The Beloit International Film Festival, or 'BIFF,' is getting ready for its third and grandest season yet. What has been called “the next big thing” and “a must-attend event,” by Moviemaker Magazine certainly lived up to its notices in its second year, setting some exciting standards to exceed in 2008.  Attendance jumped almost 40 percent in the second year and more than 40 filmmakers came from as far away as Seoul and London to participate. 

In 2007, BIFF launched its new Scholarship program for emerging filmmakers, and individual filmmakers were celebrated in special screenings of collections of their work. In the words of a Los Angeles based recipient of the Emerging Artist Scholarship, “You can not imagine how much the grant means to me right now. And I want you to know every penny will be put into the new film, so the cycle of art will continue thanks to you.”

The four-day festival is one of four festivals in the country that the New York Times this year suggested as alternatives to Sundance.  The 2008 BIFF will start on Jan.17 with a lavish launch party in Wisconsin's Gateway city of Beloit.  The Festival will add a new venue in 2008, bringing to nine the number of settings around the community for showing the anticipated 125 films from around the world and in every genre. 

Executive director Rod Beaudoin notes that BIFF is particularly proud of the international nature of the festival—“From the start, this was a priority for us.  Critics have called us both ‘gutsy’ and ‘arrogant.’  The media and filmmakers alike have asked how, in such an intimate setting, we can show scores of debuts from almost 30 nations--- shorts, documentaries, animated, feature length. The answer is easy: We have a community that loves film and provides hundreds of volunteers and a dedicated selection committee, working year-round,    to produce the ideal of a great film festival.”

“BIFF was very very good for me.  My film played to great crowds and got a tremendous response.  I met fellow filmmakers from around the world and the connections I made are going to help get my next film produced. It is quickly becoming a must do for filmmakers.” Chad Queen, director of The Corner Of

Venues include restaurants, art galleries, theatres, and even the chapel on the Beloit College campus. The mix of films provides an opportunity to see rare classics, foreign language films, and the latest creations of leading filmmakers as part of the Beloit Midwest Film Makers Competition. BIFF is a film festival the way film festivals used to be—where everybody has a chance to get together at night and talk about the films they have seen with the filmmakers and actors. During the day, there is a chance to attend panel discussions and classes with people involved in film. And then there is a chance to see the films everybody is talking about in their second showings later in the week.

And the filmmakers are celebrated…limousines shuttle guests to the parties and the showings. Said one director “the organizers made it easy for filmmakers to meet each other and socialize at various locations…my film, which has screened at several film festivals, never looked and sounded better.”

Mark your calendar now for the 2008 Beloit International Film Festival, January 17th to the 20th, 2008, in Beloit, Wisconsin.