The Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), prior to 2011 called the Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF) is an

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

festival held every June in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Started by Marco Ursino, Susan Mackell, Abe Schrager, and Mario Pegoraro in 1998, its mission is to “discover, expose, and promote independent filmmakers while drawing worldwide attention to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

as a center for cinema." Its base is South 4th Street, Williamsburg. The festival is organized by the Brooklyn Film Society, a

501 (c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

tax-exempt Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. BFF also oversees the annual KidsFilmFest, a program that reaches out to children and families. The

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sc ...

in Manhattan has incorporated our kids programs in their First Saturdays for Families.

Venue

In 2009, the festival took place at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema on Henry Street in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...

where two

screening Screening may refer to: * Screening cultures, a type a medical test that is done to find an infection * Screening (economics), a strategy of combating adverse selection (includes sorting resumes to select employees) * Screening (environmental), a ...

rooms operated side-by-side featuring 81 two-hour film programs. Nightly networking after-parties took place at various locations in

DUMBO, Brooklyn Dumbo (or DUMBO, short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The area known as Dumbo used to be known as Gairville. It encompasses two sections: one located between the Manhatta ...

. Previously, the festival has been held at Brooklyn Lyceum,

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

(BAM),

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

Steiner Studios Steiner Studios is a film studio at Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York City. It is the largest film and television production studio complex in the United States outside Hollywood. Steiner Studios, spread across , contains 30 soundstages a ...

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...

, and the

Brooklyn Historical Society The Center for Brooklyn History (CBH, formerly known as the Brooklyn Historical Society) is a museum, library, and educational center founded in 1863 that preserves and encourages the study of Brooklyn's 400-year history. The center's Romanesque R ...

Entries

Roughly half of films submitted and shown are by

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

filmmakers, while approximately 20% are

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

. The remaining 30% come from other parts of the globe. In 2009, the festival received 2,780 films for consideration from 110 countries. BFF awards filmmakers over $80,000 in prizes in the form of cash, film services, and products. It accepts around 25 feature narratives, 30 documentaries, 45 short subjects films, 20

experimental films Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

, and 30 animated works. Over 30 screeners help BFF to review the entries, and there are 25 judges (or, five per category). The fee for submitting films before November 30 is $30, after which fee rises to $50. Alumni filmmakers are exempt from paying this fees. The fee is also waived in several other cases. Accommodation for participating filmmakers is provided by a festival sponsor, Hotel Chandler, Manhattan.

Past winners

The most prestigious award given out at BFF is the Grand Chameleon for the best film.

2018

*Main Competition **Grand Chameleon Award: **Best Narrative Feature: **Best Documentary: **Best Narrative Short: **Best Animation: **Best Experimental: **Best New Director: *Spirit Awards **Feature Narrative: **Documentary: **Short Narrative: **Experimental: **Animation: *Audience Awards **Feature Narrative: **Documentary: **Short Narrative: **Experimental: **Animation: ''

Hi-Five the Cactus Hi-Five is an American R&B quintet from Waco, Texas. Hi-Five had a No. 1 hit on ''Billboards Hot 100 in 1991 with "I Like the Way (The Kissing Game)". The band was formed in 1989 and consisted of founding and original members: Tony Thomps ...

'' (Christopher Thomas) *Certificates of Outstanding Achievement **Screenplay: **Producer: **Cinematography: **Editing: **Original Score: **Actor Female: **Actor Male:

2011

*Main Competition **Grand Chameleon Award: ''Battle for Brooklyn'' (Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky) **Best Narrative Feature: ''W. Zappatore'' (Massimiliano Verdesca) **Best Documentary: ''Battle for Brooklyn'' (Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky) **Best Narrative Short: ''Rita'' (Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia) **Best Animation: ''A Morning Stroll'' (Grant Orchard) **Best Experimental: ''Dame Factory'' (Melanie Abramov) **Best New Director: ''Siberia Monamour'' (Slava Ross) *Spirit Awards **Feature Narrative: ''

Amy George Amy George is a 2011 Canadian microbudget film written, produced and directed by Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas. The film tells the story of the 13-year-old Jesse who wants to be an artist, but believes that his mundane middle class life has left h ...

'' (

Yonah Lewis Yonah Lewis (born March 2, 1986) is a Canadians, Canadian film director and screenwriter, who collaborates on most of his work with Calvin Thomas (director), Calvin Thomas.James Adams"Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas: filmmakers" ''The Globe and Mai ...

and Calvin Thomas) **Documentary: ''Scrapper'' (Stephan Wassmann) **Short Narrative: ''Gowanus 83'' (Michael Wood) **Experimental: ''To Be In Me'' (Marina Mello) **Animation: ''Amar'' (Isabel Herguera) *Audience Awards **Feature Narrative: ''David'' (Joel Fendelman) **Documentary: ''Bed Stuy Do or Die'' (Daniel Bishop) **Short Narrative: ''Teardrop'' (Damian John Harper) **Experimental: ''Pose'' (Ivaylo Getov) **Animation: ''Falling Up'' (Djuna Wahlrab) *Certificates of Outstanding Achievement **Screenplay: Anna Kerrigan (''

Five Days Gone 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awar ...

'') **Producer: S. Schaefer, D. Crespo, C. Silber (''

My Last Day Without You ''My Last Day Without You'' is an independent feature film starring Nicole Beharie and Ken Duken, and directed by Stefan Schaefer. It was written by Schaefer and Christoph Silber, and produced by Diane Crespo, Silber and Schaefer and their compan ...

'') **Cinematography: Magela Crosignani (''Mary Marie'') **Editing: Takashi Doscher (''

Snow on tha Bluff ''Snow on tha Bluff'' is a 2012 American found footage-style drama film directed by Damon Russell. It stars Curtis Snow, a real-life Atlanta "robbery boy" and drug dealer, playing a fictionalized version of himself, as he gets into various dan ...

'') **Original Score: ''Fall On Your Sword'' (''Aardvark'') **Actor Female: Marielena Logsdon (''Babyland'') and Sandra Milo (''W. Zappatore'') **Actor Male: Rasselas Lakew ('' The Athlete'')

2010

*Main Competition **Grand Chameleon Award: ''The Minutemen Movie'' (Corey Wascinski) **Best Narrative Feature: ''Gabi on the Roof in July'' (Lawrence Michael Levinea) **Best Documentary: ''The Minutemen Movie'' (Corey Wascinski) **Best Narrative Short: ''Naissances'' (Anne Émond) **Best Animation: ''Sputnik 5'' (Susanna Nicchiarelli) **Best Experimental: ''Necessary Games'' (Sophie Hyde) **Best New Director: ''Bad Day to Go Fishing'' (Alvaro Brechner) *Spirit Awards **Feature Narrative: ''Bummer Summer'' (Zach Weintraub) **Documentary: ''Survival Song'' (Yu Guangyi) **Short Narrative: ''Autopilot'' (J.B. Herndon) **Experimental: ''Lucky Girl'' (Alexandra Grimanis) **Animation: ''Miramare'' (Michaela Muller) *Audience Awards **Feature Narrative: ''Colin Hearts Kay'' (Sebastian Conley) **Documentary: ''Being in the World'' (

Tao Ruspoli Tao Ruspoli (; born 7 November 1975) is an Italian-American filmmaker, photographer, musician, and co-founder of The Bombay Beach Biennale. Early life Ruspoli was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and raised in Rome, Italy and Los Angeles, California ...

) **Short Narrative: ''Mosquito'' (Jeremy Engle) **Experimental: ''Noise'' (Esther Löwe) **Animation: ''The Bellies'' (Philippe Grammaticopoulos) *Certificates of Outstanding Achievement **Screenplay: Alli Haapasalo (''On Thin Ice'') **Producer: Feliks Pastusiak (''The Dark House'') **Cinematography: Zoran Popovic (''Redland'') **Editing: Sabastian Conley (''Colin Hearts Kay'') **Original Score: Brandon Seabrook (''A Different Bunny'') **Actor Female: Sophia Takal (''Gabi on the Roof in July'') **Actor Male: Oscar van Rompay (''Win/Win'')

2009

*Main Competition **Grand Chameleon Award: ''Breaking Upwards'' (Daryl Wein) **Best Narrative Feature: ''Breaking Upwards'' (Daryl Wein) **Best Documentary: ''The Hillside Crowd'' (

Berni Goldblat Berni Goldblat is a Swiss-Zimbabwean filmmaker and critic. He has been a juror at the Africa Movie Academy Awards since 2007. Career Born in 1970 in Stockholm, Sweden, Goldblat has been doing video productions centered around West Africa sinc ...

) **Best Short: ''The Chambermaid'' (Ann Holmgren) **Best Animation: ''Passages'' ( Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre) **Best Experimental: ''Soaring Roaring Diving'' (Miriam Harris and Juliet Palmer) **Best New Director: ''Knife Point'' (Carlo Mirabella-Davis) *Spirit Awards **Feature Narrative: ' (Tom Schreiber) **Documentary: ''Sari Soldiers'' (Julie Bridgham) **Short Narrative: ''The Dinner'' (J.B. Herndon) **Experimental: ''Naiade'' (Nadia Micault and Lorenzo Nanni) **Animation: ''Trickster'' (Alexander Pohl) *Audience Awards **Feature Narrative: ''Sea Legs'' (Craig Butta) **Documentary: '' Between the Folds'' (Vanessa Gould) **Short Narrative: ''Pinchas'' (Pini Tavger) **Experimental: ''Flying Lotus'' (Daniel Garcia) **Animation: ''Skhizein'' (Jeremy Clapin) *Certificates of Outstanding Achievement **Screenplay: Vinko Moderndorfer (''Landscape No. 2'') **Producer: Jim Jermanok and

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, ''Spy Game'', ''Phone Booth'', ...

(''Em'') **Cinematography: Steve Asselin (''Borderline'') **Editing: John Weiner and Danny Kuchuck (''Cryptic'') **Original Score:

Ben Lovett Ben Lovett (born May 3, 1978) is an American singer, film composer, songwriter and producer. Lovett is the founder of record label, Lovers Label. His non-film compositions are released under the names Lovett and Lovers & Friends. Previous wor ...

(''

The Last Lullaby ''The Last Lullaby'' is 2008 drama/noir film starring Tom Sizemore, and Sasha Alexander. Filming took place in Shreveport, Louisiana. The film won the Best Actress (Sasha Alexander) and Audience Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2008. Pl ...

'') **Actor Female: Kate Lyn Sheil (''Knife Point'') **Actor Male: Joshua Peace (''

You Might as Well Live ''You Might As Well Live'' is a 2009 Canadian comedy film directed by Simon Ennis. The film stars Joshua Peace as Robert Mutt, an unsuccessful slacker who has just been released from the hospital following a suicide attempt and is on a quest to tr ...

'')

2008

*Main Competition **Grand Chameleon Award: ''Fix'' (

) **Best Narrative Feature: ''Fix'' (Tao Ruspoli) **Best Documentary (Diane Seligman Award): ''Carny'' (

Alison Murray Alison Murray may refer to: * Alison Murray (director), Canadian director of films, documentaries and music videos * Alison Murray (author), Scottish children's author and illustrator * Alison Murray (scientist), American microbial ecologist and Ant ...

) **Best Short: ''On the Line'' (Reto Caffi) **Best Animation: ''24 Frames'' (Brad Pattullo) **Best Experimental: ''Flying Lesson'' (R. Chamecki, P. Harder, A. Lerner) **Best New Director: ''The Unidentified'' (Kevan Tucker) *Spirit Awards **Feature Narrative: ''Apollo 54'' (Giordano Giulivi) **Documentary: ''ABC Columbia'' (Enrica Colusso) **Short Narrative: ''The Line'' (Kent Basset) **Experimental: ''Nightwalking'' (Ellen Blom) **Animation: ''Hezurbeltzak, A Common Grave'' (Izibene Onederra) *Audience Awards **Feature Narrative: ''The Collective'' (

Judson Pearce Morgan Judson Pearce Morgan is an American actor, entrepreneur,film producer and Film director, director. Career His film ''The Collective (2008 film), The Collective'', written and directed with his wife Kelly Overton, has received awards and recognit ...

and

Kelly Overton Kelly Overton is an American actress. She is known for portraying Vanessa Van Helsing in the 2016 Syfy fantasy drama series ''Van Helsing''. Early life Overton grew up in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and studied at the American Academy of Drama ...

) **Documentary: ''Crawford'' (David Modigliani) **Short Narrative: ''Crosse'' (Liova Jedlicki) **Experimental: ''Machine with Wishbone'' (Randall Okita) **Animation: ''The Long Journey Home'' (Billie Mintz and Jeffrey Stewart Timmins) *Certificates of Outstanding Achievement **Screenplay:

Ilmar Raag Ilmar Raag (born 21 May 1968 in Kuressaare) is an Estonian media executive, actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for his socio-critical film '' The Class''. He has served as CEO of Estonian Television from 2002 to 2005. He is a we ...

( ''The Class'') **Producer: P. Krik, K. Lang, A. Krepostman (''Able Danger'') **Cinematography: Filip Zumbrunn (''Out of Bounds'') **Editing: Giordano Giulivi (''Apollo 54'') **Original Score: Bart Westerlaken ( ''Panman, Rhythm of the Palms'') **Actor Female: Marie-Luise Schramm (''Nothing Else Matters'') **Actor Male:

Shawn Andrews Shawn Cornelius Andrews (born December 25, 1982) is a former American football offensive lineman who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of ...

(''Fix'')

2006

*Best Short: ''Neutral Corner'' (Emily Greenwood) - a young boxer arriving in a desolate town where he meets a dog, a stranger and a mysterious waitress. Every year, BFF creates a "Best of Fest" package to take to different venues as a festival showcase. In the past, these films have been shown in other parts of Brooklyn, in Manhattan, as well as at the

Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiva ...

and the Museo Arte Contemporanea in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Festival team

Executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

Marco Ursino has been immersed in the entertainment industry in both the US and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

for the past 33 years. Beginning in

in 1976, he has appeared as an actor in various video projects for Italian TV. He has written several screenplays, worked in

production design In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wor ...

, and produced independent documentaries and

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, including his own, ''Clouds of Magellan,'' which he wrote and directed. He is a member of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

. Director of programming Mario Pegoraro won Best Short film at the 1993

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. He also produced the international "City of Water Project" in collaboration with architects from around the globe. He joined BFF following a successful career in

film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

and

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

development in 1998. Director of development Susan Mackell has 19 years of

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

experience working on the PR program for the American College for the Applied Arts in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. She has also produced several film projects.

References

{{reflist

External links

Brooklyn Film Festival official website
Film festivals in New York City Film festivals established in 1998 1998 establishments in New York City