2022 BIFFy Award Winners!
And thank you to…
Best Narrative Feature
Americanish
Directed by Iman Zawahry
Finalists:
Best Documentary Feature
The Sound of Us
Directed by Chris Gero
Finalists:
Best Narrative Short
Ian, A Moving Story
Directed by Abel Goldfarb
Best Documentary Short
The Roads Most Traveled
Photojournalist, Don Bartletti
Directed by Bill Wisneski
Best Regional Feature
Narratives & Documentaries
Operation Wolf Patrol
Directed by Joe Brown
Best Regional Short
Narratives & Documentaries
Mittens
Directed by Justin Johnson
Finalists:
Best Music Video
Everything All At Once
Directed by Gavin Michael Booth
The BIFF 2022
Golden Laurels Award
The Six
Directed by Arthur Jones
The Golden Laurels Award, an honor that has only been given once in BIFF history (All the Queen’s Horses, 2018), was presented to the runaway festival hit, The Six. The award is reserved for films that embody excellence in independent filmmaking, as well as outstanding performance at the box office.
Power of Film Award
Synthetic Love
Directed by Sarahy Heitz de Chabaneix
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.
Josh Burton Award
For Creative Excellence
Kafkas
Directed by Nick Blake
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.
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.
Swing State: The Road to Friendship?
Directed by Bryan Oldenburg
Pompano Boy
Directed by Andrew Paul Davis
Executive Director’s Award
Dairyland
Directed by Taylor C Pipes
I Want Him Dead
Directed by Daniel Pico
President’s Award
Surviving Sex Trafficking
Directed by Sadhvi Siddhali Shree
Our BIFF 2022 Honorary Chair
Jeff Livingston
IT IS WITH A GREAT DEAL OF PLEASURE THAT WE ANNOUNCE THAT A VERY SPECIAL FRIEND OF BIFF WILL SERVE AS THIS YEAR’S HONORARY CHAIRPERSON.
Jeff Livingston has been a member of the BIFF Board of Directors for many years, providing all manner of support to the festival, including fundraising, festival operations coordination and legal advice (Jeff is a highly respected local attorney who last worked for the Beloit firm of Collins & Henderson). To say the least, he has devoted countless hours to the festival.