“That first festival had so much energy and excitement,” Klett said. “It put Beloit on the map as a place for serious filmmakers”
Each year, The Beloit International Film festival selects a supporter of film, filmmakers, and the Beloit community to serve in the role of Honorary Chair of BIFF. This year, the selection is a celebration both ways, as the state’s number one promoter of cultural and natural virtues of Wisconsin returns to her home town to help celebrate 15 years of BIFF. There is hardly a bigger fan of BIFF since its inception than Beloiter Stephanie Klett, former Wisconsin Secretary of Tourism and current president and CEO of Visit Lake Geneva. As Honorary Chair, she will be a part of all the major public events at this year’s BIFF and will host the initial “BIFFteenth” Anniversary Party on the eve of BIFF 2020, Thursday, Feb. 20th. 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. This is a huge accomplishment for the hundreds of BIFF volunteers, the Beloit area and of course the Board of Directors”.
Executive Director Greg Gerard has indicated that “we are excited that she is available to support our 2020 celebration. We are already planning the party, and there is nobody we would rather celebrate with!”.
Klett is a graduate of Beloit Memorial High School and Beloit College. She first brought national focus on Beloit as Miss Wisconsin in 1992, winning the talent portion of the Miss America Pageant for her solo trumpet work. She has also soloed with the Beloit Janesville Symphony. For the past eight years she served the state as Wisconsin’s chief promoter in the Scott Walker administration. Through her Spotlight on Wisconsin, she promoted and supported the work of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, Beloit Regional Hospice and the Stateline Boys and Girls Clubs.
BIFF CARES 2020 presents films that shed light on health issues, depicted in new independent films that are informative, compelling, inspiring and moving.
This year the program consists of several amazing films that address loving and caring for those with Alzheimer’s, loving and caring for our returning veterans, and loving and caring for others across cultures.
Directed by Eric Gardon
Documentary Feature
USA | 77 min | 2019
Synopsis
When All That’s Left is Love is the emotionally gripping story of a wife’s determination to care for her Alzheimer’s-stricken husband in their home. With unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access, the film reveals the toll that the disease takes on families coping with Alzheimer’s, while also showcasing the power of love that sustains both patients and caregivers.
Eric Gordon, Director
Directed by
Steve Ellmore
Synopsis:
Amid the opioid and suicide epidemics, military veterans across the nation are ditching prescription medications in favor of cannabis.
In his first feature-length documentary, producer, director, and military veteran Steve Ellmore chronicles the lives of fellow veterans, spouses, and family members coping with war-related trauma and the loss of loved ones to suicide brought on by the over-prescription of pharmaceuticals.
Steve Ellmore, Director
Directed by Miranda de Pencier
Feature Narrative
Canada | 104 min | 2018
Synopsis:
Based on a true story, The Grizzlies is more than the usual triumph through sports story, for it doesn’t shy away from moving depictions of the poverty and isolation characteristic of too many northern communities.
When first-time teacher Russ Shepherd comes to Kugluktuk, he brings preconceived notions about northern life and no little hubris about his self-imposed mission to bring about change. An interconnected chain of dramatic incidents, however (and some quieter cross-cultural corrections) lead Russ to understand that education is a two-way street. Initially, the hastily built lacrosse team seems mild after- school fun, but soon becomes the lightening rod for the community’s differing views on its future.
Driven by remarkable performances by the young, Nunavut -based cast, and seeded with unassailable authenticity because of it’s dramatic location, The Grizzlies proves to be one of the most unexpectedly affirming films of the year.
Miranda de Pencier
Director
Directed by
T.B.A.
Synopsis
TBA
Nicholas Stange
Teacher, Faculty Advisor
Harlem High School
Machesney Park, IL
For many it is the big party where the printed program is revealed for the first time that gets people thinking about their film viewing choices.
Each year, The Beloit International Film festival selects a supporter of film, filmmakers, and the Beloit community to serve in the role of Honorary Chair of BIFF. There is hardly a bigger fan of BIFF since its inception than Beloiter Stephanie Klett
The Beloit International Film Festival (BIFF) announced today that it has received another Stateline Community Foundation “Community Impact” grant in the amount of $5000, which will be used to fund the popular local independent film series known as BIFF Year ‘Round (BYR).
