Guys, cancel all your commitments, change the location of your dates, tell your mom you can’t see her next weekend (sorry!) because this coming week (October 2-5) officially belongs to Bushwick Film Festival (BFF)! Huge celebration of domestic as well as international indie cinema is happening in your neighborhood, and you as a proper Bushbaby should not miss this!
Kweighbaye Kotee is a relentless Bushwick-based filmmaker who has been organizing and constantly improving BFF since 2007 to its current beautifully polished, well-represented and community focused reincarnation. This year’s BFF is sprawling across several venues, and it brings you not only a selection of independent feature and short films but also several industry mixers, workshops, talks and parties! Here is our guide to all the madness including our pick’s location and price of a ticket. If you are an industry professional, you might want to get a badge. Apply here! For a full festival program, refer to BFF website (constantly).
DAY 1 (Thursday): Dress to impress for the Red Carpet Opening Night
See: Photography exhibit: “Right Place. Right Time” by Timur York @ Lightspace Studios (6.30-7.30PM; $free)
The ongoing photographic essay “Right Place. Right Time,” of Timur York celebrates daily spontaneity of the Human experience in the genre of street photography. Check it out at Lightspace Studios before the movie.
Watch: B.F.E @ Lightspace Studios (doors 6:3oPM, films 7:30PM, tickets: $12 afterparty at Lot 45 included with an RSVP)
The festival kicks off with B.F.E., a film about boredom and bad decisions, which are a part of life in far-off places like BFE.
Experience: Opening Night Party @ Lot 45 (10PM-2AM)
Party like a movie star at Bushwick’s premier fancy-pancy bar and lounge, Lot 45 with cocktails and French DJ Choko who spins Nudisco and House.
DAY 2 (Friday): Party with industry professionals
Meet: Tribeca Film Institute @ Lightspace Studios (6.30-9.30PM, tickets: $10)
Find out more about how you can use TFI’s programs and funding opportunities to share your stories with wider audiences. Representatives from TFI Interactive, Scripted, and Documentary Programming will give an overview of the programs that they offer.
Watch: LOS ÁNGELES @ Lightspace Studios (doors 8:30pm, film 9pm, tickets: $10)
Mateo, 17, and his family prepare for him to leave their small Mexican village for Los Ángeles, like so many before him. In addition to the family savings, he needs the local gang‘s support to ensure a safe passage and‚ help on the other side.
DAY 3 (Saturday): BFF is on FIRE!
Discuss: NYU Polytechnic School Of Engineering presents: New Media Interactive DAY @ Lightspace Studios (11AM-4PM, tickets: $15)
Begin your day with talks and Q&A on topics ranging from Film Bot to Visual Meditations. Followed by screenings of web series for all ya web-junkies with short attention span (guilty as charged). The program will end by screening of documentary film, WEB.
Learn: Crowdfunding to Build Independence: Seed&Spark and Tugg (doors: 12:30PM, workshop: 1PM; tickets: $15)
Seed&Spark and Tugg are combining forces to invest in the future of independent film by offering a comprehensive Crowdfunding to Build Independence seminar. This class for film-related projects will provide the crowdfunding action plan most likely to create a lasting, flourishing, direct relationship with your audience.
Learn: Hand Painted Filmmaking presented by Millennium Film Workshop @ Lightspace Studios (doors 3:30pm, workshop: 4pm; tickets: $12)
Hand painting and other hand manipulation of film material dates back to the origins of cinema. The advent of high quality digital production in the 21st century has ironically brought renewed interest in the simple, but aesthetically sophisticated, pleasures of “hand crafted” cinema. Participants in this hands-on workshop, led by hand paint filmmaker Jordan Stone, will explore all of them. Necessary materials and tools are included.
Watch: Samuel’s Game @ Radio Bushwick (9PM; tickets: $10)
This movie is about a young artist moves into an old apartment building in Brooklyn only to realize his bedroom is haunted by a woman murdered there in the 1940′s. Yep, this could happen to both you and I…
https://vimeo.com/105221819
Drink: Happy Hour after the horror movie @ Radio Bushwick (11PM-2AM; $free with RSVP)
Yes, after Samuel’s Game we all will need a drink. Conveniently, Radio Bushwick has plenty!
DAY 4 (Sunday): This just got real…AWARDS NIGHT!
Discuss: Women in Film and TV Panel & Reception @ Lightspace Studio (doors: 11:30PM, panel 12PM; tickets: $10)
The Bushwick Film Festival was founded by a group of female entrepreneurs that were excited about the film and entertainment industry. Each year this panel allows people to hear from women in a position to offer their insight and advice.
Watch: Short Documentary Program @ Radio Bushwick (doors:1.30PM, films: 2-4PM; tickets:$10)
International as well as domestic documentaries with running time varying from 4 to 21 minutes will be on your schedule on Sunday afternoon.
Talk: Cinema Talks @ Radio Bushwick (4:30-6:30PM; tickets: $8)
This TED-talk like series gives audiences a chance to gain more insight on interesting topics such as art cinema, film noir and sound. Each presentation will be 30 minutes and a 15 minute Q&A will follow.
Fancy: Bushwick Film Festival 2014 Awards Night @ Lightspace Studios (9PM; $free with RSVP)
The grand jury of Bushwick Film Festival will award the best films in categories Feature Narrative, Best Documentary Narrative, Best Short Narrative, Best Short Documentary & Best Webseries Awards.
PS: Win tickets & badges to the festival here: