Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival is an international film festival in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. Founded by Chris Scioli and

Gregory Lamberson Gregory Lamberson (born April 19, 1964) is an American filmmaker and author. He is known for writing novels such as ''Johnny Gruesome'' and the series ''The Jake Helman Files'', and for directing the 1988 film ''Slime City''. He is also one of th ...

, the festival runs for 10 days which and shows films from around the world. The festival is described as seeking "bold, original and edgy films that are well made" and to help film makers from

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

screen their work. The festival is also known for its shorts blocks.

Notable guests

The festival often partners with

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz (producer), Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director ...

and

Troma Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pla ...

to show early screenings of

Troma films Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...

. Screenwriter and film producer

Roy Frumkes Roy Frumkes is an American independent filmmaker. Frumkes directed the 1985 documentary '' Document of the Dead'', a film detailing the production of '' Dawn of the Dead''. Biography The cooperation of George A. Romero allowed Frumkes extensive a ...

judged the unproduced original screenplay competition for the 2016 season.

Awards

The festival awards include special Dreamer Awards, Filmmaker of the Year Awards, Living Legend Awards, and the

Lois Weber Florence Lois Weber (June 13, 1879 – November 13, 1939) was an American silent film actress, screenwriter, producer and director. She is identified in some historical references as among "the most important and prolific film directors in the e ...

Award, for contemporary female filmmakers. The 2017 special award winners were Adrian Esposito (Filmmaker of the Year), Devi Snively (Lois Weber Award),

Fred Olen Ray Fred Olen Ray (born September 10, 1954) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter of more than 200 low-to-medium-budget feature films in many genres, including Horror film, horror, science fiction, action film, action/adventure f ...

(Living Legend Award), Jon Keeyes (Dedication to Excellence in Filmmaking), and Christopher Olen Ray (Indie Genre Spirit Award). The 2018 special award winners were Brett Kelly (Filmmaker of the Year),

Sophia Cacciola Sophia Cacciola is a Los-Angeles-based, American filmmaker, artist, and musician. Career overview Film Cacciola is known for her sociopolitical genre feature films that showcase women: '' TEN'', Magnetic, Blood of the Tribades, Clickbait, a ...

(Lois Weber Award),

Michael J. Epstein Michael J. Epstein (born 1976), is an American filmmaker, musician, writer, and auditory scientist. Epstein has also spoken and written about the impact of local media on the arts, music service gatekeeping, effective social networking, and crowd ...

(Dedication to Excellence in Independent Filmmaking), and Sam Qualiana (Indie Genre Spirit Award).

Notable films featured

The Incident (2015) *

Blood of the Tribades ''Blood of the Tribades'' is a 2016 horror film directed by Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein. The script, style, and look are heavily influenced by 1970s Euro lesbian vampire films. The film is distributed in North America on VOD and DVD/Blu ...

(2016) * Let Her Out (2016) * Night of the Virgin (2016) * Tonight She Comes (2016) * Post Apocalyptic Commando Shark (2018) * I Dare You to Open Your Eyes (2018) * Johnny Gruesome (2018) *

Clickbait Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misl ...

(2018) * Derelicts (2018) * Tommy Battles the Silver Sea Dragon (2018) * LUZ: The Flower of Evil (2020)

References

External links

Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival
website Film festivals in New York (state) Underground film festivals Experimental film festivals Film festivals established in 2013 2013 establishments in New York (state) {{US-film-festival-stub