With the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival behind us and the New York Asian Film Festival & Japan Cuts not happening until late June into July, something needs to happen this month so Flixist’s New York crew doesn’t get ansty. That’s why I’m looking forward to the Brooklyn Film Festival, which runs from May 31st to June 9th up in my old stomping grounds of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
More than 100 films from 24 countries will be screened at the festival, including 33 world premieres. The opening night film is HairBrained, starring Brendan Fraser and Parker Posey, and the closing night film is a gritty noir film called Cut to Black. On first glance, three documentaries have really caught my eye at the fest: Dragon Girls, Mr. Angel, and Furever.
After the cut is the official press release about the 2013 line-up. For more information about the Brooklyn Film Festival, visit brooklynfilmfestival.org.
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, May 7, 2013 – Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) is proud to announce the film line-up for its 2013 festival, themed MAGNETIC. The competitive event will run from May 31 through June 9 in Williamsburg at indieScreen (289 Kent Avenue) and for the first time at Windmill Studios NYC (287 Kent Avenue). The festival will present over 100 films from 24 different countries including 33 World Premieres, 26 USA Premieres, 20 East Coast Premieres and 22 New York Premieres. These films were selected from over 2,000 submissions coming from 111 countries. Tickets will be available soon for advanced purchase online, and the complete festival schedule will be posted soon as well. Check back at http://www.
BFF will operate one screening room at indieScreen and one at Windmill Studios NYC throughout the festival. On May 31, the Opening Night film and World Premiere of BFF alumnus Billy Kent’s HairBrained will be screened at indieScreen and Windmill Studios NYC simultaneously at 8 p.m. and the after-party will be celebrated at both indieScreen and Windmill Studios NYC starting from 10 p.m. And the Closing Night film will be BFF alumnus Dan Eberle’s World Premiere of Cut to Black on June 9 at 8 p.m., followed by the Awards Ceremony at 10 p.m.
BFF Executive Director Marco Ursino said of the 2013 edition, “Magnetic is our study on all those invisible forces that bring people together or push them apart. It is our invitation to analyze and scrutinize the elements that surround us and to read between the lines while questioning the motives behind them. With Magnetic, we intend to create a field where filmmakers from different parts of the world attract each other into collaborations and partnerships. Magnetic will be a multi-layered competition between the positive and the negative, where the real prize will be a Brooklyn breakthrough.”
BFF will award the winners with prizes totaling over $50,000 in film services and products. Prizes include a seven-day theatrical release at indieScreen for both Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature award winners.
BFF’s primary goal is to connect filmmakers to distribution companies and expose them to the media. Films that have premiered at BFF in past years went on to be released theatrically and in other ancillary markets such as home media, On Demand and web streaming. Prestigious recent alumni include Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky’s Battle for Brooklyn (shortlisted for a 2011 Academy Award nomination), Katie Dellamaggiore’s Brooklyn Castle (selected by P.O.V. for a nationwide PBS broadcast in 2013), Kelly Anderson’s My Brooklyn (one of the most successful DIY releases of 2013 so far), Lawrence Michael Levine’s Gabi On The Roof in July and Daryl Wein’s Breaking Upwards. Numerous films from the Brooklyn Film Festival have gone on to be nominated for and win awards by both the American and British Academy Awards.
Opening Night Film:
HairBrained (USA) Dir. Billy Kent – World Premiere
Brooklyn Film Festival alumnus Billy Kent (The Oh In Ohio – BFF 2006 Audience Award) returns with his latest feature film HairBrained, a madcap coming-of-age comedy filmed in New York and starring Brendan Fraser, Alex Wolff, Julia Garner and Parker Posey. When 14-year old genius/outcast Eli Pettifog (Wolff) is rejected from Harvard, he ends up at Ivy-League wannabe Whittman College. It’s hate at first sight. Eli’s 41-year-old dorm mate Leo (Fraser), a former gambler whose world has imploded, has dropped out of life to enroll in college. This odd duo become unlikely friends. http://www.
Closing Night Film:
Cut to Black (USA) Dir. Dan Eberle – World Premiere
BFF 2008 alumnus Dan Eberle (The Local) , writes, produces, directs and stars as a disgraced ex-cop hired by a wealthy former friend to rid his estranged daughter Jessica of a stalker. Shot in lavish black and white tones, Cut to Black is a gorgeous cinematic tribute to classic noir, set against stark, gritty urban modernity.
http://www.
Narrative Feature Highlights:
Detonator (USA) Dir. Damon Maulucci & Keir Politz – East Coast Premiere
Starring Lawrence Levine, Joe Swanberg, Sophia Takal, Ben Fine and Robert Longstreet
A story of revenge and deceit over the course of one long night in Philadelphia when Sully, the former frontman of a prominent Philly punk band, confronts his troubled past. With Brooklyn Film Fest alumns Lawrence Levine and Sophia Takal (2010 Best Feature – Gabi on the Roof in July).
http://www.
Somewhere Slow (USA) Dir. Jeremy O’Keefe – East Coast Premiere
Jessalyn Gilsig – from ‘Glee’ and ‘Vikings’ – gives a fearless performance as a woman on the edge in this intimate, raw and at times funny tale of two unlikely outlaws fleeing from life on a road trip through New England. http://www.
Flying Blind (UK) Dir. Katarzyna Klimkiewicz – New York Premiere
A passionate post 9/11 love story of an older woman with a younger Muslim man in a world where security is paramount and nothing is what it seems. A timely exploration that raises questions about the new reality of drone strikes and urban terror plots. http://www.
Sleeping with the Fishes (USA) Dir. Nicole Gomez Fisher – World Premiere
Brooklyn filmmaker Nicole Gomez Fisher tells the story of Alexis Fish (Gina Rodriguez), a woman whose life as she once knew it no longer exists. After the death of her cheating husband, Alexis returns home to pick up the pieces. http://www.
Narrative Feature Line-Up (In Alphabetical Order):
A Wife Alone (USA) Dir. Justin Reichman – World Premiere
Black Out (The Netherlands) Dir. Arne Toonen – East Coast Premiere
Cut to Black (USA) Dir. Dan Eberle – World Premiere
Detonator (USA) Dir. Damon Maulucci & Keir Politz – East Coast Premiere
Emmanuel and the Truth About Fishes (USA) Dir. Francesca Gregorini – East Coast Premiere
Flying Blind (UK) Dir. Katarzyna Klimkiewicz – New York Premiere
Giraffes (Jirafas) (Cuba) Dir. Enrique Álvarez – USA Premiere
HairBrained (USA) Dir. Billy Kent – World Premiere
Hank and Asha (USA) Dir. James E. Duff – East Coast Premiere
Sado Tempest (Japan) Dir. John Williams – East Coast Premiere
Sleeping with the Fishes (USA) Dir. Nicole Gomez Fisher – World Premiere
Soft in the Head (USA) Dir. Nathan Silver – New York Premiere
Somewhere Slow (USA) Dir. Jeremy O’Keefe – East Coast Premiere
Documentary Feature Highlights:
Dragon Girls (Germany) Dir. Inigo Westmeier – USA Premiere
Winner, 2013 Hot Docs Best International Feature
Dragon Girls tells the story of three Chinese girls training to become martial arts experts far away from their families and homes. Their intense daily regimen takes place at the Shaolin Kung Fu School, located right next to the Shaolin Monastery in central China, where Kung Fu originated.
http://www.
Mr. Angel (USA) Dir. Dan Hunt – New York Premiere
Buck Angel was born female yet knew he was male on the inside. This intimate documentary follows him for six years, tracing his aspirations to become a porn star. A moving story about universal lessons of acceptance, which also challenges our notions of gender and sexuality.
http://www.
Without Shepherds (Pakistan) Dir. Cary McClelland – New York Premiere
A rare and essential glimpse into the turbulent reality of Pakistan today, following six Pakistanis who are navigating different aspects of society, including Imran Khan – a former cricket star who is now competing in the first national election in ten years.
http://www.
Furever (USA) Dir. Amy Finkel – New York Premiere
Brooklyn filmmaker Amy Finkel explores the growing world of pet memorials, where grieving pet owners engage in taxidermy, cloning, mummification, freeze-drying, and many other methods to keep the memory of their pet alive. http://www.
Documentary Line-Up (In Alphabetical Order):
Ben: In the Mind’s Eye (USA) Dir. Iva Radivojevic – New York Premiere
Caffe Capri (USA) Dir. Casimir Nozkowski – World Premiere
Cavedigger (USA) Dir. Jeffrey Karoff – East Coast
Dragon Girls (Germany) Dir. Inigo Westmeier – USA Premiere
Exit Point (Poland) Dir. Jagoda Szelc – USA Premiere
Eternal Amazon (Brazil) Dir. Belisario Franca – USA Premiere
Forbidden Voices (Switzerland) Dir. Barbara Miller – New York Premiere
Furever (USA) Dir. Amy Finkel – New York Premiere
Glass Eyes of the Locust Bayou (Canada) Dir. Simon Mercer – USA Premiere
A Hole in the Sky (France) Dir. Antonio Tibaldi & Àlex Lora Cercós – USA Premiere
Miles & War (Germany/Switzerland) Dir. Anne Thoma – USA Premiere
Mr. Angel (USA) Dir. Dan Hunt – New York Premiere
Not For Sale (USA) Dir. Matthew C. Levy – New York Premiere
The Real Motel Life (USA) Dir. Winnie Cheung – World Premiere
The Rink (USA) Dir. Sarah Friedland – New York Premiere
Rogalik (Poland) Dir. Pawel Ziemilski – USA Premiere
Scattered (USA) Dir. Lindsay Lindenbaum – USA Premiere
Venom & Fire (USA) Dir. Brandon Faris – USA Premiere
Without Shepherds (Pakistan) Dir. Cary McClelland – New York Premiere
Short Films:
The 2013 Brooklyn Film Festival will present a selection of short films from some of the finest emerging talents in the world, with films coming from Australia, Denmark, Mexico, Honduras, Germany, France and New York City that explore topics ranging from the apocalypse and the dystopian future to amateur porn and ice skating cults. For the full line-up, visit: http://www.
Experimental Films:
The Experimental competition of the 2013 Brooklyn Film Festival presents a daring selection of films from the vanguard of cinema, with edgy new work made in Singapore, Turkey, Paraguay and Brazil screening alongside the World Premieres of several new works by Brooklyn artists. For the full line-up, visit: http://www.
Animation:
For the past two years, the Best Animation Award winner at the Brooklyn Film Festival has gone on to win at the British Academy Awards. This year’s selection of films includes a stellar lineup of wildly creative new work from some of the finest animators working today, including a World Premiere from the Rauch Brothers, two Brooklyn Film Festival alumni who work with StoryCorps, a Brooklyn-based group that has aired many films on P.O.V. For the full line-up, visit: http://www.
Special Events:
Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) is proud to announce two returning special events at the 2013 festival: BFF Exchange and the 9th annual kidsfilmfest, as well as one new special event, a partnership with Mecal, International Short Film and Animation Festival of Barcelona. With these events, BFF continues to expand its demographic outreach and further its commitment to bring to Brooklyn the best films the world has to offer.
The Festival will continue its BFF Exchange project, free and open to the public, aimed at giving filmmakers access to the wealth of industry expertise that the city offers. BFF Exchange will be staged at indieScreen on June 8, and will feature a pitch session for local documentary filmmakers, featuring Basil Tsiokos and Andrew Catauro of POV, among others, a BFF Alums distribution panel, a Short Film Distribution discussion led by Roberto Barrueco of Mecal, and a Microcinema in Brooklyn panel, all followed by a happy hour. For the BFF Exchange schedule, visit: http://www.
Also on June 8, as an immediate follow up to BFF Exchange, BFF is proud to partner with Mecal, International Short Film and Animation Festival of Barcelona, on two programs: a feature-length documentary and a collection of animated shorts. A party with a special guest DJ from Spain will follow. The screenings and the party are sponsored by the Consulate General of Spain. Film line-up to be announced soon. To learn more about Mecal, visit: http://mecalbcn.org/
On Saturday, June 1 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at indieScreen, BFF will present the 9th annual kidsfilmfest, which aims to discover, expose and promote children’s filmmakers while drawing worldwide attention to Brooklyn. The film program is tailored for children of all ages (films are rated “G”), and consists of numerous short animation, live-action and documentary films. A Q & A with the filmmakers and a filmmaker’s workshop usually follows each program. Line-up to be announced soon at http://www.kidsfilmfest.org/
BFF Screening Times:
Friday May 31 – Opening Night Film & Party
Windmill Studios NYC & indieScreen: 8pm – 1am
Saturday, June 1 & 8 and Sunday, June 2:
Windmill Studios NYC: 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 10:00 pm
indieScreen: 3:00, 5:30, 8:00, 10:30 pm
Monday, June 3 through Friday, June 7:
Windmill Studios NYC: 5:00, 7:00, 9:00 pm
indieScreen: 6:00, 8:00, 10:00 pm
Sunday, June 9:
Windmill Studios NYC: 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00
indieScreen: 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00
About Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF):
The organizers of the Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), have been staging international, competitive film events since 1998. BFF’s mission is to provide a public forum in Brooklyn in order to advance public interest in films and the independent production of films, to draw worldwide attention to Brooklyn as a center for cinema, to encourage the rights of all Brooklyn residents to access and experience the power of independent filmmaking, and to promote artistic excellence and the creative freedom of artists without censure. BFF, inc. is a not-for-profit organization.
