Branson International Film Festival: Three-day faith based event returning for sixth season

Community members and visitors alike are invited to enjoy three-days of creativity, faith and movies as Season Six of the Branson International Film Festival premieres at the start of next month.

From Friday, June 2 to Sunday, June 4, Jerry Presley’s God & Country Theaters, the Music City Centre and Branson Meadows Cinema 11 will all serve as hosts for the film festival. Over the course of the three day event, attendees will have the opportunity to preview a variety of films, as well as sit in on special presentations, hear keynote speakers, and visit with industry consultants. 

BransonIFF is a Christian, faith-based, family friendly festival. All films will be free of nudity, profanity and sexual content. From the heartland of the United States, BransonIFF is designed to educate, equip, and empower Christian filmmakers while uniting Christian entertainers to work together. BransonIFF began in 2018 when Festival Curator Deborah J. Watson had the vision to host an international Christian film festival in Branson. 

“There are beautiful, creative people around the world,” Watson said. “To create a platform in a city where God, faith, family, freedom is evident made sense to me.”

For the inaugural year of the festival, Watson received eight submissions through Filmfreeway and had 30 attendees at The Chateau on the Lake hosted event. Of the original guests there were five who were from Athens, Greece who have remained a vital part of the festival to this day. 

Fast forward to today and the festival is connected with people from 38 countries and 36 states. Additionally, the festival has built a virtual space within the Metaverse through RhinoXR Studios MegaVerus. Watson shared this space was made possible following an introduction from Brave Heart Workshops Founder Jill Reynolds. 

“I was a little apprehensive to the Metaverse space. Especially since my only exposure to it was ‘Second Life and ‘Sansar.’ When I expressed my concerns to the team at RhinoXR Studios, Donald LaPlume heard me and understood,” Watson said. “Together, we are building the FRINGE ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT where the AGAPE THEATER and The EAGLESNEST OFFICE Complex that will house some of their businesses is located.”

This year will be the final year the physical festival will be hosted for three days and at three venues, but 2023 will be the first year the festival has branched out into what is called A FRINGE Festival. 

Watson explained, while there are hundreds of festivals modeled after the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which was founded in the United Kingdom in the ‘40s, there hasn’t been one established with a Christian world point of view. In 2019, the Edinburgh festival spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 shows in 322 venues.

“Can you imagine something like that happening here? Yes. Yes, I can,” Watson said. “Especially since I understand that motion picture is not the absence of art, but the presence of all art in motion. Branson is already modeling much of what a Fringe festival is for nine months out of the year. Now’s the time to let it be known for developing Christian filmmakers. Especially since the Missouri House and Senate just signed the new tax incentive bill.”

Locals who would like to attend the marketplace, will receive free access at Music City Centre. Locals are asked to enter through the doors at Music City Coffee, on the side facing Famous Dave’s. The festival is offering a $10 two-day move pass, for those who purchase their pass in advance. There will only be 90 advance passes available and at the door those passes will cost $25. The two-day movie pass gives attendees access to screen movies on Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Branson Meadow Cinema 11 and in the afternoon/evening at Music City Centre and God & Country Theater. 

The movie line-up on June 2 at the Branson Meadows Cinema will be: “Night of Dreams,” “The Other Side,” “I Will Rise,” “Amelia’s Prayer,” and “Awaken.”

The movie line-up on June 2 at Music City Centre will be: “Tim Hawkins-Professional Moron,” “Bringing Back Christmas,” “Expunged,” “By Grace” and “Running The Bases.”

The movie line-up on June 3 at the Branson Meadows Cinema will be “Uncommon Negotiator,” “Place of Pouring Out,” “The White Candle” and “Shooting Star.” 

The movie line-up on June 3 at the God & Country Theatre will be: “Kraft-Minded,” “Breaking Strongholds,” “Even The Old Die Young,” “Undying Faith,” “Faith Springs,” “Hope’s Song” and “Baked by Grace.”

To see descriptions of all of the movies being shown during the film festival, visit bransonfilmfestival.com/showtimes-location. 

Those who purchase a $100 VIP All Access Pass, will be able to participate in everything for all three days of the festival including the awards ceremony on Sunday. With VIP All Access Pass, attendees can watch all the movies, be interviewed by Dr. Marla Woodmansee for her television show “All Things Possible” and attend a special presentation of “Faithful Women in Film” by Actress Michelle L. King from Indiana, or “Fearless Men of Faith” by Actor Lance Brown. 

Additionally VIP All Access Pass holders will have their chance to pitch a story to Author Gayla Prewitt and Script Doctor Dale Norman Green, meet Branson Cartoonist Anthony Hunter and attend Multicolor Coat Kids presented by Natasha Shantel from Atlanta, GA. Attendees with a VIP All Access Pass will also be able to participate in Dancefest with Tracy Galbierz of TLC Outreach from Lake of the Ozarks, or MusicFest with Jim Ellis; meet BookFest Keynote Speakers Gary Ivey from Hawaii and Amy McCorkle from Kentucky. 

Attendees will also learn how to create their own NFT Hero to be in Kingdom Warriors with Eric Skeldon, and be a part of Kathleen Forrest’s speaking engagement on Saturday called “Being a Leader in Your Life, Family and Community.” The complete schedule of events can be found at bransonfilmfestival.com/schedule.

The BransonIFF will come to a close at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 4, with the Awards Ceremony at the God & Country Theater. Awards will be presented at the ceremony for Best Full Feature, Best Actor/Actress-Full Feature, Best Supporting Actor/Actress-Full Feature, Best Full Feature-Cinematography and Best Music Score-Full Feature. 

There will also be awards presented to Best Short Film, Best Actor/Actress-Short Film, Best Supporting Actor/Actress-Short Film, Best Short Film-Cinematography and Best Short Film-Music Score. Additionally, awards will be presented to the winners of Best Proof of Concept, Best Animation, Best Documentary, Best Biblical, Best Student, Best Children, Best Youth, Best Television Series and Most Creative Christian Music Video. 

New to the event this year as well is FoodFest, which includes a number of area restaurants and eateries who have teamed up with the film festival. Participating FoodFest restaurants can be found at bransonfilmfestival.com/foodfest. Those who visit any of these locations to dine at will be able to complete a food critique survey and vote for their favorites. 

The live stage shows at Jerry Presley’s God & Country Theater have created a special event rate to anyone coming to see their productions who tells the box office they’re attending the film festival. 

The Branson Meadows Cinema 11 is located at 4740 Gretna Road in Branson, the Music City Centre is located at 1839 W. 76 Country Blvd. in Branson and Jerry Presley’s God & Country Theater is located at 1840 W. 76 Country Blvd. in Branson.

For additional information on the Branson International Film Festival or to purchase attendance passes visit bransonfilmfestival.com.