Sat Feb 20, 2016 – 7:30 pm | Bushel & Peck’s
Wed Feb 24, 2016 – 5 pm | Domenico’s
Fri Feb 26, 2016 – 5 pm | Domenico’s
Sat Feb 27, 2016 – 5 pm | Domenico’s
Sponsored by:
This outreach and educational concept was developed by the Beloit International Film Festival several years ago to promote and present films dealing with significant issues touching us as a community and as individuals.
“Life-changing” and “inspiring” are words that have been used to describe BIFF’s annual tribute to the human spirit. Encouraging change through the BIFF CARES series is BIFF’s way of recognizing the influence that film can have to move us.
Films, engaged filmmakers and local experts have dealt with topics ranging from teen homelessness and child abuse to end of life issues. One of the festival’s most successful programs, BIFF CARES films are presented multiple times in different venues, reaching thousands in the process.
This year BIFF will offer two films, shown together in the same slot, that illustrate the capacity of individuals, without the use of normal appendages, to achieve great things through perseverance.
(Background image: Birth of an Artist, Dasha)
Directed by Nick Spark
USA | 1 hr. 20 min. | 2015
Jessica Cox was born without arms as a result of a birth defect, but managed to overcome many physical and emotional challenges to become fully independent. She learned to type with her toes, drive a car with her feet, and amazingly — fly an airplane with her feet.
Right Footed follows Jessica as she transforms from a motivational speaker to a mentor, and eventually into a leading advocate for people with disability.
Producer/Director Nick Spark is a Los Angeles based writer and documentary filmmaker with a long standing passion for unconventional characters, including the oft-overlooked female heroine.
Directed by Natasha Babenko
Ukraine | 16 min. | 2015
The Birth of an Artist follows handicapped 17 year old Dasha as she lives her ordinary day: waking up, taking bath, dressing up, eating, playing with her little brother and finally doing what she does the best – painting with her toes. Dasha, native of Sumy, Ukraine, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. Fortunately, her brain cells were not damaged which gave her an opportunity to communicate with her family, learn about the world and develop the talent for painting.
Dasha’s day is full of pain and physical struggle but she manages to focus on her artistic work and fully emerge herself into the world full of love and hope despite very hard living conditions.
Narrated by her loving, supporting mother Dasha’s story reveals amazing but also sad moments of the young artist’s life. The opening of Dasha’s 6Th personal exhibition marks the culmination of the tremendous efforts and love for artistic creation the emerging artist has put into her inspirational and thought provoking work.
Natasha BabenkoWriter, director, producer Natasha Babenko was born in Kiev, Ukraine. “The Birth of an Artist” is her first documentary film. The story about disabled Ukrainian girl who manages to live a life of a prolific artist is an exploration of human potential and determination.
No tickets required for this FREE screening.
Sunday Feb. 28, 2016 — 2:30 PM
Schubert’s Luxury 10 Theater
2799 Cranston Rd. Beloit
Sponsored by:
The Beloit International film Festival is primarily focused on the creative work of new and emerging independent filmmakers, but there is one brief moment at the end of BIFF where a great classic film is honored with a big screen presentation. This year’s First National Bank Classic Film is one of the greatest works in the film noir genre, The Maltese Falcon. The 1941 film, directed by John Houston, stars some of the greatest names ever to flash across the silver screen.
In this noir classic, detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) gets more than he bargained for when he takes a case brought to him by a beautiful but secretive woman (Mary Astor). As soon as Miss Wonderly shows up, trouble follows as Sam’s partner is murdered and Sam is accosted by a man (Peter Lorre) demanding he locate a valuable statuette. Sam, entangled in a dangerous web of crime and intrigue, soon realizes he must find the one thing they all seem to want: the bejeweled Maltese falcon.
(1) The movie defined Humphrey Bogart’s performances for the rest of his life; his hard-boiled Sam Spade rescued him from a decade of middling roles in B gangster movies and positioned him for “Casablanca,” “Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” “The African Queen” and his other classics.
(2) It was the first film directed by John Huston, who for more than 40 years would be a prolific maker of movies that were muscular, stylish and daring.
(3) It contained the first screen appearance of Sydney Greenstreet, who went on, in “Casablanca” and many other films, to become one of the most striking character actors in movie history.
(4) It was the first pairing of Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, and so well did they work together that they made nine other movies, including “Casablanca” in 1942 and “The Mask of Dimitrios” (1944), in which they were not supporting actors but actually the stars.
(5) And some film histories consider “The Maltese Falcon” the first film noir. It put down the foundations for that native American genre of mean streets, knife-edged heroes, dark shadows and tough dames.
BIFF 2015 will celebrate regional filmmakers during the first weekend of BIFF with three days of film competition in the Wisconsin-Illinois Showdown. Filmmaking isn’t just for Hollywood anymore. For ten years now, the Beloit International Film Festival has shown our community the power of independent and internationally made films. Many of these films in the past have come from communities just a drive away from our own, dazzling us with Hollywood-quality productions and unique regional flavor. When audiences walk into each Wisconsin-Illinois Showdown screening, they are given ballots to vote on what they believe are the best films, eventually awarding filmmakers much-deserved recognition.
BIFF felt it needed to expand this trend into a full-on weekend, part of the now Ten Days of BIFF. This year BIFF presents its second annual Wisconsin-Illinois Showdown (Feb. 20 to 22, 2015), a weekend showcasing the great caliber of work made on the Third Coast!
“We are proud to be showcasing the amazing work of these area artists,”, “These are the sorts of films that are critically acclaimed but not always readily available for viewing. I think that BIFF patrons will find genuine enjoyment in learning of the great cinematic art that’s created right in our backyard.”
There will be dozens of films shown throughout the weekend. All films will be voted on by the audience, resulting in the BIFF Audience Choice Awards for Best Illinois and Best Wisconsin features, documentaries and short films. An awards party announcing the Audience Choice Awards will be held at La Casa Grande in Beloit the following weekend.
According to BIFF Wisconsin Illinois Showdown coordinator Kristin Peterson, “Many great films, ranging from heartwarming dramas to engaging and hilarious documentaries to grindhouse horror, will screen in the Showdown. Four short slots of the best short films made in the region will also screen across the weekend and into the following week.”
BIFF will unveil the 10th installment of its annual film festival program book at a very special release party hosted by The Ironworks Hotel in downtown Beloit on Monday, January 26th, 2015 from 5PM to 7PM.
The event is free of charge and open to the general public. Festivities will be held in the spacious and elegant banquet facility of the recently renovated Ironworks Hotel (formerly the Beloit Inn) located at 500 Pleasant Street in Beloit.
The evening will include an array of complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Guests are invited to arrive around 5PM for a social reception, which will be followed by a series of informative presentations by a variety of BIFF representatives.
A special film screening area will be set up in the banquet facility where guests will be able to enjoy previews of BIFF 2015 film content. The focus of the presentation will be on a cross-section of this year’s comedy, drama and documentary short subject film fare.
The centerpiece of the event will be the unveiling and distribution of the 2015 BIFF program book, this year prepared by the Beloit Daily News in collaboration with Mary Terry of Mary Terry Design. Members of the BIFF Board of Directors will hand out the first several hundred copies of the more than 35,000 units provided to the festival by the BDN with help from the festival staff immediately following the series of VIP speakers.
“We are ecstatic to be celebrating our 10th anniversary and have been working around the clock to put together a 2015 festival that maintains the high level of quality that has made BIFF a success over the years, while developing a host of new features that we feel will make BIFF even more special than it has ever been before. The program release party is always exciting because it not only puts the new program in the hands of our public, but also fills the Beloit area atmosphere with the electricity of anticipation for the coming citywide celebration of independent film.”
The director of the most successful movie musical ever made, will share his stories and his wisdom with audiences as they sing-a-long at this year’s Beloit International Film Festival.
Randal Kleiser, the director of Grease and one of the most respected authorities on film technology, will serve as Honorary Chair of the 2015 Beloit International Film Festival. He will greet audiences and host the BIFF sing-a-long version of Grease. In addition, Kleiser will conduct a seminar on acting, directing and film technology for vising filmmakers and film students.
The sing-a-long showing of Grease, complete with the words at the bottom of the screen for singing great favorites such as You’re the One That I Want, Summer Nights, and Hopelessly Devoted to You, will be presented at the Schubert Luxury 10 Cinema in Beloit on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Kleiser will introduce the film and answer audience questions following the presentation.
Register here to ensure seating
Grease was Kleiser’s first film. Other credits include The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, The Blue Lagoon, Summer Lovers, Flight of the Navigator, White Fang, North Shore, Getting It Right, Lovewrecked, Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, and the 1996 AIDS drama It’s My Party.
Working in 70mm 3-D, he directed Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which has been running for more than a decade at Disney Parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Tokyo, and Paris. This led to the U.S. Government signing him to develop a 360 degree hi-def simulator to train soldiers to deal with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the war in Afghanistan.
In 2007, his University of Southern California thesis film Peege was selected to be added to the prestigious National Registry at the Library of Congress. The 28-minute movie about his grandmother is still drawing accolades for its fiercely honest and poignant portrayal of aging and mental decline. It is only the second student produced film to be placed in the Registry.
With George Lucas, he produced the online course, “USC School of Cinematic Arts presents the Nina Foch Course for Filmmakers and Actors” capturing the teaching of the actress and director who taught at USC for four decades.
Fluent in cutting edge digital technologies, he is chair of the annual Digital Day presentation for the Directors Guild of America, and serves on the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He has conducted master classes and has lectured at film festivals around the world.
Dr. Jorge Galante
Once again, BIFF will host “A Taste of BIFF” in Janesville, whereby Janesvillians will get to sample the best films for BIFF 2015 weeks prior to the opening of the festival in Beloit. This year the event will be held in the freshly remodeled Ramada Janesville at 3900 Milton Avenue in Janesville, WI.
Sponsored by:
Ramada Janesville
Comedy Shorts 1 | 5 PM
BIFF Page: Comedy Short #1
East Side Sushi | 7:30 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roazrLGUoO8
BIFF Page: East Side Sushi
Becoming Bulletproof | 5 PM
BIFF Page: Bulletproof
Starfish Throwers | 7:30 PM
BIFF Page: Starfish Throwers
THIS FILM WILL INCLUDE A PANEL OF AREA HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS
BIFF Film Page: BIFF Cares
Sponsored By:
Beloit Health System
Documentary Shorts | 5 PM
BIFF Page: Documentary Shorts
Food Patriots | 7:30 PM
BIFF Page: Food Patriots
How do you celebrate an achievement like keeping a film festival operational and successful for ten years, in the midst of a sketchy economy and on a shoestring budget, and spinning that festival into the undisputed, single-most important and highly rated arts and entertainment event in the entire Stateline region??
Two words:
So BIFF is taking over downtown Beloit, inside and out, and staging a one-night-only, got-to-be-there, Lollapafestastravaganza!!! And YOU are on the who’s-who, international, VIP guest list (this means it’s all FREE). It all starts on Friday evening, February 20th at 7:30PM and continues until they run out of fun!! Here’s a listing of what you’ll be loving when you attend:
Sponsored by:
Throughout the evening, professional fire breathing will light up the night on the downtown streets of Beloit. Spectacular tongues of flame will lap at the crisp winter air, and additional displays of flaming hula hooping and poi spinning will amaze young and old alike.
Ice Sculpting Contest @ FNB&T ParkThe roar of the chain saw! Ice chips spinning into the frosty air! Suddenly, a work of crystalline art appears. Ice sculpting artisans will assemble in the First National Bank and Trust Company Park (right across the street from the bank) to compete for a cash prize. Stop by and cast your vote with a BIFF Twitter tweet!!
Feeling a little under the weather? Stop at the Bop for the BEST medicine!! The “Isthmus of Misfits” Comedy Mini-Fest promises a healthy line-up of sidesplitting comics with a cure for the common winter blues!! Or wait till the pros are done and step up to the open mic and share a few minutes of your own brand of comic tonic!!
From Chicago, the puppeteering capital of the Midwest, comes a troupe of performers wielding life-size creatures to amaze and entertain you with this time honored specialized art form. It ain’t no Pinocchio show! Enjoy the spectacle in the comfortable west lobby of the Hendricks Center for the Arts at Beloit College.
If you need to rest your mind and body for a bit, duck into one of two venues featuring coffee house style entertainment. Each location and artist comes with its own special brand of mood, style and atmosphere. Relax with fine wines and coffees at Café Fromage, or your favorite top shelf spirits at Merrill & Houston’s. Then, wash it down with a splash of classic folk and brilliant original music by local solo artists. Ahh…that feels good!
Matt Goodwin Jam Band @ Suds O’Hanahan’sLocal legendary guitarist/singer/songwriter and blues aficionado, Matt Goodwin, has assembled a group of talented veterans of the blues/rock scene to get the party started at Suds O’Hanahan’s. Bring your axe, get onstage, plug in and join together with the jam!!
Beloit’s own Dr. Robert Tomaro wears a lot of musical hats: Maestro of the Rock River Philharmonic, touring fusion bandleader, Grammy nominated songwriter and producer, and international singing sensation! Catch Rob wearing his jazz beret and leading his remarkable trio before he leaves us for another world tour!! Joining Rob with his Sinatra-esque vocalizations is BIFF’s very own Creative/Operations Director, Grammy nominated songwriter, Greg Gerard.
What the heck is a SPEBSQSA?? Well, it actually stands for the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America! Our own John Kalkirtz has assembled a fab foursome and more some of veteran barber shoppers to add a little harmony to the evening. In addition, the award winning Trinity Irish Dancers from Milwaukee, WI will perform amazing traditional Celtic dance routines, and the Polish Dance Ensemble will offer their own colorful ethnic flair.
The Block Party has something for everyone, including kids…from tots to tweens! Nikole Wagner of Doodles, Beloit’s finest service for arts and crafts education for all ages, will host a family crafts event that will include learning how to construct an animation device. Nikole is a highly skilled artist and is wonderful with kids groups! It’s a Friday night. No school on Saturday. Let ‘em stay up late…and create!!
“Casablanca” Radio Play @ La Casa GrandeIt’s Casablanca at La Casa!! Jim Lyke and his JPAC Radio Players from Janesville, WI will bring their amazing talents to Beloit for a one-night-only performance of the Lux Radio Theater classic, Casablanca. Jim and his troupe have mounted many radio theater productions in the past, including an acclaimed performance of the Orson Welles/H. G. Wells legendary War of the Worlds.
You can attend the performance and watch in the comfort of the La Casa Grande screening room, or you can tune your radio to WBEL AM 1380 in Beloit. and listen to the entire performance in the privacy of your own home or automobile…right before you head to downtown Beloit for the Block Party of the Century!!!
FREE Screening
Sun March 1st, 2015 – 2:00 PM – Schubert’s Luxury 10 Theatre
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Subtitles: No
Rating: NR
Runtime: 129 min.
Director: Robert Mulligan
Producer:
Website : To Kill a Mockingbird
Presented by:
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on the author’s observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old.
The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator’s father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. One critic explains the novel’s impact by writing, “In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism.
This outreach and educational concept was developed by the Beloit International Film Festival several years ago to promote and present films dealing with significant issues touching us as a community and as individuals.
Films, accompanied by panels of commentators and engaged filmmakers, have dealt with topics ranging from teen homelessness and child abuse to end of life issues. One of the festival’s most successful programs, BIFF CARES films are presented several times in a variety of venues, reaching thousands in the process.
Wed Oct 22, 2014 – 6:30 PM – Hendricks Center for the Arts, Beloit
Sat Jan 31, 2015 – 2:00 PM – Ramada Janesville
Sat Feb 21, 2015 – 7:30 PM – La Casa Grande
Fri Feb 27, 2015 – 7:30 PM – Schubert’s Luxury 10
Sat Feb 28, 2015 – 2:00 PM – Schubert’s Luxury 10
Sun Mar 1, 2015 – 2:00 PM – Domenico’s
The Human Papilloma Virus HPV may be the most widespread, misunderstood and potentially dangerous epidemic that most people hardly know anything about. The film is narrated by Vanessa Williams and examines the lives of five women affected by HPV, each of whom has an intimate story to tell, and features interviews with experts on the most common sexually transmitted infection in humans: HPV.
With the support of the Beloit Health System, the film will be presented numerous times throughout the festival. A panel of health experts and counselors will speak and answer questions following three of the presentations, one on Saturday January 31st, 2015 at 2:00 PM during BIFF@Janesville at the Ramada Inn and on Friday, February 27th at 7:30 PM and Saturday February 28th at 2:00 PM at Schubert’s Luxury 10 Theatres in Beloit.
Ms. Williams and the filmmakers will help to introduce the film at the festival.
The goal is to educate and inform as many people as possible about this preventable form of cancer and develop a healthier community in the process.
Presented by:
For More Information:Rock County Health Department
Rock County Health DepartmentGenital human papillomavirus (also called HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are more than 40 HPV types that can infect the genital areas of males and females. These HPV types can also infect the mouth and throat. In most cases, HPV goes away on its own and does not cause any health problems. But when HPV does not go away, it can cause health problems like genital warts and cancer. HPV is so common that most sexually-active men and women will get at least one type ofHPV at some point in their lives. The CDC estimates that 21,000 cases of cervical cancer could be prevented through vaccination for HPV. Cervical cancer is not the only cancer caused by HPV (Genital HPV Infection Fact Sheet: http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm#a7)
There are 42,908 Rock County citizens between 12 and 26 years old that are entered in the Wisconsin
Immunization Registry system.
HPV Vaccination works. A new study looking at the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in girls and women before and after the introduction of the HPV vaccine shows a significant reduction in vaccine-type HPV in U.S. teens. The study, published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases reveals that since the vaccine was introduced in 2006, vaccine-type HPV prevalence decreased 56 percent among female teenagers 14-19 years of age.
What Can You Do To Prevent HPV and Cervical Cancer
Wed Nov 5, 2014 – 6:30 PM – Hendricks Center for the Arts
Fri Jan 30, 2015 – 7:30 PM – Ramada 3 Janesville
Sat Feb 21, 2015 – 12:00 PM – La Casa Grande
Sat Feb 28, 2015 – 5:00 PM – La Casa Grande
Sun Mar 1, 2015 – 2:00 PM – Bushel & Peck’s
This eye-opening film tells the story of a five-star chef, a twelve year-old girl, and a retired schoolteacher, world’s apart, who discover how their individual efforts to feed the poor ignite a movement in the fight against hunger.
Award-winning chef Narayanan Krishnan, fighting against the caste system in India, quits his job to begin a life of cooking and hand-delivering fresh meals to hundreds of people in his hometown. Katie Stagliano’s planting of a single cabbage seedling when she was nine years old blossoms into Katie’s Krops, a non-profit with 73 gardens dedicated to ending hunger. Retired middle school teacher Allan Law battles personal health issues as he hand-delivers more than a thousand sandwiches nightly to the hungry in Minneapolis.
With the support of Dr. Jane Fossum and the Beloit Rotary, BIFF is working to bring Katie Stagliano to talk about her work and perhaps inspire a new effort in our community.
Presented by:
The 2015 Silent Film Showcase will have an entirely new look and format for BIFF’s 10th anniversary. Robert Rub | Organist The featured film will be the original 1925 version of “The Phantom of the Opera” starring Lon Chaney. The presentation will take place in the Sanctuary at The Castle in Beloit. The film will be accompanied by internationally renowned organist Bob Rub who will play the Castle’s Henry Pilcher & Sons vintage pipe organ. The accompaniment will include the original organ score with additional musical interludes composed by Maestro Tomaro. Scott Chachula | Tenor Periodically during the screening, old will meet new, as the accompaniment will briefly switch from organ to piano with Lanette Calhoun accompanying soprano Gaia Galvan and tenor Scott Chachula as they perform selections from the 2004 Andrew Lloyd Webber version of “The Phantom of the Opera.” Other highlights of the evening will include the Rock River Philharmonic silent auction, which each year raises important funds to support the Philharmonic. The RRP, under the direction of Maestro Robert Tomaro, will provide its Chamber Orchestra to perform atmospheric selections during the reception and auction portions of the evening, as well as the musicians who will accompany the film.
Sponsored by:
At the Opera of Paris, a mysterious phantom threatens a famous lyric singer, Carlotta and thus forces her to give up her role (Marguerite in Faust) for unknown Christine Daae.
Christine meets this phantom (a masked man) in the catacombs, where he lives.
What’s his goal? What’s his secret?
Although his parents were deaf-mutes, Leonidas Chaney became an actor and also owner of a theatre company (together with his brother John). He made his debut at the movies in 1912, and his filmography is vast.
Lon Chaney was especially famous for his horror parts in movies like e.g. Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
Due to his special make-up effects he carried the characterization to be “the man with the thousand faces.”
He only filmed one movie with sound: The remake of one of his earlier films The Unholy Three (1930).
His son, Lon Chaney Jr., became a famous actor of the horror genre.
This signature BIFF event features members of the Rock River Philharmonic under the direction of Maestro Robert Tomaro.
Since its inception, the signature event of The Beloit International Film Festival has been the Saturday evening BMO Harris Bank Silent Film Showcase.
Sold-out audiences have frequently included film festival executives from around the country on hand to see how BIFF creates the program so they might duplicate it at their festivals. This annual celebration of early 20th century film is highlighted by a performance of an original or newly conceived musical score performed by the Beloit Janesville Symphony Orchestra, now operating under its new brand: The Rock River Philharmonic.
Prior to the Silent Film screening there will be a reception and silent auction to benefit the Rock River Philharmonic (formerly the Beloit Janesville Symphony).
Items available for auction include something for everyone:
