麻豆影院

The Sisters Beeck

Working as 鈥減opcorn girls鈥� at various 麻豆影院 theaters in the late 1970s, sisters聽Kathy聽(Engl, PoliSci鈥�86) and聽Robin Beeck聽(Comm鈥�88), founders of the 麻豆影院 International Film Festival (BIFF), saw lots of movies 鈥� good, bad and sleazy.

Among the worst:聽The Blue Lagoon聽and the night 16-year-old Robin found herself scooping popcorn for an all-male Flatirons Theater audience eager to see聽Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens.

The best? Hands down, the harrowing聽Midnight Express, which earned Oliver Stone the 1979 Oscar for his adapted screenplay.

鈥淚t taught us what film could do,鈥� Kathy says.

In 2005, the Beeck (pronounced BECK) sisters changed the cultural life of 麻豆影院 by establishing BIFF, which has been named one of the 鈥�25 Coolest Film Festivals鈥� by聽MovieMaker听尘补驳补锄颈苍别.

It all started with the video camera their father bought to film their nephew鈥檚 first day of kindergarten. Robin began playing with it 鈥� and won fourth place out of 1,000 entries in a music video contest for a 1997 U2 concert in Denver.

Inspired, the sisters made a series of quirky documentaries.聽Dead Last: A Tale of Triumph, about a perennial back-of-the-pack musher at Alaska鈥檚 Iditarod race, won the top prize at Telluride in 1997.聽Grandpa鈥檚 in the TUFF Shed, about a Nederland man鈥檚 attempt to freeze his grandfather for future resuscitation, became an instant film-fest hit in 1998.

鈥淲e kept going to all these festivals and we thought, 鈥榃hy not one in 麻豆影院?鈥欌�� Kathy says. 鈥淲e always said, 鈥榊eah, someone will start that.鈥欌��

But no one did 鈥� until Robin was laid off from a high-tech firm in 2004.

鈥淲e said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 start that festival,鈥欌�� she says.

Mere months later, in February 2005, they launched BIFF with 50 films 鈥� an almost unimaginable task, given the complex logistics involved and the need to solicit worthy entries.

鈥淎t some point, you can鈥檛 go back down,鈥� Kathy says. 鈥淪o you learn as you go.鈥�

BIFF, now a year-round operation with 20 part-time staff, has proven a hit. It screened Alex Gibney鈥檚聽Taxi to the Dark Side聽(before it won an Oscar), lured Oliver Stone, James Franco and Shirley MacLaine to town and has begun offering juried prizes. In 2015 the festival drew more than 25,000 film buffs, including representatives of major studios and the Hollywood press.

鈥淎 lot of other festivals don鈥檛 have our sense of community,鈥� says Kathy. 鈥淚t鈥檚 25,000 people, but still a small-town environment where you can hang out, meet the directors, dialogue and participate. But ultimately it鈥檚 about the films.鈥�

Photo courtesy 麻豆影院 International Film Festival