BIFF 2026: Memories in the Present Moment

If our lives were like the Southern live oaks that grace the Lowcountry, the drapes of Spanish moss would be our memories: sometimes wispy & ethereal, other times dense & clumpy, consistently rich with meaning, and always hanging around.

Beaufort International Film Festival (BIFF) President and CEO Ron Tucker has plenty of memories from the nineteen previous years running the show with his wife Rebecca. In fact, he recently reflected on the subject when asked for a mantra for this year’s festival.

“Hmm, memories… heaped with nostalgia,” he said. “For twenty years we’ve seen great films from extraordinarily talented filmmakers… they are often powerful and sometimes life changing.”

It’s a wonder that the man who rightfully fits the “Energizer Ronny” moniker has any time for reflection at all as the 2026 festival is now upon us. He and Rebecca, his beloved partner in films and life, just spent about two hundred hours watching movies over the past several months—and that is a fraction of all the other hours it takes to organize, promote, and run this highly regarded and enjoyed event.

This will be my second year covering BIFF, last year I fell back in love with short films because I watched sixteen of them. It rekindled my dormant desire to make another one myself. Ron totally gets it from the filmmaker’s perspective.

“Indie filmmaking is about passion, creativity, and in many cases enormous sacrifices,” he said. “The reward comes with the applause mostly and not the money.”

THIS YEAR’S BIFF

It’s safe to say that this year’s BIFF will display oodles of passion and the USCB auditorium will ring loudly with applause. It runs from February 17-22.

As a little background, the judges (there are three tiers) selected 54 films and five screenplays from over 500 submissions from 56 countries. The films run the gamut of format and length, from features to shorts, documentaries to animation, student films to screenplays. Many of the trailers are on the BIFF website and if these snippets are any indication, there are films that are provocative, evocative, and graceful in the mix.

GUT PUNCHES

I’ve been able to screen a few shorts (I know a guy), and I am thoroughly psyched to dive into more when the festival opens. A couple that I watched were what Ron Tucker calls “gut punches,” which is meant as a compliment in the sense that it is emotionally powerful and authentically breathtaking. The first of these is O & O (pronounced Oh and Zero).

Jack Lafferty wrote and produced the movie and co-directed with Griffin Davis. It clocks in at 20 minutes and concerns an edgy Veteran with PTSD, a waiter crumbling under life’s pressure, and a young first-generation woman struggling with her immigrant father’s insistence she follow his path to the American Dream. For Lafferty, it’s important that the audience not only consider the perspective of others, “…but what’s going on behind the curtain of our eyes that we share with people. If we seek to find out what our similarities are I think we’ll find common ground a lot quicker.”

Some of the dialogue is based on conversations Lafferty had with a friend who served three tours as a Marine in the Middle East and had some issues readjusting to civilian life. Without revealing any details, I can say that the intersection of those three lives at the end of the film is both shocking and inevitable.

Lafferty hopes that after the wallop is delivered at the end, “The audience can talk about what they just felt, what they’ve just experienced…that was the hope.” Based on my viewing, there should be plenty of conversations.

Another short that provoked deep thought (and a few tears) was Sit with Me While I Die, another 20 minutes packed with sharp dialogue, this time about assisted suicide, or as main character Gwen puts it, “aid in dying.” Gwen is the one dying and she and husband Tim are not happy with the platitudes and Bible quotes delivered by Father Ethan. At one point Gwen cuts off Fr. Ethan’s Bible quoting by saying, “Forget the Bible, how do you like the sunset?” as she takes in the beauty right outside her window for one of the last times.

The film advocates a death with dignity perspective that supports an individual’s right to choose their path to death. Director Brian Russell doesn’t deny it is an advocacy film but says he and co-writer Ross Popick wanted to make it more than that. “One of our foremost goals was to make a story that would be relatable and not feel like we were preaching at people.”

This goal is artfully accomplished by making Father Ethan into a real human being and not a one-dimensional cardboard Priest. He is struggling with his own sister’s death and wonders internally whether God even hears us and where his own faith has gone. So he sits with Gwen while she dies and it is poignant and tender, fully supported by Christopher S. Lind’s beautiful cinematography.

Russell referenced a quote about the best deaths being those that occur when a person is surrounded by love, and says that’s a central thesis of his movie, along with how our culture doesn’t deal with death very well. What Russel’s film does very well is providing a way for tough conversations to happen. “I hope that the audience thinks about death as something that is natural, as something that is fully part of our lives, and as something that can be beautiful.” This film delivers on those hopes.

Two other short films that I think are worth starring in your schedule are Sounds of New York, a documentary that chronicles a day in the Big Apple through its many sounds and stories, and Walter, a sweet take on how tough times can be navigated.

Sounds, directed by Daniel Stanislawski with incredible sound post-production by Bartosz Jaworski, is what it says: sounds. These are from the street, in the parks, around the corners and in all the nooks and crannies of Manhattan. The joyful noise is supplied by musicians, cars, buses, doves, pigeons, trains, conversations between people, and a thousand other things. It recalls composer John Cage and the recordings he used to make of NYC life outside his open apartment windows, only denser.

What makes it more enjoyable is the fact that Sounds is also filled with stories and quips from real life New Yorkers during all this joyful noise. The combination is intoxicating and the 30 minute documentary flew by at the speed of, well, sound.

The lovely 12 minute film Walter is about a “pet wave” that a 10 year-old boy keeps in a bucket as a security blanket of sorts after his parent’s messy divorce. Director Julie Restivo is from California but has family in Bluffton. Restivo creates a humorous and charming lesson in acceptance and letting go.

OPENING NIGHT WITH ‘BETTE DAVIS’

Besides the films, there is a special opening night treat. After the early evening reception on February 17, Jessica Sherr will be starring in a one woman show called Bette Davis Ain’t For Sisses. Sherr is a seasoned actor, writer, and producer who has performed the show more than five hundred times in the U.S. and abroad to rave reviews and delighted audiences. She says audiences appreciate learning more about Bette beyond her Hollywood stardom. “Audiences see a completely different side of her, and I’m always excited when people say they are inspired to learn more about her life. My play is not just [about] the star. It’s also Betty the person, and so she really gets humanized.”

In the decade Sherr has been inhabiting Bette Davis, one memory from the early days that stands out is her trip to California to meet Bette’s long time assistant. Sherr was scheduled to bring the show to Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and had reached out to inform the estate. The conversation with someone who was so close to Bette gave her a real boost.” It was the beginning of really feeling like Miss Davis. It was a moment in my life when I got the message to never give up.” As a bonus, the assistant gave Sherr a white box with a gold bow. Inside were turquoise gloves, a handkerchief, earrings, and a little pill box that belonged to Bette Davis. Now she gets to wear some of the items during the five costume changes in the show.

GRAINGER HINES TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

To cap off the festival there will be an awards ceremony on Sunday the 22^nd. Besides recognizing film achievements, Biff will be

honoring acclaimed actor, writer, and director Grainger Hines with the Pat Conroy Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes individuals whose artistic careers embody excellence, integrity, and a lasting contribution to the world of film and the arts.

In honoring Hines, the Beaufort Film Society will celebrate not only his achievements in entertainment but also his enduring connection to South Carolina and his example of creative perseverance.

Initially, Hines says was a bit taken aback by the award letter he received. He notes that he is still out there working every day and adding to his 100+ film and TV credits. Hines says he really had to think about what it meant. “It has made me reflect on a lot of things…it’s given me a feeling, a comfort. I can’t tell you how honored I am to get this award, I haven’t gotten a lot of [awards] but I’ve always gotten good notices. This award has allowed me in some ways to give myself some validation.”

Hines has great memories of playing musical gigs in Beaufort in his brief musical career with The Swinging Medallions. He remembers how beautiful the area is and looks forward to coming back in February.

When he comes back to town Hines will be adding to his collection of memories of a life lived with passion for creative performance. “You never know what life is going to hand you. If you stay open to things, things will happen. When I got cast in that very first play it was like ‘man, this is what I’m doing with my life.’  I’ve never going to retire; this is what I do.”

As far as what the Beaufort International Film Festival does, it can be summarized simply: BIFF adds significant cultural value to the Lowcountry through its affirming spirit of film and filmmakers. All that and a ton of mossy memories.

 

The 20^th Annual Beaufort International Film Festival is happening February 17 – 22 at USCB Center For the Arts. For tickets and more information visit www.beaufortfilmfestival.com