The Beaufort Film Society recently announced the official selections for 2023 Beaufort International Film Festival (BIFF), taking place February 21-26, 2023 in Beaufort, the SC jury selected more than 50 entries from filmmakers represented from around the world, as well as films spanning a wide range of subjects and genres, including everything from comedies to documentaries.
“We look forward to showing this year’s incredibly diverse group of films at the BIFF,” said Ron Tucker, president of the Beaufort Film Society, which produces the festival. “The talented individuals behind all of these films showcase the bright future ahead for our industry. We are honored to see that talent in Beaufort.”
In addition to the line-up shown below, several tributes will take place during the festival.
The Beaufort Film Society presents the Pat Conroy Lifetime Achievement Award to both John Bailey, former president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), and his wife Carol Littleton, former member of the AMPAS Board of Governors. They will be the first-ever co-honorees of the award.
Cinematographer John Bailey has a huge body of work with films such as The Big Chill, American Gigolo, As Good As It Gets, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, Country Strong, In The Line of Fire and Groundhog Day. He served on the Board of Governors of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and on the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. He was previously honored with a Special Prize for Artistic Achievement from the Cannes Film Festival in 1985 for the Japanese film Mishima, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASC in 2016, and was made an Officier des Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French government at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. In 2019, he received both the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gianni di Venanzo Festival in Teramo, Italy and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Camerimage International Film Festival in Torun, Poland.
Carol Littleton is an Oscar-nominated editor with an equally impressive resume of 38 films, including The Big Chill, ET, Silverado, Beloved, Grand Canyon, Benny & Joon, Body Heat, Wyatt Earp, The Accidental Tourist, and The Manchurian Candidate . Carol won an Emmy for Tuesdays with Morrie and she received a 2016 Career Achievement Award from American Cinema Editors (ACE). Her Oscar nomination was for ET Extra Terrestrial. Carol served as academy governor of the Film Editors branch for 12 years and currently serves on the executive committee.
The Santini Patriot Spirit Award is presented for the fourth time in the history of the festival. The recipient of this year’s Santini Award is military veteran and writer/producer/director David Kniess, for his powerful documentary The gift. The Gift tells the powerful story of Corporal Jason Dunham who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Iraq War. The Santini Award is given to a filmmaker whose work portraying active-duty American military personnel, veterans or their families in a feature film, documentary or short film reflects the highest standards of service and sacrifice for the good of others. The award is named after Colonel Donald “The Great Santini” Conroy, father of Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter and bestselling author Pat Conroy.
The recipient of the Behind the Scenes award is Dan Rogers, the Senior Project Manager at the South Carolina Film Commission. His father was in the Air Force and he lived in seven different states, one unincorporated in the US and two countries before he turned 12. His family ended up in South Carolina when his father was appointed Base Commander at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter. Dan attended the University of South Carolina and earned a degree in Media Arts with a concentration in film. He turned an internship at the Film Commission into a full-time job in 1988 and has remained there ever since, helping to recruit over 175 projects, including The Prince of Tides, The Abyss, The Patriot, Dear John, Forrest Gump , The Notebook, the TV series Army Wives and Outer Banks.
Here’s your full lineup for the 17th annual Beaufort International Film Festival:
FEATURE FILM
- Bobcat Moretti
Directed by Rob Margolies, West Hollywood, CA - Everyone wants to be loved,
Directed by Katharina Woll, Berlin, Germany - Publish or perish
Directed by David Liban, Centennial, CO - The Year of the Dog
Directed by: Andrew McGinn, Michael Peterson, Robert Grabow
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
- Mississippi Messiah
Directed by Clay Haskell, Dylan Nelson, Colorado Springs, CO - storm Caesar’s palace
Directed by Hazel Gurland Pooler - Fred Chappell: I’m one of you forever
Directed by Michael Frierson
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
- Bendix: site unseen
Directed by Anthony Scalia, Loki, NJ - Changes in the Wind
Directed by Gerret Warner, Wilson, NC - In the bubble with Jaime
Directed by Emily Harrold, New York, NY - Kambana
Directed by Samul Pastor, Alicante, Spain - The colors of life
Directed by Daniel Stanislawski, Wroclaw, Poland - Veteran’s Journey Home: Kalani’s Story
Directed by Frederik Marx - Waniyetu Wowapi: Winter count
Directed by Richard Steinberger, Beaufort, SC
ANIMATION
- Ed’s last will and testament
Directed by Lisa Wen Dou, John Xiaoliang, Beijing China - Pedigree
Directed by Zin Yan, Sarasota FL - processing magic
Directed by Vale Stanley, Jo Knorpp, Winston-Salem, NC - Sonata
Directed by Madison Crisp, Abby Davenport, Fern Singleton, Vic Sosa, Winston-Salem, NC
STUDENT FILMS
- An ideal of freedom
Directed by Noel Paganotti, Salt Lake City, UT (University of Utah) - Bad Hombrewood
Directed by Guillermo Casarin, Burbank, CA (University of Southern California) - Bombay Beach
Directed by Starsi Howell, West Hollywood, CA (Chapman University) - Take double
Directed by Eli Canter, Brookline, MA (Boston University) - Sacrifices
Directed by Larissa Salazar, Orange, CA (Chapman University) - Someone you loved
Directed by Elly Sitong Shou, Beijing, China (Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University) - Sugar Brown
Directed by Clarke Phillips, Winston-Salem, NC (University of North Carolina, School of the Arts) - The Story of Captain Fortyhands
Directed by Kyle Farmer, Placentia, CA (Chapman University) - Toy phone
Directed by Gabe Braden, Orange, CA (Chapman University) - Wei-Lai
Directed by Robin Wang, Los Angeles, CA (University of Southern California)
SHORT MOVIES
- A best man
Directed by Dylan Tuccillo, New York, NY - Aaron with two tens
Directed by Michael Goldburg, West New York, NJ - Be bound to
Directed by Jaye Pniewski, Woodstock, GA - Captured
Directed by Preston Peterson, Jason Boesch, Colorado Springs, CO - Crumb Cake
Directed by Anthony Robert Grasso, Nutley, NJ - Dancing with shadows
Directed by Deborah LaVine, Santa Barbara, CA - Florida moves
Directed by Damon Maulucci, Sarasota, FL - Ghosted
Directed by Sam Milman, Peter Vass, Pasadena, CA - hit baby
Directed by Abigail Breslin, North Hollywood, CA - Ivalu
Directed Anders Walter, Charlottenlund, Denmark - Kyle against. Karen
Directed by Jim Morrison, Long Island, NY - Mrs Rossi: Mrs Rossi takes the cake
Directed by Pat Battistini, Santa Clarita, CA - Murder Tongue
Directed by Ali Sohail Jaura, Karachi, Pakistan - My over there
Directed by Bob Celli, New York, NY - Time for a nap
Directed by Robert Postrozny, Los Angeles, CA - Expired
Directed by Melissa Skirboll, Long Island, NY - past prologue
Directed by Brian Russell, Fairfield, CT - Points
Directed by Tony Glynn, Forest Hills, NY - Sharp points
Directed by Chris Sexton Fletcher, Bradenton, FL - Strangers
Directed by Scott Morris, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - The call
Directed by Tom Balsamides, Montvale, NJ - The message
Directed by Amanda Renee Knox, Los Angeles, CA - The director’s meeting
Directed by Jordan Ancel, Rehoboth, MA - The Son, the Father
Directed by Lukas Hassel, New York, NY - The voice mail
Directed by Maurice Simmons, - Unusual negotiator
Directed by Brian Glasford, Murfreesboro, TN - Wheel
Directed by Honora Talbott, Los Angeles, CA - Bad image
Directed by Caitlin Scherer, Maplewood, NJ - Bad plans
Directed by Lee Chambers, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
FENCES
- Cat Island
Written by Millie West, Columbia, SC - Emmett of Exendia
Written by Michael Andrew Blomquist, Toluca Lake, CA - Lupe Q and the Galactic Earwigs
Written by Javier Badillo, Nat Marshik, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Orson
Written by Jaret Egol, Winter Park, FL - Saint Dorothea
Written by Chris King, Roseville, CA
BEST ACTOR NOMINATIONS
- Mike Baez, Hitbaby (short film)
- Rob Grabow, The Year of the Dog (Feature)
- Timothy McCracken, Publish or Perish (Feature)
- Josh Mikel, Florida Moves (short film)
- Tim Realbuto, Bobcat Moretti (feature film)
NOMINATIONS BEST ACTRESS
- Barbara Bain, Dancing with Shadows (short film)
- Jeanine Bartel, overdue (short film)
- Anne Ratte-Polle, Everyone wants to be loved (Feature)
- Vivica A. Fox, Bobcat Moretti (feature film)
- Karen Pittman, Toy Phone (student film)
NOMINATIONS FOR BEST DIRECTORS
- Abigail Breslin, Hitbaby (short film)
- Hazel Gurland-Pooler, Storming Caesar’s Palace (documentary)
- David Liban, publish or perish (feature)
- Rob Margolies, Bobcat Moretti (feature film)
- Katherine Woll, Everyone Wants To Be Loved (Feature)
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST NOMINATIONS
- Trapped (short film)
- Crumb Cake (short film)
- Ghosted (short film)
- Mrs. Rossi 2: Mrs. Rossi Takes the Cake (short film)
- Bad Picture (short film)
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
- Chris Gabriel, Ghosted (short film)
- Wendell Hanes, Storming Caesar’s Palace (documentary)
- Spencer Hauck, The Story of Captain Fortyhands (student film)
- Chris Kalafus, Past Prologue (short film)
- Ilan Rubin, Bobcat Moretti (feature film)
NOMINATION BEST COMEDY
- Aaron with Two A’s (short film)
- A Witness (short film)
- Double Take (student film)
- Ghosted (short film)
- Hitbaby (short film)
- Kyle against. Karen (short film)
- Mrs. Rossi 2: Mrs. Rossi takes the cake (short film)
- Naptime (short film)
- Points (short film)
- Publish or Lose (Feature)
- Sharp Objects (short film)
- Wei-Lai (student film)
- Wheel (short film)
- Bad Picture (short film)
- Bad Plans (short film)
Leave a Comment