2010 call for entries!
21 May 2009
The Boston Underground Film Festival announces its twelfth annual competition celebrating the bizarre and insane in the world of film and video. The festival is held the last weekend of March 2010 and features the best in provocative and experimental features, shorts, animations, music videos, and documentaries.
The festival seeks the alternative, the confrontational, the political and the controversial. BUFF seeks films that celebrate alternative visions and sounds, offering a platform that encourages new ideas and work and pushes the envelope in style and content.
EARLY DEADLINE: 10 July 2009
REGULAR DEADLINE: 25 September 2009
LATE DEADLINE: 27 November 2009
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John Tyson's Luziden at Space 242
23 April 2009
BUFF is proud to present LUZIDEN: In dem Träumenden Gehirn at Space 242 on April 24, 2009 (tomorrow night!).
Luziden is an interactive video triptych by media artist John Tyson that plunges the viewer into the surreal world of lucid dreams. Created using concepts and material from actual dreams gathered by the artist, Luziden allows the viewer to produce a unique visual and aural Freudian dream-state through interaction with a MIDI keyboard. The images are composited in real-time and displayed using two LCDs and a projector in 720p HD video. It is the artist's attempt to negotiate the psyche of the individual as it meshes with the Jungian "collective unconscious."
RSVP is required for attendance.
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Bacchus Award winners announced!
24 March 2009
The Boston Underground Film Festival wrapped up our opening weekend on Sunday evening, handing out the Bacchus Awards at our closing night ceremony at Tommy Doyle's. This year, our jury handed out four awards (and four honorable mentions) in the categories of Best of Fest (Feature), Best of Fest (Short), Most Effectively Offensive, and a Special Jury Prize. The festival programming staff handed out three additional awards in the categories of Best Feature, Best Short, and Most Promising New England Filmmaker.
Special congratulations go out to Zach Clark's Modern Love is Automatic and Chusy Haney-Jardine's Anywhere, USA, winners of the Best of Fest (Feature) award and director's choice Best Feature respectively. The Best of Fest (Short) and director's choice Best Short awards went to Jason Eisener's hilarious Treevenge and William Hoffman's thumbnail. The full list of award winners appears below. Congratulations to everyone and thank you to all the filmmakers who submitted and screened with us!
Jury Awards
Best of Fest (Feature)
Modern Love is Automatic (Zach Clark)
Honorable Mention: Morris County (Matthew Garrett)
Best of Fest (Short)
Treevenge (Jason Eisener)
Honorable Mention: The Scavengers (Corey Bowles)
Most Effectively Offensive
Mavela (My Love Lives in the Sewers) (Manuel Arija de la Cuerda)
Honorable Mention: The Gingerbread House (Claudio Centimeri)
Special Jury Prize
Excision (Richard Bates, Jr.)
Honorable Mention: Far Out (Phil Mucci)
Director's Choice Awards
Best Feature
Anywhere, USA (Chusy Haney-Jardine)
Honorable Mention: The Rock-afire Explosion (Brett Whitcomb)
Best Short
thumbnail. (William Hoffman)
Honorable Mention: Electric Fence (Matt O'Mahoney)
Most Promising New England Filmmaker
O Scorpio (Noah Blumenson Cook)
Thanks again to everyone that came out to support the festival, and thanks to Scion and the Weekly Dig and the rest of our sponsors, without whom the festival could not ever happen. You can still catch some of these films (and others) during the repeat screenings running through Thursday, March 26. Check the schedule for full details.
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Win free tickets!
19 March 2009
Throughout the festival, we'll be giving away a pair of comp tickets each day to a random subscriber on our mailing list. The winner each day can pick up two tickets at the hospitality table at the Kendall and the pair can be used towards any screening(s).
If you aren't already subscribed to our mailing list, sign up for a chance to win!
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Festival passes available online
8 March 2009
If you can't wait for the box office to open, you can purchase festival passes through our secure online checkout and pick them up in person at the festival. Festival passes are $75 and include admission to all screenings and parties, with free food, free booze, and access to all the filmmakers and stars present. We also have a budget pass for $25 that gets you admission to all screenings March 23-26.
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Complete BUFF schedule available!
3 March 2009
We've been burning the midnight oil here at BUFF HQ but we've got a lot to show for it. We've finally put the finishing touches on our 2009 festival schedule, now available through B-Side. You can browse descriptions of the films, create your own personalized schedule, share events with your friends, and rate films after you've seen them!
We're very proud of the program we've put together and very excited to share it with you. We'll have full ticketing info available soon so you can purchase your passes and start planning what screenings you just can't miss!
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BUFF pre-party events
3 March 2009
BUFF has pre-party events all throughout March leading up to the schedule. You can get a quick overview on the sidebar, but here are the full event details for those interested in attending. Spread the word (and bring friends!). We'd love to see you at one (or two, or three!) of these events!
March 8: Sex and Drugs Trivia Night @ the Savant Project
Sunday, March 8
8-10:00pm
The Savant Project
1625 Tremont Street
Boston, MACome join the Savant Project and registered sex therapist Oh Megan to learn more about everyone's favorite subject!
Prizes for trivia experts include passes to Centerfolds and tickets to the Boston Underground Film Festival!
Enter for a chance to win in the monthly prize. The winner is the contestant with the most trivia points by the end of the month. The prize is an instructional class led by Oh Megan herself.
We'll be screening sex and drugs related selections from BUFF 2009 during the evening!
March 12: BUFF Pre-party @ Space 242
Thursday, March 12
6-8:00pm
242 East Berkley Street
Boston, MAWe'll be screening selected trailers and shorts from the 2009 festival. There will be plenty of swag and assorted giveaways throughout the evening. Be sure to RSVP at info@bostonunderground.org.
March 14: BUFF Pre-party @ Good Vibrations
Saturday, March 14
6-8:00pm
308-A Harvard Street (enter from rear parking lot)
Brookline, MAKick off another fabulous year in the BUFF at Good Vibrations! See a sexy sneak peak of Bad Biology, the festival's opening night film, as well as 9to5 - Days in Porn. Enter to win BUFF t-shirts and tickets for opening night. Good Vibrations is offering 15% off DVDs all evening to put you in the movie-watching mood!
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New York Spawned a Monster: The Animation of Ben Levin and Patrick Smith
23 February 2009
Join us on Friday, February 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Space 242!
Patrick Smith's animated oddities parallel our lives in innovative ways. Watch a destructive sock puppet take over its creator in "Puppet." In "Handshake," an innocent greeting between two people transforms into a struggle. See a boy imbibe a potion that allows him to explore the universe within himself in "Drink" and much more.
Ben Levin's hilarious animations address topics such as modern love, movies, role playing games and Republicans run amok. We're featuring titles such as the "GOP PSA" series, the "Ronin Dojo Community College DX: The Digital Pirates of Dark Water Saga," "H.P. Papercraft," "She She She She's A Bombshell," and more.
The animators will be in attendance. They will also be participating in a Q&A the next day, Saturday, 2/28 at noon (same location). Don't miss this!
RSVP is required for attendance.
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BUFF announces first confirmed selections
9 February 2009
The 11th Annual Boston Underground Film Festival will kick off March 19 with Frank Henenlotter's Bad Biology at the Kendall Square Cinema. Bad Biology is Henenlotter's first film in sixteen years since making his name with the cult classics Brain Damage, Frankenhooker, and the Basket Case trilogy. Henenlotter will be in attendance along with producer/co-writer and underground hip-hop star R.A. the Rugged Man.
The festival will close with Chusy Haney-Jardine's twisted Americana comedy Anywhere U.S.A., winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Anywhere U.S.A. is a wildly original tale of loss, penance, and ignorance told in three parts. The director will be in attendance.
Other confirmed selections include Sean Donnelly's I Think We're Alone Now, Zach Clark's Modern Love is Automatic (official selection at SXSW; Clark and star Melodie Sisk will attend), Steve Balderson's latest, Watch Out (with Balderson in attendance), and a special screening of Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1977 bizarro-cult favorite Hausu.
Other New England premieres include Tromadance selection Plague Town, with Emerson College alums David Gregory (director) and Daryl Tucker (producer) in attendance, Gadi Harel and Marcel Sarmiento's intense Deadgirl, avant-garde pioneer Craig Baldwin's Mock Up on Mu, Matthew Garrett's Morris County, and Jens Hoffman's titillating doc 9to5: Days in Porn.
In addition, we'll also have a shorts program assembled by guest curator/undertaker Janaka Stucky (better known to Boston folks as J. Cannibal, purveyor of the semi-annual "Feast of Flesh" at the Coolidge Corner Theatre) titled "J. Cannibal's Tapas of Terror," featuring Heart of Karl, Rodrigo Gudiño's stunning The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow, Jason Eisener's hilarious Treevenge, and Dead Bones. You can also expect to see several other blocks of the sort of bizarre and insane short films that have become a hallmark of BUFF over the years.
There will be more info coming soon as additional films and guests are confirmed. Be sure to sign up for our mailing list to get all the details as screenings, parties, and special events are announced.
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BUFF wants you!
5 February 2009
We need your help with this year's festival! There's a lot that needs doing and we can't possibly do it all ourselves. This is where we turn to you, our loyal BUFF army (and newcomers too!).
Volunteering with BUFF is an awesome experience, and we reward our volunteers with free movie tickets, food, drink, and all sorts of neat swag. You'll get to meet filmmakers, performers, and other totally cool folks.
If you want to get involved, fill out our contact form and our volunteer coordinator Amy Roeder will get in touch with you.
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The Films of Carey Burtt at Space 242
25 JANUARY 2009
Join us on Friday, January 30 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Space 242!
Carey Burtt's darkly comedic films deal take on serial killers, cults, mind control, and more. With titles like "Mind Control Made Easy" and "The Psychotic Odyssey of Richard Chase," you know you're in for a delightfully disturbing night. The New York-based director will be in attendance. Not to be missed!
RSVP is required for attendance.
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BUFF 2009 dates announced!
25 NOVEMBER 2008
Next year's BUFF is going to be the biggest and baddest yet. We're now running eight (8!) days from March 19-26, and we're expanding our operations to include two screens at the Kendall Square Cinema in addition to our usual outpost at the Brattle Theatre.
