The Vermont International Film Festival is very pleased to announce the first VTIFF Community Champion Award. The first recipient of the award is Mariah Riggs, Director of Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington. The Award ceremony will take place at a private reception in the home of VTIFF Board member Kevin Meehan in South Burlington. As part of VTIFF’s mission to enrich the community and bring the world to Vermont through film, we wish to salute and thank those who help and support the organization to fulfill its cultural mission. We consider film to be a most important artistic and communication medium and do our best to bring to Vermont films that would not be shown here otherwise.
Mariah Riggs, Director of Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, is a true cinephile and has been a long-time and staunch supporter of VTIFF. Mariah graduated from Emerson College with a double major in Film and Audio Production. She interned at Avid Technologies working on the development of the Avid Symphony software for Mac users. Mariah worked at the Harvard Film Archive as a Special Events Coordinator running the Film Series with the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA. After moving to Austin, TX with her new husband, she worked as an Assistant Producer for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Since moving back to Vermont, as part of her work at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, she launched Movies at Main Street Landing, a weekly movie series that brings cinema classics for free to Burlington.
Her recent involvement with VTIFF began as one of the first members of the Burlington Film Society, providing the Film House for free once a month for the BFS screenings. She also sponsors one day out the ten days of the Vermont International Film Festival. Over the years Mariah has promoted our screenings at other film events at the Film House and, most importantly, has always been there to give advice and moral support for VTIFF’s new program ideas. She has set an example to others for cultural partnerships, understanding that we are all working towards shared goals.
Mariah is a true VTIFF champion and we are honored that she is the first recipient of the VTIFF Community Champion Award.