Top Flick Picks | BIFF 2014

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Some help from your friends at BIFF

Each year, the staff selection committee screens hundreds of films, culling them for flashes of brilliance, comedic timing, and engrossing pathos, which draws viewers into creative, unique constructed worlds of the filmmakers.

Then these staff wrote up their two top lists of what tugged at their hearts or made them burst out in surprised laughter, for example, before the ending credits rolled.

If you need help navigating what films to see during the Ten Days of BIFF, the following lists sum up the 2014 staff selection committee’s personal favorites.

The following BIFF staff members watched 700 submissions for the festival, to bring to you the very best of what truly works in film: moving cinematography, swelling music, acting chops, and so much more.

Top 7 Features or Documentaries

  1. Jimmy in Pienk – Feature
  2. Jake Squared – Feature
  3. Go Down Death – Feature
  4. Buddies – Feature
  5. Mad Ship – Feature
  6. Musgo (Moss) – Feature
  7. Putzel – Feature

Top 7 Short Films

  1. America 101 – Comedy
  2. Look – Animation
  3. Day of the Dead – Animation
  4. Studies in Space – Experimental
  5. Strings of Colors – Around the World
  6. Vets Roll – Documentary
  7. ChernoKids – Experimental  

Greg GerardGreg Gerard

Operations Director

I’m a singer/songwriter and an avid Packers fan. When screening a film I ask: Is this a worthy story? Is it being told effectively? Are the actors believable? Does the technical quality support the action? Will this film appeal to the BIFF audience? As a creative artist, I appreciate that each submission is someone’s labor of love and deserves respect and fairness in analysis.

Top 7 Features or Documentaries

  1. Hasta Nunca – Documentary
  2. Touring Talkies – Feature
  3. Convenience – Feature
  4. Sign Painters – Documentary
  5. Go Down Death – Feature
  6. Putzel – Feature
  7. The Golden Scallop – Feature

Top 7 Short Films

  1. Studies in Space – Experimental
  2. America 101 – Comedy
  3. Sleight of Hand – Animation
  4. Air Balloon Circus – Around the World
  5. Rabbit and Deer – Family
  6. Goldtooth – Around the World
  7. Look – Animation  

Travis Stowers

Travis Stowers

Administrative & Selection Committee

I’m a world-traveler born and raised in Beloit. At my best, I love features and shorts that effectively use the camera as a creative tool. At my worst, I enjoy comedies filled with filthy jokes and non-sequiturs. My favorite documentaries are more thought provoking than informative and usually center around international or humanistic themes.


Top 7 Features or Documentaries

  1. Vets Roll – Documentary
  2. When the King Tilts – WI/IL Feature
  3. Sign Painters – Documentary
  4. The Human War – Feature
  5. The Golden Scallop – Feature
  6. Hot Guys with Guns – Feature
  7. Channeling –  Feature


Top 7 Short Films

  1. Studies in Space – Experimental
  2. This is How You Die – Comedy
  3. Nefertiti’s Hand – Family
  4. Harry Grows Up – Family
  5. The Golden Ticket – Comedy
  6. Day of the Dead – Animation
  7. Air Balloon Circus –  Around the World

Kristin Peterson – Creative Director

Kristin Peterson | BIFFCreative Director

I have great appreciation of what it takes to put together a good film. I can respect and come to adore films that make me think with their intelligent scripts. I love films that are unique, with especially innovative cinematographic choices, such as an unexpected, but interesting lighting or a camera angle not normally used.


Top 7 Features or Documentaries

  1. Go Down Death – Feature
  2. Channeling – Feature
  3. Jimmy in Pink – Feature
  4. The Human War – Feature
  5. Billy Club – Feature
  6. The Institute – Documentary
  7. Heavy Hands –  WI/IL Feature

Top 7 Short Films

  1. Studies in Space – Experimental
  2. USPS – WI/IL
  3. The Wheel – WI/IL
  4. Nefertiti’s Hand – Family
  5. Flytopia – Experimental
  6. Strings of Colors – Around the World
  7. Vets Roll –  Documentary