Brian Cox Main Events Berkshire International Film Festival Lineup
Film and television's leading angry patriarch will be honored at this year's festival.
Brian Cox
The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) has just unveiled its 2025 lineup, promoting a weekend of cinema, conversation, and celebration from May 29 to June 1 in Great Barrington and Lenox. This year's festival pays tribute to multi-award-winning actor Brian Cox, a resident of nearby Hillsdale, New York, whose illustrious career spans theater, television, and film.
"We are honored to be celebrating the remarkable and legendary career of multi award-winning actor, Brian Cox this year,” says BIFF Founder and Artistic Director Kelley Vickery. “Mr. Cox's four-decades-long career in theater, television, and film garnered him enough accolades and awards to fill a house...or two!" Cox will be in conversation on stage with his wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox, also an accomplished actor, director, and producer, on May 31 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.
“We are also thrilled to share an extraordinary line-up of films from near and far,” Vickery continues. “Many coming straight from their success at Sundance, including our closing night film, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, an intimate documentary of Matlin's meteoric and trailblazing career after winning the Academy Award for best actress at the age of 21."
The festival will showcase 75 films in all, including 27 documentaries, 23 narrative features, and 25 short films, produced across 22 countries. Screenings will take place at various venues, With the majority of the featured events taking place at the Mahaiwe. A selection of films will also be available for virtual viewing.
Vickery says that one of the things she loves most about the BIFF is the diversity of films and filmmakers it brings to the Berkshires. “It is my hope that BIFF will inspire our audience with wonder, curiosity, engagement, laughter and perhaps even a call to action,” she says.
The festival opens on May 29 at the Mahaiwe, with the documentary A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole, highlighting the designer's four-decade commitment to social activism. Kenneth Cole himself and director Dori Berinstein will attend the screening, followed by a Q&A session. The evening concludes with a DJ Soren dance party at Number Ten.
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, directed by Shoshannah Stern, to screen June 1 at the Mahaiwe, offers an intimate look at Matlin's career and features interviews with Henry Winkler, Troy Kotsur, Aaron Sorkin, and Lauren Ridloff.
BIFF's popular “Tea Talks” returns as well May 31, The event, held at the new Indigo Room at the Mahaiwe, features discussions with sustainable fashion expert Dana Thomas, directors Rashaad Ernesto Green and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, and author Kevin Smokler, who will discuss his new book, Break the Frame.
"In the Berkshires, we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to our cultural community,” Vickery adds. “We celebrate the best in classical and alternative music, modern and traditional dance, musical and dramatic theater, contemporary and fine art and beautiful architecture and gardens. The BIFF has become a cultural pillar alongside these incredible cultural organizations, celebrating the best in independent film.”
Tickets and passes are available at www.biffma.org.
