RON AND REBECCA TUCKER
Southern Charm and International Acclaim
story by KATE HAMILTON-PARDEE photos by SUSAN DELOACH
The Town of Beaufort in South Carolina can be expressed in two words: breathtakingly beautiful. Its natural allure and southern charm have inspired filmmakers to use it as a location for the motion pictures The Big Chill, Forrest Gump, and many others. Now it has become both the home of and synonymous with the acclaimed Beaufort International Film Festival (BIFF). The brainchild of Ron and Rebecca Tucker, this highly respected Festival, known for its diverse film line-up and commitment to honoring filmmakers, will be welcomed back to Beaufort this month with open arms.
The excitement surrounding the Festival is just part of what Ron and Rebecca bring to the area with the establishment of the nonprofit Beaufort Film Society (BFS) that oversees the Festival. In addition, the couple is committed to educational and year-round programs for the community. They promote BFS and BIFF programs year-round through social media, civic group speaking engagements, and presentations to other nonprofits and special interest groups. They raise awareness with organizations, like the Beaufort County Library, Beaufort Museum, Senior Leadership Beaufort, and outreach programs, like Shorts at High Noon at the Technical College of the Lowcountry and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at USCB. With their help, they are able to enlighten, enrich, and entertain a growing audience.
What started as a local film festival, has now opened the doors of our Spanish moss-covered streets for the world to come, see, and experience. The Tuckers love the crowd and talented filmmakers that the Festival draws each year and have no intent to alter their mission and values to make it bigger every year. The growth of the film festival in just 14 years has been phenomenal. Back in 2007, there was an estimated attendance of around 500 people. In 2019, they set a new record with approximately 16,000 people, enjoying some part of the six days of film-related events. BIFF has earned the distinction of being named one of Top 100 Best Reviewed Film Festivals in the World by the film festival marketing service FilmFreeway.
Beaufort comes alive with the heightened pulse of the Festival as downtown fills with industry professionals and locals alike. Guests of the Festival experience a full six days of programming, including opening ceremony, film screenings, events, workshops, and a signature champagne reception and red-carpet awards ceremony. Many strolling on their way to watch films at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, Center for the Arts will pass the sweeping, sunlit water views and pinch themselves to make sure they are not dreaming. This notable Festival and Beaufort will leave a lasting impression.
BIFF kicks off with the Filmmaker’s Opening Night Reception on Tuesday evening, February 18, 6 pm, at Tabby Place in downtown Beaufort. The reception is the time to meet the talented filmmakers and mingle with the guests, and to experience what Ron and Rebecca call, “the WOW Moment.” “We never reveal what that special moment is until the night of the Opening,” stated Rebecca.
Screenings begin at 9 am on Wednesday, February 19, at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, Center for the Arts, and continue through Saturday evening. BIFF 2020 will also see the return of the Digital & Media Symposium, a collaboration between USCB and the Beaufort Film Society. The always popular Screenwriters’ Reception and Workshop begin at 6 pm on Thursday, February 20. BIFF 2020 concludes on Sunday evening, February 23, starting with a Champagne Reception at 6 pm, with the Awards Ceremony to follow at 7 pm.
Awards will be presented in the categories of Feature Film, Documentaries, Short Films, Student Films, Animation and Screenplays. Also, individual recognition will be presented for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress. The audience will get to vote for Best Comedy and Audience Choice Award.
The prestigious Pat Conroy Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Oscar and Emmy Award-winning sound designer Eugene Gearty, who notably has worked with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, and the Cohen Brothers. The Behind the Scenes Award, recognizing South Carolina based cinematographer John David Reynolds for such projects as The Patriot and The Notebook, will also be presented. The Santini Patriot Spirit Award will go to Marine combat veteran and filmmaker Joshua DeFour for his short film, The11th Order. The Susan A.K. Shaffer Humanitarian Award will be presented to the filmmaker whose film best exemplifies the need for positive, cultural, or environmental change in our time.
Asking why the Beaufort International Film Festival is special to them, Ron replied, “Rebecca and I founded the Beaufort Film Society and the Beaufort International Film Festival. We’ve nurtured BFS and BIFF from infancy, experiencing and overcoming all of the growing pains associated with healthy development. Rebecca and I devote most of our time and resources to ensuring continued growth and success to the BFS and BIFF. We also know it takes a village of other like-minded, devoted, and passionate people with caring hearts and attitudes to achieve total success. We never forget how we got here.”
Part of the integrity of the Festival includes the personal attention and respect Ron and Rebecca give to the filmmakers and screenwriters. They are the first to watch the over 300 films submitted, narrowing them down before sending them on to the next tier of jurors. From the second tier, Finalists are selected. After Ron calls most of those chosen as Finalists, the films are sent to a third-tier that will ultimately decide the winners. They are not revealed until awards night. “Our jurors are film professionals with varied backgrounds and expertise. They hail from London to Honolulu, from Charleston to Hilton Head Island, we are extremely proud to have them on board with us,” Ron recently stated.
When I asked Ron and Rebecca about the primary reason for starting the film festival back in 2007, they indicated that it was mostly to recapture the glory days of when films were made in Beaufort. “We hoped to attract the next generation of a filmmaker who would come to the Festival, fall in love with Beaufort, then want to make a movie here,” stated Ron. From 1977 through 1999, Beaufort had earned the title of “Film Capital of the South.” Besides the films already mentioned, more than 20 other major motion pictures were shot in the Lowcountry region, with the most recent being Rules of Engagement in 1999. Finally, in 2019, after an almost 20-year drought, three-time BIFF award winner (Best Short, Best Screenplay, and Audience Choice) V.W. Scheich, along with his wife and producing partner Uyen Le, would be influential in convincing film investors to bring their project Stars Fell on Alabama to Beaufort. As an added bonus, the Beaufort Film Society was named a producing partner, and Ron and Rebecca served as co-producers on the film that is scheduled to be released later this year.
There is no doubt that the Beaufort International Film Festival plays an integral part in introducing new people to Beaufort, which was evidenced by a study sanctioned by the Beaufort/Port Royal CVB in 2019. Among the findings in that study, 80.2% revealed that their primary reason for visiting Beaufort in February was to attend BIFF. So what makes BIFF so unique? How is it different from other film festivals? Ron replied, “As each new year starts, the month of January is filled with ‘movie buzz’ from Hollywood. The annual awards, like the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, SAG Awards, and of course, The Oscars, generate interest in the art of filmmaking and all of its glorious parts. The hoopla only enriches the ‘BIFF BUZZ’ as the city becomes electric with anticipation. January is our warm-up month. Area residents begin to embrace the idea that Beaufort hosts a major international cultural event and brings thousands of visitors to our small community. They will play a big part in welcoming an eclectic bevy of talent to the friendliest small town in America. Filmmakers and film lovers attend this Festival with expectations based on lots of ‘word-of -mouth’ promotion, and we try hard not to disappoint.”
When asked for the most meaningful reason for the Festival and why it shouldn’t be missed, Ron states, “we like to think that within our selection of films and screenplays there will be at least one film, one person, or one subject that will inspire you, engage you, stir you to action, or move you to make positive changes in your life or the lives of others.”
