Almost showtime for Berkshire International Film Festival, starting on May 29

Great Barrington — The 19th annual Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) will start on Thursday, May 29, and go through Sunday, June 1, at various locations throughout Berkshire County.

This year’s festival will include 27 documentaries, 23 narrative features, and 25 short films, all originating from 22 countries, including Germany, Afghanistan, India, Ireland, Sweden, France, Iceland, Israel, Nepal, Finland, Canada, Macedonia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Japan, and South Africa.

“I think that the festival has grown so much over the years because we deliver a great product to a great community,” BIFF Artistic Director and Founder Kelley Vickery told The Berkshire Edge. “In the first year of the festival in 2006, I didn’t know if it had legs or if the festival would last. But over time, we’ve realized that people have had so much fun. Independent film is a great genre and is accessible to everyone.”

Vickery credits the diversity of the festival’s programming as one of the many reasons for its continued success. “You can travel the world through film,” Vickery said. “It’s fun to explore different themes and lands through narratives, documentaries, and shorts. We continue to hone and curate all of these films from around the globe each year.”

Vickery said that this year’s festival will feature over 70 filmmakers from all over the world.

“I think smaller film festivals like ours have a prominent place in the festival circuit,” Vickery said. “BIFF has become an important part of getting a film out. We are considered part of a marketing plan for films and distribution companies. For independent filmmakers, they need to have a stop like the Berkshires with an engaged audience on their trajectory to sell their film to a distribution company or streaming.”

Vickery added that BIFF has become a festival where people in the industry, including filmmakers, can meet with each other. “We have a ‘filmmaker’s summit’ ahead of the festival,” Vickery said. “It’s unique because it allows filmmakers to come together with others and take a minute in this beautiful Berkshire setting that we call home.”

Actor and filmmaker Scott Cohen of Sullivan Street Filmworks, who has been on the festival’s advisory board for nine years, said that BIFF gives filmmakers and industry professionals opportunities they would not normally find elsewhere. “I think that films don’t have a great viewing life these days,” Cohen said. “One of the greatest things about the film festival is that it allows both the filmmaker and the audience to get a sense of whether or not their film works by showing it in front of a live audience. For film lovers, I think this festival is great because the particular types of films that we show at BIFF would not normally be seen at a local movie theater. Even in the streaming era, it’s hard to get films onto a streaming service.”

Cohen said that the inclusivity of the festival’s content has contributed to its growth. “I think there is a community in Berkshire County of filmmakers, actors, and technicians who all love to watch movies,” he said. “I think that has helped to grow the festival because they have expanded into the Berkshire County community.”

One of the films scheduled to be screened in the festival is the documentary “Checkpoint Zoo.” The documentary, which takes place at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is about the Feldman Ecopark Zoo in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine.

As the invasion begins, the zoo, which houses over 5,000 animals, is caught in the crossfire between Russia and Ukraine. The animals are all trapped in their cages with little food and water as the danger from Russian forces escalates.

Documentary director Josh Zeman lives in Falls Village, Conn., near Berkshire County. “I’ve lived here for the past five years, and I think Great Barrington is a great place for the arts,” Zeman said. “Not only does the film festival do a great job connecting the community, in response, the community knows how to show up.”

Zeman said that the marketplace for films and documentaries is in “a constant state of flux” in the age of Netflix and Hulu. “Now more than ever, we can’t rely on the old models of the streaming companies coming in and buying your film out of the Sundance festival, and then suddenly everybody gets to see it,” Zeman said. “I’ve been around long enough that I remember the days before that used to happen. It’s a tough time in the documentary filmmaking field. We had some great years, but as always happens, the expectations and the dollars build up and up, then it turns out to be unsustainable economics, and then everything crashes.”

Zeman said that an event like BIFF helps filmmakers connect with each other and distributors. “BIFF is a good kind of proving ground to help people find your work,” Zeman said. “As a filmmaker, you are always trying to adjust and improve your message, and your sales pitch, to the wider audience. You can show your film and see how your audience reacts, and audience members will come up to you and tell you what they like and hate about a film.”

As for why members of the film industry continue to gravitate to Berkshire County, “I think nature and art always go hand and hand with each other,” Zeman explained. “The Berkshires is a great place where you can get in touch with your creative side and your spiritual side. The frenetic energy of the city is great, but sometimes it does take something away from you. I think being in the country not only lets you relax, but it also allows your creativity to be nurtured.”

This year’s festival will include:

• An opening-night event with the documentary “A Man WIth Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole” on Thursday, May 29, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center;
• A showing of the documentary “Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion” featuring an appearance by Mackie himself, on Friday, May 30, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (see separate article featuring an interview with Mackie);
• A tribute to award winning actor Brian Cox on Saturday, May 31, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center;
• Various “Tea Talks” at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center’s Indigo Room on Saturday, May 31; and
• For the closing night on Sunday, June 1, a showing of the documentary film “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore.”

For the full schedule and ticket information, visit the festival’s website.