The Berkshire International Film Festival returns this weekend, June 2 to 5, screening independent feature, documentary, short and family films on big screens across the county, with panel discussions and events focusing on filmmakers and artists from both sides of the camera.
Dara Nevo, a young and dedicated soldier in Israel’s elite military intelligence unit, races against the clock to find a captured Israeli soldier hidden in Gaza. When Israel is faced with a prisoner swap that includes the man who killed her dad, Dara will stop at nothing to keep her father’s killer from freedom.
Berkshire Shorts — 9:30 a.m.
Filmmakers will be here for the screening.
THE SWEET TASTE OF FREEDOM (2022)
A man facing a lifetime prison sentence has 48 hours to put his life in order.
THE BACKPACK (2021) A small-town police Sergeant reflects on the collision of his roles within his community. On a ride along through the roads where he grew up, raised his children, coached his kids and their friends, and where he’s patrolled for 30+ years, memories come flooding in at every turn. We hear the emotional impact and trauma these roads hold for him, as well as how he has mended these wounds for himself and how he plans to for other police officers. By the end of the film, you see a man beyond the badge he wears.
HOW TO DISAPPEAR (2022)
A girl collects herself in her parked car at the gas station after doing something unimaginable. When the gas station clerk offers to help her, they form an unexpected connection.
IN RUINS (2022)
Secluded in a cabin in the woods, an aspiring writer struggles to complete his first work. To his surprise, he sees a man out on the lake he’s supposed to have to himself. When the two meet, their perspectives on artistic expression clash.
Black Square — 10 a.m.
Two art thieves have stolen the famous “Black Square” of the Russian painter Kasimir Malevich. They plan to meet their clients on a cruise ship to hand over the looted art. However, things are not going quite as planned. A weird cat-and-mouse chase develops on board – A comedy about art, friendship and fear of loneliness
Pasang — noon
PASANG chronicles Pasang Lhamu Sherpa’s tragic and inspiring journey to become the first Nepali woman to summit Everest in 1993. As an uneducated, indigenous woman and a Buddhist in a Hindu kingdom, Pasang’s dream to scale the legendary mountain pits her against family, foreign climbers, her own government, and nature itself. Her determined pursuit of Everest plays out within the context of her nation’s quest for democracy and the emergence of the commercial climbing industry. As told by the Nepalis who knew her, by some of the world’s most notable alpinists, and by Pasang herself, her historic quest would transfix her country and uplift a new generation’s belief in its possibilities.
A Crack In The Mountain — 12:30
Deep in the jungle of Central Vietnam lies a magnificent underground kingdom. Hang Son Doong (“mountain river cave”) is the largest cave passage in the world and a place of spectacular beauty. In 2014, Son Doong’s future was thrown into doubt when plans were announced to build a cable car into the cave. With the local community divided over the benefits this development would bring, the film follows those caught up in the unfolding events.
Zero Gravity — 1 p.m.
Zero Gravity is a powerful story about education, science and the next generation that follows a diverse group of middle school students who compete in a nationwide competition to code satellites aboard the International Space Station.
Ali and Ava — 3 p.m.
When Ali and Ava meet, both lonely for different reasons, sparks fly. Over a lunar month, a deep connection begins to grow, despite the legacy of Ava’s past relationship and Ali’s emotional turmoil at the breakdown of his marriage.
Open Field — 3:30 p.m.
They played by NFL rules in NFL stadiums. They won world championships. They’re at the top of their game. What else do they have to do to level the playing field? Meet quarterback Sami Grisafe, San Francisco 49ers coach Katie Sowers and other legends of women’s tackle football who played for the love of the game against all odds. With commentary from Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris and 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan, Open Field tells the story of the women who leave everything on the field in their drive for greatness, earning recognition and respect.
Full Time — 4 p.m.
Julie goes to great lengths to raise her two children in the countryside while keeping her job in a Parisian luxury hotel. When she finally gets a job interview for a position she had long been hoping for, a national strike breaks out, paralyzing the public transport system. The fragile balance that Julie has established is jeopardized. Julie then sets off on a frantic race against time, at the risk of faltering.
Photo by Riley Smith
Joshua Odjick and Phillip Lewitski lie side by side in the grass in the film Wildhood. Press image courtesy of the filmmaker
Wildhood — 6 p.m.
In a rural east-coast trailer park, Link lives with his toxic father and younger half-brother Travis. When Link discovers his Mi’kmaw mother could still be alive, it lights a flame and they make a run for a better life. On the road they meet Pasmay, a pow wow dancer drawn to Link. As the boys journey across Mi’kma’ki, Link finds community, identity, and love in the land where he belongs.
Bad Axe — 6:30 – p.m.
After leaving NYC for his rural hometown of Bad Axe, MI at the start of the pandemic, an Asian-American filmmaker documents his family’s struggles to keep their restaurant open. As fears of the virus grow, deep generational scars dating back to the Cambodian Killing Fields unearth between the family’s patriarch, Chun, and his daughter, Jaclyn. When the BLM movement takes center stage in America, the family uses their voice to speak out in their town where Trumpism runs deep. What unfolds is a real-time portrait of 2020 through the lens of this multicultural family’s fight to keep their American dream alive in the face of a pandemic, Neo-Nazis, and the trauma of having survived a genocide.
The Caviar Connection — 7 p.m.
Caucasian and Central Asian countries, most notably Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, are known for their dictatorial regimes, autocratic governments and multiple human rights violations towards their population, this film argues, but by using a right combination of soft power and corruption, they have been able to clean their reputation and become commercial partners to many countries.
Their most powerful allies sit in the Council of Europe or Western Parliaments and choose to turn a blind eye when confronted with their abuses. This systemic corruption and its tragic consequences show the limits of our democratic institutions in the West and are at the core of this investigation.
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Pushcart-prize winning poet, author, editor, translator and professor Ravi Shankar comes to Edith Wharton's house and gardens to talk about his newest book, 'Correctional: A Memoir.'
Pushcart-prize winning poet, author, editor, translator and professor Ravi Shankar comes to Edith Wharton's house and gardens to talk about his newest book, 'Correctional: A Memoir.'
BIFF presents Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery During WWII, a film screening and talkback with Jewish partisan Michael Stoll and director Julia Mintz.
One of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedic masterpieces, Much Ado About Nothing celebrates love, friendship and comedy in some of Shakespeare’s most satisfying language.
Astrid Schween, Instrumental Faculty in cello with the Tanglewood Music Center, will lead an open cello workshop with the Tanglewood Learning Institute.
Mass Audubon naturalist Zach Adams will look into the busy, seasonal world of insects — stoneflies, skippers, skimmers and all sorts of flying neighbors.
Heard World Jazz, a collective of musicians, will perform world music, jazz and improvisation with influences from West Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean.
In the 2022 Festival of Contemporary Music, the Tanglewood Music Center's mixed chamber ensembles, TMC conducting and vocal fellows will give a free chamber music concert with soprano Tony Arnold.
Simon and his mother, Ora, have always been close. She’s been his champion, his defender, and his friend. But when a life-changing secret comes to light, can their bond survive?
Simon and his mother, Ora, have always been close. She’s been his champion, his defender, and his friend. But when a life-changing secret comes to light, can their bond survive?
Alonzo King Lines Ballet will perform works set to music by composers including Gabriel Fauré, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain, as well as Azoth set to music by venerable jazz musicians.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
Simon and his mother, Ora, have always been close. She’s been his champion, his defender, and his friend. But when a life-changing secret comes to light, can their bond survive?
In the 2022 Festival of Contemporary Music, Tanglewood Music Center Fellows will perform a free chamber music concert with works by Carlos Simon and more.
Two superpower arms negotiators, a Russian and an American, meet in the woods outside Geneva and develop a friendship that belies the antagonisms of their nations.
Alonzo King Lines Ballet will perform works set to music by composers including Gabriel Fauré, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain, as well as Azoth set to music by venerable jazz musicians.
In the 2022 Festival of Contemporary Music, the Tanglewood Music Center will present George Benjamin conducting his own work with the TMC Vocal Fellows.
One of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedic masterpieces, Much Ado About Nothing celebrates love, friendship and comedy in some of Shakespeare’s most satisfying language.
Earth, Wind and Fire, an American band that has spanned the musical genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, EDM, Latin, and Afro pop for 50 years, will return to Tanglewood.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
Celebrated for athleticism, humor, theatricality and commitment to collaboration, Dance Heginbotham, led by Artistic Director John Heginbotham, is celebrating its 10th Anniversary.
The Mount welcome the community to a monthly Storywalk to read a picture book along a path through the woods — today 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World by Melanie Walsh.
Over the last 40 years, Jacob’s Pillow has been an artistic home for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and this summer they will perform As the Wind Blows, B/olero and Little Rhapsodies.
A Little Night Music, the Tony awardwinning musical by Stephen Sondheim, leads to a life-changing weekend in the country where confusion rules and passions reign.
Simon and his mother, Ora, have always been close. She’s been his champion, his defender, and his friend. But when a life-changing secret comes to light, can their bond survive?
Two superpower arms negotiators, a Russian and an American, meet in the woods outside Geneva and develop a friendship that belies the antagonisms of their nations.
Over the last 40 years, Jacob’s Pillow has been an artistic home for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and this summer they will perform As the Wind Blows, B/olero and Little Rhapsodies.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
Internationally acclaimed musicians Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Leonidas Kavakos Antoine Tamestit and Yo-Yo Ma will perform Pathways from Prague, Program 3.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
Simon and his mother, Ora, have always been close. She’s been his champion, his defender, and his friend. But when a life-changing secret comes to light, can their bond survive?
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
A Little Night Music, the Tony awardwinning musical by Stephen Sondheim, leads to a life-changing weekend in the country where confusion rules and passions reign.
Finland-based Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk returns to Tanglewood and joins violinist Leonidas Kavakos in Felix Mendelssohn’s buoyant Violin Concerto and works by Debussy and Ravel.
Two superpower arms negotiators, a Russian and an American, meet in the woods outside Geneva and develop a friendship that belies the antagonisms of their nations.
Celebrated for athleticism, humor, theatricality and commitment to collaboration, Dance Heginbotham, led by Artistic Director John Heginbotham, is celebrating its 10th Anniversary.
Over the last 40 years, Jacob’s Pillow has been an artistic home for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and this summer they will perform As the Wind Blows, B/olero and Little Rhapsodies.
Chad Williams, professor and chair of African and African American Studies at Brandeis University, speaks on W.E.B. DuBois and Darkwater, DuBois' reflection on World War I.
Chad Williams, professor and chair of African and African American Studies at Brandeis University, speaks on W.E.B. DuBois and Darkwater, DuBois' reflection on World War I.
Mass Audubon naturalist Zach Adams will lead a search for herons, loons, beavers, and other wildlife on a large, secluded lake in October Mountain State Forest.
La Mezcla is a polyrhythmic, multidisciplinary San Francisco-based dance and music ensemble rooted in Chicana, Latina, and Indigenous traditions and social justice.
Internationally acclaimed conductor Dima Slobodeniouk joins the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI) in an informal conversation to share elements of his work and his life.
PS21 holds adventurous sessions held in the Dance Barn, open to all ages and levels, focused on mind, body, and spirit — including pilates on Thursdays.
The Pamela Means Jazz Project sings and plays jazz originals and standards made famous by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Nina Simone and more.
Two superpower arms negotiators, a Russian and an American, meet in the woods outside Geneva and develop a friendship that belies the antagonisms of their nations.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
A Little Night Music, the Tony awardwinning musical by Stephen Sondheim, leads to a life-changing weekend in the country where confusion rules and passions reign.
Tanglewood celebrates the 90th birthday of composer John Williams, in a program of his incomparable concert music for the BSO and Boston Pops, along with beloved film themes.
Two superpower arms negotiators, a Russian and an American, meet in the woods outside Geneva and develop a friendship that belies the antagonisms of their nations.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
Ladies of Hip-Hop Dance Collective's the Black Dancing Bodies Project is an ongoing journey through layers of identity and existence for Black women in street dance and the world at large.
Internationally acclaimed and Grammy awardwinnig Bass-baritone Dashon Burton joins the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI) in an informal conversation to share elements of his work and his life.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
PS21 holds adventurous sessions held in the Dance Barn, open to all ages and levels, focused on mind, body, and spirit — including pilates on Thursdays.
Jacob's Pillow presents Boston Dance Theater, under the co-artistic direction of Jessie Jeanne Stinnett and award-winning, Dutch-Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
Kayla Hamilton, a Black Disabled choreographer, producer and teacher from Texarkana, Texas, who now lives in the Bronx, makes her Pillow debut with her newest work, Nearly Sighted/unearthing the dark.
A predator. A charming aristocrat. A murderer. A womanizer whose sexual conquests number into the thousands ... Berkshire Opra presents Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
'ranney' and Kevin Craig West appear in Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti, a new play filled with music that asks what it takes to be a good father, brother or son.
A Little Night Music, the Tony awardwinning musical by Stephen Sondheim, leads to a life-changing weekend in the country where confusion rules and passions reign.
Michael Tilson Thomas will join Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev in his BSO and Tanglewood debut in a concert of works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff and Copland.
Two superpower arms negotiators, a Russian and an American, meet in the woods outside Geneva and develop a friendship that belies the antagonisms of their nations.
American singer songwriter Brandi Carlile, known for her strong voice in pop, rock, alternative country and folk performs at Tanglewood with folk rock icons the Indogo Girls.
PS21 holds adventurous sessions held in the Dance Barn, open to all ages and levels, focused on mind, body, and spirit — including pilates on Thursdays.
Two superpower arms negotiators, a Russian and an American, meet in the woods outside Geneva and develop a friendship that belies the antagonisms of their nations.
In this eco-futurist fable, birds have gone extinct, and five scarecrows take up the challenge of restoring life on earth and saving what can be saved.
In honor of the album that made them an international act, They Might Be Giants is celebrating Flood’s 30th anniversary by performing the whole album live.
Two superpower arms negotiators, a Russian and an American, meet in the woods outside Geneva and develop a friendship that belies the antagonisms of their nations.
Nationally acclaimed artist Armando Cortés activates his installation Castillos — on view at Mass MoCA in Ceramics in the Expanded Field — with a performance exploring his Mexican roots.