SPOTLIGHT

Boston Film / Video Foundation

by Julie Levinson

Editing and Workshops
at the BF/VF.

The Boston Film/Video Foundation (BF/VF), which is celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of its founding this month, is perhaps the only organization ever to have its astrological chart read. When it moved from its original Allston location to its current premises in the Back Bay, BF/VF was still a fledgling enterprise, beset by the usual administrative and funding challenges that all artist-services associations face. So one of BF/VF's members ascertained the date of the organization's incorporation as a non-profit and, based on that, had a local astrologer analyze the position of the planets and what they augured for the future. Apparently, the planetary alignment was auspicious because, all these years later, BF/VF is still here and still loyal to its original agenda: to provide a support system and a home for Boston's community of independent media artists.

In the first few years of its existence, BF/VF established its core programs: low-cost equipment access, an educational program, a members' newsletter, and regular exhibition of independent film, video, and performance art. Although the program mix is essentially the same today, the prominence of the various programs has shifted over the years to respond to the needs of independent producers and to the changing independent film landscape. The ambitious, twice-weekly screening program, which presented independent media artists from around the country to Boston audiences, fell victim to the funding cutbacks of the late 1980s. Today, BF/VF's primary contribution to the exhibition scene is through its annual presentation of the New England Film and Video Festival and its "Meet the Director" and "Rough Cut" series. The organization no longer does in-house location equipment rental, and the facility's editing rooms, once one of the only places in town to offer low-cost access to post-production equipment, are now used primarily in conjunction with the Foundation's education program. Indeed, that program, which offers an impressive line-up of over 150 technical workshops plus master classes and youth outreach initiatives, is now the organization's flagship endeavor.

In some sense, BF/VF's most compelling reason-for-being, over the years, has been to provide a place for independent-minded media producers to encounter other like-minded people - and, for that matter, to discover that there are other like-minded people. In the late 1970s, the National Endowment for the Arts designated BF/VF as one of seven major media arts centers around the country. But for twenty-five years, it has been not just a media center but also a community center that has both catered to and, in essence, fostered a local community of artists who are intent on creating alternatives to the mainstream media discourse. As BF/VF Executive Director Anne Marie Stein points out, "The underlying mission of BF/VF is not just artistic but political as well because the people who comprise BF/VF's membership are devoted to democratizing media." The Foundation's sense of community and sense of purpose have inspired an intense allegiance among many of those members, who today number over one thousand. And, in spite of its ongoing struggle to adequately fund its ambitions, Stein calls BF/VF "rich in emotional capital."

The many people who have passed through BF/VF's doors in the past two-and-a-half decades will have a chance to spend some of that emotional capital when BF/VF hosts a gala birthday party for itself on March 10 at The Castle at the Boston Park Plaza. Since 1995, BF/VF has hosted an annual event to present its Vision Award to such independent film luminaries as Richard Leacock, Henry Hampton, and Mira Nair. This year, at the anniversary gala, there will be multiple recipients of the Vision Award: Bob Doyle, the founder of Super 8 Sound, DTV Group, and skyBuilders; filmmaker Jan Egleson, whose early independent features, BILLY IN THE LOWLANDS and THE DARK END OF THE STREET, screened at BF/VF; and the founding board members of BF/VF, including Steve Anker, John Casey, Betsy Connors, Randall Conrad, Bestor Cram, Austin Lamont, Jon Rubin, and Susan Steinberg Woll. Boston Globe writer and longtime BF/VF champion Michael Blowen will emcee the event, and those who will publicly bestow birthday wishes on BF/VF include producer Lindsay Law, formerly with PBS' American Playhouse series and Fox Searchlight; Bruce Jenkins, curator of the Harvard Film Archive; and Natatcha Estébanez, co-writer and producer of THE BLUE DINER, Egleson's most recent film.

The gala is only one part of a month-long celebration of BF/VF's longevity. On Sunday, March 18, the Foundation will sponsor the second annual filmmakers' open studio tours. Over twenty Boston area filmmakers will welcome the public to their production facilities, to view work in the making and to meet the creators. And from March 26 - 31, BF/VF will present the New England Film and Video Festival, an event that passed its own quarter century mark last year.

The events surrounding the anniversary promise to be more than simply an opportunity for the local film community to wallow in nostalgia or pat itself on the back. While BF/VF gazes back, taking stock of where it has been, it is also looking forward, imagining where it might be in the coming years. Stein, who has been at the helm of the organization for the last fourteen years, recently announced her resignation, so the Foundation finds itself at a crossroads. Although the energetic Stein will be a hard act to follow, BF/VF Board chair and WBGH producer Llew Smith sees the transition as an opportunity to muse about possible future directions. According to Smith, during the coming changeover in leadership the Board intends to keep BF/VF on course while also contemplating some new initiatives. Smith envisions, "an expanded media center that will move into new media and create collaborations with other organizations." Two partnerships that he is particularly excited about involve Northeastern University and WGBH-TV. The Northeastern association primarily involves the education program; among other benefits, it offers college credit for some of BF/VF's courses and a reciprocal arrangement for students at the two institutions. The WGBH Educational Foundation is on board as the presenting sponsor of the March gala, and in April four of the programs from this year's New England Film and Video Festival will air on the series "Indie Select" on WGBX (Channel 44). If the Board's vision of the future comes to pass, this is just the beginning of a genuine synergy between the public television station and BF/VF.

     
 

Fact Sheet:

BF/VF Celebration Events

Saturday, March 10 at 6:30 pm
• The 5th Annual Vision Awards Gala Dinner
Champagne Reception, Silent Auction, Dinner and Awards Ceremony at Park Plaza Castle
Tickets $125 General, $100 BF/VF and WGBH Members.
For information contact 617/536-1540 ext. 14

Sunday, March 18 at 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
• The 2nd Annual Filmmakers Open Studios
Co-presented by Filmmakers Collaborative and BF/VF in conjunction with N.E. Film & Video Fest
Behind the scenes as locals make movies at over twenty locations around the Boston area.
Free.
For information contact 617/536-1540 ext. 14

Monday, March 26 through Saturday, March 3
The Boston Film/Video Foundation¹s
• 26th Annual New England Film and Video Festival
Presented in association with WGBH at Coolidge Corner Theater and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Individual tickets from $5-10 each
For information contact 617/536-1540 ext. 18

 
     
Even as BF/VF contemplates staking out new territory and new associations, it is keeping a focused eye on its founding principle of fostering the creation and discussion of new work. Perhaps the most exciting events to take place at BF/VF in the past few years have been master classes and a "Meet the Director" series, which bring together the Foundation's production, education, and exhibition functions. Among the nationally known filmmakers who have shown their work and shared their ideas are directors Nancy Savoca (HOUSEHOLD SAINTS), Allison Anders (GAS, FOOD, LODGING), Whit Stillman (BARCELONA), Kevin Smith (DOGMA), Rose Troche (GO FISH), and Lee Tamahori (ONCE WERE WARRIORS); editor Sam Pollard (BAMBOOZLED); producer Ted Hope (THE TAO OF STEVE), and documentarian Albert Maysles (GIMME SHELTER). Smith claims that BF/VF needs to serve two constituencies: those who create independent work and those who view it. These master classes seem to be an ideal way to appeal to both filmmakers and the film-going public.

In a similar vein, the Foundation has recently revived its presentation of works-in-progress. Throughout the 1980s, when BF/VF's exhibition program was running regular screenings, Boston-based filmmakers would frequently show their nearly completed work to eager and erudite audiences. The ensuing discussions were invariably among the most stimulating film talk in town. One memorable night in 1984, Ross McElwee screened SHERMAN'S MARCH when it was in the final editing stage. It was a year before the film entered into distribution and into independent film legend, and the excitement of discovering something new was palpable among audience members. This past September, BF/VF launched "Rough Cuts," a bi-monthly screening/discussion program of works-in-progress by local media artists. And in a fitting echo of earlier years, McElwee appeared in the series to present his latest work, TOBACCO.

It will require some deft juggling for BF/VF to persevere with its current agenda while also courting new partners and programs. Despite a line-up of notable funders, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, financial stability is a perennial challenge, and there are always more good intentions and ideas than there are funds to realize them. But this is an organization adept at staying afloat; it has survived for two-and-a-half decades through the initiative and sheer will of its staff, board, volunteers, and membership. Few organizations inspire such devotion among their constituencies, and just about everyone who has spent time at BF/VF talks about its specialness. Llew Smith calls BF/VF "a unique fixture in the arena of independent production," and claims that "the particular role that BF/VF has filled wouldn't have been filled otherwise." As she contemplates leaving, Anne Marie Stein says, "What I am most proud of is that BF/VF has stayed true to providing programs that really serve artists, in an era when that isn't necessarily a popular thing to do. People are so passionate about BF/VF because so much is at stake: principles, ambitions, dreams." This sort of encomium pops up frequently when discussing the organization with its many devotees. Given the fealty and vitality of the BF/VF community, odds are that on March 10 the position of the planets will once again bode well for the future.

Julie Levinson is a professor of film at Babson College and an independent curator. She has been the curator/programmer for many organizations including the Boston Film/Video Foundation, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the New England Foundation for the Arts. Her writings focus on film and cultural history.