Latest news with #BIFF
Boston Globe
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
The Berkshires International Film Fest returns this weekend with Brian Cox as honoree
'I want to be the movie that everyone's talking about,' Christy says. That's the hope of every filmmaker who brings their latest project to festivals such as BIFF, which marks its 19th year this weekend. In addition to screening more than two dozen documentaries and nearly as many narrative features, the festival is set to honor the actor Brian Cox with a special screening of his choice, 'The Escapist' (2009). Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up Designer Bob Mackie arrives at the Fashion Trust US Awards on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP The fashion designer Bob Mackie will be on hand for a new documentary about his glitzy legacy, and the festival expects a large contingent from Needham for Advertisement Kelley Vickery, BIFF's founder and artistic director, created the festival shortly after moving to Western Massachusetts. Having worked at the Kennedy Center and with cultural organizations overseas, she appreciated her new community's dedication to the arts — Tanglewood, Jacob's Pillow, Mass MoCA. 'I thought, it's funny that we don't celebrate film,' she says. 'I combined my skill set with a love of film, and the BIFF was born.' Over the years, the festival has scored some coups. They've hosted the high-wire artist Philippe Petit (the 2009 Oscar winner 'Man on Wire') and the singer Darlene Love (2014 Best Documentary feature '20 Feet From Stardom'). In 2019, BIFF honored Martin Scorsese. Cox, this year's honoree, and his wife, Nicole Ansari, have a home in upstate New York, just over the Massachusetts border. 'They're part of our community,' Vickery says. 'They consider Great Barrington 'their town.'' Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine will answer questions after the Friday screening of his new documentary, 'Memories of Love Returned,' which is executive produced by Steven Soderbergh. Taylor Jewell/Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP The actor and filmmaker Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine is another local of sorts. He considers Stockbridge to be one of his hometowns. Born in New Hampshire to Ugandan parents, he lived in the Boston area while his mother attended Boston University and then attended middle school in Stockbridge. Mwine will answer questions after the Friday screening of Advertisement Mwine met Soderbergh after he was cast in 2015 in the dramatic TV series 'The Knick,' which Soderbergh directed. They struck up a friendship. Mwine mentioned his documentary project, and the filmmaker said, 'I'll have a check waiting for you.' Though he now lives in LA, keeps his ties to Uganda, and spent the past six months in New York working on the upcoming series sequel 'Dexter: Resurrection,' Mwine still considers Western Massachusetts to be an inspiration for his documentary. 'I'm literally going back to the genesis of the story for me, in a sense,' he says. 'If we hadn't lost our family photos when my mom moved back from Stockbridge to Uganda, I might not be the same person.' For Christy, who is a graduate of Boston College, it's especially important to present her film in the festival setting. 'Magic Hour' begins and ends with her main character, Harriet, (Miriam Shor), in a cinema — first sobbing over a film in an otherwise empty theater, and later watching her own film, surrounded by cast, crew, friends, and family. The movie theater 'is part of the DNA of the movie,' Christy says. The veteran actor Shor ('Maestro,' 'American Fiction') got her first significant notice in 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' (2002). The story behind 'Magic Hour' is loosely based on Christy's own experience of going back to film school, years after she founded While heavily fictionalized, she says, the lead character 'is a distillation of all my most neurotic tendencies.' Audiences have been connecting with Harriet's regrets and her unexpected response to her midlife crisis, Christy says: 'Things are in flux in our world.' Advertisement Like a lot of other businesses, film distribution is going through some turmoil. Still, she's keeping her hopes high. 'It's a really unlikely thing for a movie this small to get what I want for it,' Christy says. In 'Memories of Love Returned,' Mwine quotes an old proverb: 'He who moved slowly reaches far.' 'If I'm still talking about this film 40 years from now, I would be thrilled,' he says. 'It's really about celebrating these memories of love that were documented over a 50-year period. We need more of that.' BERKSHIRE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Thursday-Sunday at various venues in Great Barrington and Lenox. James Sullivan can be reached at .
The Age
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
‘Bold and transformative': New-look BIFF readies for its close-up in Cannes
Brisbane International Film Festival will launch a film market enabling local producers to collaborate with overseas producers, according to its new executive director, Sophie Mathisen. BIFF's new focus on co-productions is set to be launched at this month's Cannes Film Festival. The gear shift comes as the Queensland government announced a long-awaited budget increase for BIFF, as well as a new delivery partner in Mathisen's company, For Film's Sake. 'Co-production is becoming a key priority globally, largely because film budgets are going up, so what we wanted to do is place BIFF at the heart of that growth,' Mathisen said. 'We're returning to the legacy of BIFF, which was always about showcasing the best in global films, but also creating real networks between the local industry and the global filmmaking community.' Last month, Minister for the Arts John-Paul Langbroek announced the Crisafulli government was increasing BIFF's annual operational funding to $350,000, an increase of $100,000 on 2024. It was a welcome show of support for the festival, which has languished over the last decade even as the local screen production industry has flourished. Cancelled by Screen Queensland in 2014 and replaced with the short-lived Brisbane Asia-Pacific Film Festival, BIFF made a comeback in 2017 on a tight funding model.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Bold and transformative': New-look BIFF readies for its close-up in Cannes
Brisbane International Film Festival will launch a film market enabling local producers to collaborate with overseas producers, according to its new executive director, Sophie Mathisen. BIFF's new focus on co-productions is set to be launched at this month's Cannes Film Festival. The gear shift comes as the Queensland government announced a long-awaited budget increase for BIFF, as well as a new delivery partner in Mathisen's company, For Film's Sake. 'Co-production is becoming a key priority globally, largely because film budgets are going up, so what we wanted to do is place BIFF at the heart of that growth,' Mathisen said. 'We're returning to the legacy of BIFF, which was always about showcasing the best in global films, but also creating real networks between the local industry and the global filmmaking community.' Last month, Minister for the Arts John-Paul Langbroek announced the Crisafulli government was increasing BIFF's annual operational funding to $350,000, an increase of $100,000 on 2024. It was a welcome show of support for the festival, which has languished over the last decade even as the local screen production industry has flourished. Cancelled by Screen Queensland in 2014 and replaced with the short-lived Brisbane Asia-Pacific Film Festival, BIFF made a comeback in 2017 on a tight funding model.
Korea Herald
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
BIFF unveils vision for 30th edition
New leadership, expanded programming mark fresh chapter for Asian cinema showcase The Busan International Film Festival, having announced its transition to a competitive festival, unveiled comprehensive plans and a vision for its upcoming 30th edition during a press conference Tuesday at the Busan Cinema Center. The festival, which is set to run from Sept. 17-26 in Busan, will focus on Asian films in its inaugural competition category. Last year, the festival announced its transition to a competitive format after operating as a non-competitive event since its 1996 founding. This year's edition will feature a main competition section with around 14 films eligible for five award categories, including best film, best director, and special jury award. Jung Han-seok, the newly appointed festival director, outlined three guiding principles for this year's festival: strengthening solidarity with Asian cinema, addressing the box office slump and production downturn affecting the Korean film industry, and creating a genuinely audience-centered experience. "As we all know, the film industry is facing significant challenges at the moment," Jung said. "We aim to bring new energy through our programming while using our forums to explore potential solutions." Jung previously served as the festival's Korean cinema programmer since 2019. Park Ga-eon, the festival's newly appointed program director, explained: "The competition's only requirement is that entries must be Asian films. First-time directors and filmmakers with decades of experience will compete on equal footing." The festival is also expanding its "Vision" section, traditionally a platform for emerging Korean talents, to include filmmakers from across Asia. "We've built a successful model for discovering new Korean independent films, directors and actors," Park said. "Now we're creating Vision Asia and Vision Korea categories, with approximately 12 films in each." "After 30 years of growth alongside Asian cinema, we're looking ahead to present a new vision for the next three decades," said BIFF chairperson Park Gwang-su. Organizers plan to increase the festival's selection to around 240 films, up from 224 last year, moving gradually back toward pre-pandemic levels when it screened up to 300 films. Additional screening venues beyond traditional theaters will help accommodate this growth, festival officials said. "When I asked film professionals and audiences alike what they wanted from our festival, the most common answer was simply, 'Let us see the films we actually want to see,'" Jung said. "We're working to secure more screening venues around the Centum City area so more attendees can conveniently access their preferred selections." The festival also addressed technical issues from last year's event, with Jung apologizing for ticketing system failures and promising preventative measures. "This requires long-term solutions that all Korean film festivals need to collaborate on," he added. When questioned about last year's controversy surrounding the selection of the Netflix film "Uprising" as the opening feature, Jung defended the inclusion of streaming platform productions. "Even traditional cinephiles like myself watch streaming content regularly," he said. "It would be strange for a festival like BIFF, which should reflect current trends, to deliberately exclude these works -- especially considering how many Korean film professionals now work on streaming productions." The festival unveiled its commemorative 30th edition logo, designed by graphic designer Park Woo-hyuk. This year's design incorporates projector beams and lighting lens patterns into the number 30, creating visual continuity between the festival's past and future.
Korea Herald
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
BIFF favorites coming to Seoul's Cinecube
Nine previously unreleased Korean indie gems to screen at Cinecube in April Nine acclaimed Korean independent films that made waves at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival will get a special showcase at Cinecube in Gwanghwamun. The series, titled "Film Train to Gwanghwamun," running April 2-15, offers film lovers a chance to check out these works before their commercial debuts. Seven of the nine selections represent either debut or sophomore directorial efforts from emerging talents. The lineup includes "K-Number," winner of BIFF's inaugural Documentary Audience Award, and "The Final Semester," which swept four awards including the KBS Independent Film Award and Best Actor. Other highlights include the offbeat comedy "Method Acting" starring actor Lee Dong-hwi, and "Spring Night," which screened at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival's Forum section. The program also features "Tango at Dawn," "Melody of Suyeon," "Inserts," "Kike Will Hit a Home Run" and "The Face of Hwanhee" — all standouts from last year's festival recognized for their unique artistic visions. Each film will be screened three times during the two-week period, with select screenings followed by discussions with directors and the cast. The complete schedule is available on Cinecube's website. Tickets go on sale Wednesday at 11 a.m.
