BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Film Festival (BFF), which premieres its third season on Oct. 31, recently received a grant from the Stowe-based John M. Bissell Foundation and named a new fundraising chair in order to expand its mission and support outreach to new and underserved audiences.
The grant will help BFF pursue its mission of bringing films that inform, challenge, entertain, and inspire to more diverse audiences by underwriting free tickets to high school students and by providing American Sign Language interpretation for the deaf for select films.
“We are grateful to the Bissell Foundation for helping BFF expand access to people who otherwise may not be able to see these great films,” said Merry Elder, BFF president, in a press statement.
“We are especially excited for help underwriting this year's commitment to provide free tickets to high school students as part of our youth outreach efforts,” she added.
BFF also announced that Prudence Baird, a BFF advisor who oversaw the festival's successful Green Carpet Gala last fall, is appointed to the post of fundraising chair. Baird will spearhead new efforts to expand the organization's mission while enhancing the positive economic and cultural benefits that BFF brings to Brattleboro. She has worked with a number of film commissions from around the country and has an extensive background in marketing,
The third annual Brattleboro Film Festival, which runs Oct. 31 to Nov. 9 at the Latchis Theatre, curates a sampling of today's best cinema from around the world along with events and workshops for the community. The roster of films will be released at the beginning of October on the BFF website, where past film selections and trailers can be viewed.