In a letter to Beloit International Film Festival Executive Director Greg Gerard, Beloit College has announced that some of its venues scheduled for use during the upcoming BIFF2022 will not be available. This includes the Weissberg Theatre at the Powerhouse, and the screening room at the Hendricks Arts Center. The college will, however, continue to allow BIFF to use its CELEB/ABBA facility on East Grand Ave. as the festival box office this year.
“While we regret the decision, we certainly recognize the concerns of the College,” Gerard said. “Beloit College has done an extraordinary job in minimizing the impact of covid on the campus community and we look forward to the future when we are able to resume our screenings on campus. We have a great relationship with the College and appreciate their support over the years.”
In the letter, Secretary of the College Erica I. Daniels noted that “…we were very much looking forward to hosting BIFF on campus, but after much deliberation, unfortunately, we will be unable to accommodate the Film Festival on campus this year.”
Praising the partnership with BIFF, the letter added that “While we recognize that we might be in a much different and more optimistic space come early March, we are not able to make that determination now.”
The adjustment will require some reprogramming of screenings with a possible reduction in the number of times some of the more popular films can be shown.
This will not change other aspects of BIFF2022. “We appreciate the fact that we have a few weeks to make the adjustments we need to make,” says BIFF president, Ana Kelly-McGrath. “If anything, BIFF has always been flexible and open to change”.
