel, Kosovo, UK, China, Denmark, Canada, Chile, Greece, Hungary, Argentina, Switzerland, Italy and Norway.\nThis year’s Festival promises to not only transport film fans to foreign\nlands, but also deliver important, engaging, powerful and entertaining stories from around the United States and here in the Berkshire community. “I\nam deeply grateful and humbled that we will be honoring the incredible actor, Alfre Woodard this year,” said Kelley Vickery, BIFF Founder and Artistic Director of this year’s honoree. One of the most versatile actors of her generation and named by\nthe New York Times as one of ‘the 25 greatest actors of the 21 st Century,’ Alfre Woodard has won or been nominated for nearly every award that the entertainment industry has\nto bestow, including a record 17 Emmy nominations. “We are thrilled she will join us on the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center stage.”\n“We are also thrilled to share an extraordinary line-up of films from near and far,” said Vickery.\n“One of the many things I love about the BIFF is the diversity of films that our filmmakers bring to the Berkshires. Each year, we present films from around the world to reflect our ever-changing, ever-growing, and ever-hopeful global community. It\nis my hope that BIFF will inspire our audience with wonder, curiosity, engagement, laughter and perhaps\neven a call to action. I continue to be amazed at the amount of inspired filmmaking that is being created, and I celebrate those filmmakers who share their stories and their talent. BIFF continues to bring the world to the Berkshires!”\nEarlier this year, BIFF announced industry veteran David Tochterman as their new Executive\nDirector. Tochterman is a well known producer, executive and entrepreneur, and CEO of Canvas Media Studios which produces and distributes original programming for film, television and digital platforms. Tochterman\ncommented: “I believe the pandemic accelerated the tipping point between traditional and virtual. When I joined BIFF, I found that almost every film festival was online in some way, which reflects the changing world of content distribution. This year’s\nFestival will be a little more industry-driven, and we’ve created a new online pass for BIFF audiences to experience the Festival virtually for the first time. I was very impressed with how Kelley creates a theme every year\nto connect BIFF’s programming with what’s going on in the world. Art should reflect life, and that’s a great message for a film festival.”\nBIFF HIGHLIGHTS\nTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 —Opening Night,\nGreat Barrington, sponsored by Berkshire Bank: The\nFestival opens with BERNSTEIN’S WALL , which\nrecently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to critical acclaim. “Lenny loomed large in the Berkshires for decades, so it seems fitting to open with a film about someone many of us knew and remember so fondly at Tanglewood,” said Vickery.\nDirector Douglas Tirola uses Leonard Bernstein’s own voice to trace Bernstein’s lifelong struggle to create social change and bring people together through his work. Like a symphony with multiple movements, the film presents the sweeping grandeur of Bernstein’s\nlife, while sharing his most private thoughts about America, politics, race, family, media, sex, and religion.\nUsing Bernstein’s own words, while featuring newly discovered archival footage,\naudio verité moments with his family, intimate photos, personal letters, and highlights of his spectacular career, including: WEST SIDE STORY, the New York Philharmonic, Young People’s Concerts and the opening of the Kennedy Center. Tirola creates an intimate\nand moving look at one of the 20th century’s most prominent icons, as well as a call to action for artists to create change and bring people together in our society today. The\ndirector Douglas Tirola will be in attendance, in addition to Nina and Alexander Bernstein, for a Q&A following the film.\nBIFF’s Opening Night begins with a presentation of the 11th annual “Next\nGreat Filmmaker Award” sponsored by Berkshire Bank—cast your vote before September 5th at www.biffma.org\nand be part of the excitement!\nSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11— Tribute Night ,\nMahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, sponsored by GWFF USA : It is a pleasure, and\na huge honor, to pay tribute to the multi award-winning and legendary actor, Alfre\nWoodard. A veteran of film, theater, television, and the spoken word, Woodard powerfully\nilluminates each role she inhabits. Her work as an actor is not simply to entertain, but to inform; to make us walk a mile in another’s shoes; to let us feel the long and unknown road where, at the end of our\ntrip, compassion exists. In addition to her outstanding career in front of audiences, Alfre Woodard is a tireless social activist. With her passion, with her courage, with the nuance and force she brings to each role and each facet of her activist life, Alfre\nWoodard is, in fact, making a better America. The Berkshire International Film Festival is proud to honor her.\nSUNDAY, SEPTEMBER\n12— Closing\nNight: BIFF will close with the New England Premier of the highly acclaimed documentary,\nTOM PETTY, SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE. The\nfilm offers a unique take on the Petty legacy, diving deep into a condensed period of creativity and freedom for the legendary rock star. Capturing the period of 1993-1995, during which he created his seminal and most emotionally raw album Wildflowers , this unvarnished look at Petty features never-before-seen footage drawn from a newly discovered archive of\n16mm film, as well as new interviews with album co-producers Rick Rubin and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, along with original Heartbreaker Benmont Tench. Director Mary Wharton and Executive Producer Dan Braun will be in attendance for a Q&A,\nfollowing the film.\nIn addition to the dozens of remarkable films, BIFF will host special\nevents throughout the weekend including: GWFF USA’s Juried Prize Award for narrative and documentary filmmaking; Free Family Film screenings; and Panel Discussions. BIFF’s popular TEA TALKS\nalso return. This Festival-favorite began three years ago, and this year’s selections include in-depth conversations with special guests about the film industry, and with some of BIFF’s featured films. We are also collaborating with the renowned\ntheater company in NYC, Naked Angels, for a screenplay reading of NEXT FALL by Geoffrey Nauffts, starring Patricia Clarkson and William Fichtner, produced by Tim Ransom.\nTHE JURY BIFF’s 2021 Jury includes: actor Karen Allen; distribution guru Josh Braun; director Kent Jones; producer\nDarren Dean; distributor and filmmaker Greg Rhem; and casting director Gretchen Rennell. In competition are four documentaries and four films in the Narrative category. The award includes a $5,000 prize sponsored by GWFF USA, to be presented during a brunch\non Sunday, September 12 at Number Ten in Great Barrington. The films in the Narrative competition are: AFTER LOVE, HIVE, NADIA BUTTERFLY, and THE TAILOR. In the Documentary competition are: CHASING CHILDHOOD, FISH AND MEN, STORM LAKE, and TO WHICH\nWE BELONG.\nThe 11th annual “NEXT GREAT FILMMAKER” COMPETITION, created\nand sponsored by Berkshire Bank, will kick-off online on Friday, August 6. Voting will continue through September 6 and the winner announced at the Opening Night presentation in Great Barrington, Thursday, September 9 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.\nThe films in competition are: FEELING THROUGH, HAPPY, READY TO WEAR, STAGIAIRE, and WHAT HAPPENED TO US? www.biffma.org/nextgreat\nBIFF FILMMAKER SUMMIT In 2021, the BIFF will host its 11th annual Filmmaker Summit—a two-day talent academy for this year’s\nfilmmakers. This diverse, multi-dimensional program of panel discussions, lectures, special events, and breakout sessions is led by known industry professionals including the Berkshires’ own special effects legend, Doug Trumbull. Beginning on Wednesday, September\n8th, the Filmmaker Summit is a very special introduction to the Festival for filmmakers.\nBIFF SPONSORS Premiere\nsponsors of the Festival include: the Triplex Cinema, Phoenix Theatres Beacon Cinema, GWFF, Studio Two, Berkshire Bank, Max Ultimate Food, The Annie Selke Companies, The Red Lion Inn, and Town Vibe. Supporting sponsors include Karen Allen Fiber Arts,\nBerkshire Mountain Distillers, Canna Provisions, DéPart Wines, Stella Artois, Abbotts Livery, Haven Cafe, Stonover Farm, Schantz Galleries, Chronogram and Fairfield Inn and Suites.\n\n\n\n \n \n
URL:https://mainstreetmag.com/events/15th-annual-berkshire-international-film-festival-announces-2021-lineup/
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