2020 BIFFy Award Winners!
Sponsored by:
And thank you to…
Our BIFF 2020 Honorary Chair
Stephanie Klett
Klett first helped to market and promote the Beloit International Film Festival in 2006 when she was Host of Discover Wisconsin Television and Radio. She asked her co-host Rick Rose, whom she had become friends with as theater majors at Beloit College, to join in on the promotion.
“That first festival had so much energy and excitement,” Klett said. “It put Beloit on the map as a place for serious filmmakers to go and elevated our community in a way that is almost unquantifiable. I am thrilled to be the Honorary Chair for the 15th Anniversary.
When All That’s Left Is Love
Directed by Eric Gordon
The BIFF 2020
Power of Film Award
After that first BIFF event in 2006 we realized that we had unleashed something truly significant. As you well know, film can be a potent force. It can make people laugh, it can make people cry. It can touch them deep inside and make them look at the world in a whole new light.
As its name suggests, this award was created to spotlight that awesome power. It is given to a film that shares with the world a powerful, life-changing message. The winner this year absolutely fits this description.
Finalists:
- Bullied
- Who Killed Lt. Van Dorn?
- Unprescribed
- Torn Apart
Sex, Drugs and Bicycles
Directed by Jonathan Blank
Josh Burton Award
For Creative Excellence
A very special friend of BIFF was Josh Burton, who we lost in 2007. As a professional actor, Josh had a successful career on Broadway but returned home to become a driving force in the Greater Beloit arts community. He entertained countless local audiences both as an actor and as a producer as he helped create a professional summer theater company in residence at Beloit College.
In that spirit, the Josh Burton Award acknowledges a film deserving of recognition for bringing something truly special to the stage, or in this case, the screen.
Finalists:
- In Bright Axiom
- Around The Sun
- Work Songs
- Cerulean Blue
The Grizzlies
Directed by Miranda de Pencier
Best Narrative Feature
Finalists:
- Film
Decoding The Driftless
Directed by Jonas Stenstrom
Best Documentary Feature
Finalists:
- Films
Unicorns
Directed by Candice Carella
Best Narrative Short
Finalists:
- Honor Among Thieves
- Honey & Jerome Forever
- Indimenticabile
- Each Other
Shift Change
Directed by Bill Roach
Best Documentary Short
Finalists:
- Will To Live
- Sold Down The River
- Lost Boys of Chicago
- Jalil and Khalil
This Is My Home
Directed by Karl Nickoley
BIFF Year ‘Round
People’s Choice Award
For weeks throughout the year, our film audience gathers to pre-view and review selected BIFF-eligible films. Together they select a winner before BIFF even starts.
Finalists:
- Jhalki
- Love Them First
- The SixTripleEight
- The Faces That Never Fade
Sponsored by:
Will
Directed by Rick Rose
The BIFF 2020
Golden Laurels Award
Finalists:
- No Small Matter
- The Faces That Never Fade
- Champion: The Story of K Cancer
- Farfalle Bianche
Francis Ferguson
Directed by Bob Byington
Executive Director’s Award
Finalists:
- Films
From Seed To Seed
Directed by Katharina Stieffenhofer
President’s Award
Finalists:
- Minor Key
- Love Them First
- In Colors
- Arcangel
Wisconsin/Illinois Showdown
Best Wisconsin Feature
Finalists:
- Decoding The Driftless
- The Field
- Swing State
- My First And Last Film
Best Wisconsin Short
Finalists:
- Amateur Night
- Orin & Kepa
- Stolen Apes
- Punch Me
Best Illinois Short
Finalists:
- Fuzzy Legs
- A Missed Connection
- Home
- Bird Of Paradise
BIFFY Awards Night
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