BIFF Inflatable Screen

Embargoed

The Beloit International Film Festival will expand the area’s summer entertainment calendar and brighten the summer night skies with an outdoor film program offering something for every taste starting in June.

The new “BIFF Outdoors” program is made possible with the acquisition of a CineBox™ Pro outdoor movie system including a 20 foot-wide movie screen that can be inflated outdoors as well as inside in less than a minute. The screen was purchased by the Film Festival with a generous grant from the First National Bank of Beloit.

The summer program will include free screenings of popular and classic films as well as selections from the rich BIFF archive of past favorites. Locations will include outdoor settings in Beloit, Rockton and Janesville throughout the balmy months of the year. The films will be presented by the Beloit International Film Festival and co-sponsors First National Bank, Beloit Parks and Leisure Services, Beloit College, Voight Music and the Rock County Historical Society.

“BIFF Outdoors brings great favorite films back in new settings that will be fun for every generation…and they are right in our own backyard,” says Monica Krysztopa, executive director of Visit Beloit. “Beloit is so rich with entertainment opportunities, especially in the summer, and BIFF Outdoors and the BIFF Year-Round films on Wednesday evenings at Bushel and Peck’s are great additions to that summer schedule.”

“First National Bank is proud to be able to add this element to the summer entertainment schedule in the Beloit area in partnership with the Beloit International Film Festival,” says Steve Eldred, bank president. “This easily transportable screen and its related technology will provide quality family programs and can entertain up to 300 individuals spread out on blankets and augment the already rich and fun cultural life of Beloit.”

“BIFF Outdoors” will open Friday, June 28 at Telfer Park with a showing of the 2011 Oscar nominated baseball film “Moneyball.” The dramatic film, starring Brad Pitt, is about the Snapper’s major league partner, the Oakland Athletics, and the ‘A’s general manager Billy Beane’s successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget.

A summer highlight will come on Wednesday, July 17, with a “sing-along” presentation of the 1982 family classic “Annie” in front of the Krueger Pool main entrance. The film will be presented with the words to the songs appearing at the bottom of the screen to allow the audience to join in the singing. “We are hoping that the audience will be packed with a lot of Annie lookalikes and more than a few Daddy Warbucks and Miss Hannigans,” says Brian Ramsey, director of parks & leisure services.  “This is an immensely popular new film phenomenon designed to engage the whole audience.”

Other special screenings will include the Oscar winning “Lincoln” at the Lincoln Tallman House at the Rock County Historical Society on August 17. It will be shown beneath the windows of the bedroom where the president slept during a campaign visit to the area in 1859.

The cult classic “The Breakfast Club” starring the “Brat Pack” was selected by a majority of Beloit College students as the film they wanted to see on August 27 during their first week back on campus.  The film, along with music from one of Beloit College’s top bands, will be seen in front of Middle College and will be the first of a series of “Movies at The Middle” at the College.

The irresistible 1984 martial arts film “Karate Kid” will be the September 14 offering and will be seen at the Old Settlers Park at the First National Bank office location in Rockton.  This will be the original “Karate Kid” that inspired a generation of young martial artists to “wax on, wax off” as they learned that the secret to Karate lies in the mind and heart.

The program will conclude Saturday, Oct. 5, with audiences screaming for more, or just screaming, with the presentation of the Alfred Hitchcock 1963 classic “The Birds.” And to make sure that this Halloween warm-up is a memorable evening, the film will be presented in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Janesville.

All films will begin at dusk and exact starting times will be announced closer to presentation. Lawn chairs and blankets are encouraged for seating, and concessions will be available.

“BIFF is no longer a cold weather pastime,”, “With this wonderful support from Steve and Heidi Eldred and the First National Bank, and from Voigt Music, our exclusive sound reinforcement sponsor, we will be able to offer entertainment in settings from cemeteries and city parks to the college campus and beyond. It fulfills our goal of providing something for everyone.”