Welcome to Bicknell. Home of the Bicknell International Film Festival – Better Living Through Bad Cinema

By Bennett Owen

Credit: My-West.com ©

WHAM! BAM! POW! BIFF! Yes, BIFF as in Bicknell International Film Festival, a southern Utah tradition since 1995.

Credit: BIFF

This weekend, Bicknell is in a B-Hive state of mind, embracing bad movies with a capital B. Each year the committee selects three films that best reflect the worst of a genre.  Past themes include:

• UFOria (1996)
• Beach Blanket Bicknell (2002)
• Big Top Bicknell (2006)

And the 10^th anniversary edition, ‘The B-er, the Better.’

This year, the festival jury has chosen superheroes…and the merriment gets underway Friday evening with the 1966 Batman movie, starring Adam West … a movie so camp you could park an RV in it. (My mom ruined the TV series for me by pointing out that he had bony knees!) 

Credit: BIFF

On Saturday, festival-goers will get a matinee look at Captain America! No, not the big budget blockbuster making its nationwide bow this weekend … rather the 1990 version, described as a “ridiculous adaptation.” This screening also features ‘audience participation’…

Credit: BIFF

And Saturday evening the festival comes to a close with a gala performance of Flash Gordon, one of the cheesiest movies ever made, complete with soundtrack by Queen.  (Flash saves the world on a treadmill!)

Credit: Sci-fimovieposters.co

But BIFF is more than just movies. Friday afternoon features the world’s fastest parade, clocking in at 55 miles per hour –

Credit: BIFF

Credit: BIFF

There’s also a Saturday Swap Meet, where people get together to … swap stuff -

And after grand finale, the BIFF “It’s a Wrap Party,” featuring music this year by the Main Street Revelators. 

Credit: BIFF

The festival venue is the 64 year-old Wayne theater, recently restored to its original … hmmm, splendor doesn’t quite seem to fit here. 

The theater holds 306 people. The population of Bicknell is 325. Its owner, Terry Davis, is in charge of BIFF. “Everyone has a superhero in them one way or another,” he observes, and he’s right of course, especially after a trip to your local Italian Deli.

Credit: BIFF

Bicknell, by the way is also the gateway to the fabulous Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks, along with some of the best hiking and biking country in the west. But the film festival is something you have to see to B-lieve.

Bicknell Film Festival, July 22-23 – For more information:  www.thebiff.org

Credit: BIFF