2023 BIFFy Award Winners!
And thank you to…
Our BIFF 2023 Honorary Chair
Gavin Michael Booth
It is with sincere appreciation that BIFF, its board of directors, and all indie film fans in the greater Beloit community welcome the 2023 Honorary Chairperson of the festival, Gavin Michael Booth.
Best Narrative Feature
Amerikatsi
Directed by Michael Goorjian
Best Documentary Feature
The Exchange. In White America. Kaukauna & King 50 Years Later
Directed by Joanne Williams
Best Narrative Short
Period Drama
Directed by Anushka Tina Nair & Lauryn Anthony
Best Documentary Short
Sex Relish (A Solo Orgasm)
Directed by Ananda Safo
Finalists:
Best Regional Feature
Narratives & Documentaries
The Long Weekend
Directed by David M. Dawson
Best Regional Short
Narratives & Documentaries
Ghost’s Best Friend
Directed by Michael James Leffler
Best Music Video
It’s Time To Heal
Directed by Paul Cheung
Finalists:
BIFF Year ‘Round
People’s Choice Award
Tall Tales
Directed by Attila Szász
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.
Power of Film Award
Sex Relish
Directed by Ananda Safo
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
God’s Petting You
Directed by Jamie Patterson
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.
Executive Director’s Award
Out and About
Directed by Peter Callahan
President’s Award
Three Grains of Salt
Directed by Ingrid Chikhaoui