BROOKLYN FILM FESTIVAL Announces 20th Anniversary Edition Presented by Stella Artois

Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), the first international, competitive film festival in New York, has closed submissions for its milestone 20th anniversary edition. BFF received a total of 2,650 films from 120 countries and will select roughly 130 film premieres to be announced in May. The films are divided in six categories: Feature Narrative, Feature Doc, Short Narrative, Short Doc, Experimental and Animation.

BFF's selection criteria, a 20-year-old set of rules, constitutes the true festival's trademark. Participating films cannot be older than two years. Films are selected from the submissions only. All the selected films are shown twice. All the selected films participate in the competition. And the smallest film can win the top festival award: The Grand Chameleon.

The festival will run from June 2 through June 11 at our two main venues: Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg and Windmill Studios NYC in Greenpoint. Additional programming will be presented on June 5 and 6 at Syndicated in Bushwick and on June 9 at UnionDocs in Williamsburg. On June 3, BFF will present its 13th annual kidsfilmfest at Made in NY Media Center by IFP in Dumbo. And on June 10, the 6th annual Exchange program will be hosted by Kickstarter in Greenpoint.

BFF Executive Director Marco Ursino said of the 2017 edition, "BFF is 20 years old and it's a real celebration to share our own film experience with Brooklyn and the world! Since inception, BFF has reviewed more than 30,000 projects and showed in competition more than 2,000 films. We want to honor the indie filmmaker, creativity, resourcefulness and determination, and to celebrate our audience and Brooklyn's amazing popularity. The 20th BFF is going to be extroverted and fun. More screenings and venues than ever before and a few special events where the audience, the filmmakers, the industry and the media will be able to connect and share. This year's festival is without a doubt the most ambitious project to date and I can't think of a better partner than Stella Artois to create situations that are both fun and productive. Stella Artois has been supporting the indie film industry for a very long time and their experience is certainly going to enhance our networking efforts. We are particularly excited to share in part Stella's commitment to water.org and their charitable Clean Water campaign."

About Stella Artois
Stella Artois is part of a Belgian brewing tradition dating back to 1366. It is the No. 1 Belgian beer in the world and is present in over 95 countries. Stella Artois is a bottom filtered, blonde pilsner. It is thirst quenching with a malty middle and crisp finish delivering a full flavor and a hint of bitterness. Stella Artois is best enjoyed served between 3 and 5 degrees Celsius and should be served in the unique Stella Artois Chalice according to the 9-Step Pouring Ritual to guarantee a perfect experience of this gold standard lager. Visit www.stellaartois.com for more information.

BFF's list of sponsors for 2017 also includes WNET, Eurochannel, G-Star Raw, Panavision, AbelCine, and for the 6th year, the truly innovative TBWA/CHIAT/DAY that will create our promotional campaign. As a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, BFF is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

In each of the six film categories, BFF's judges will select Best Film, Spirit Award and Audience Award winners. From all the six categories combined, BFF will award one of each of the following: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Composer, Best Editor, Best Cinematographer, Best Screenplay Writer, Best Producer and Best New Director. Through the resources of our sponsors, BFF will assign to the winning filmmakers over $60,000 in prizes (products, services, and cash).

About the programmers
BFF's Feature Narrative programmer is Emilia Ferreira. She's been making films since the age of 14. After her Journalism and Mass Communications studies in Brazil and the US, she started her career as a photographer and art director. The Feature Documentary programmer is Julie Bridgham, an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She directed and produced "The Sari Soldiers," for which she received the Nestor Almendros Prize for courage and commitment in human rights filmmaking, and both a Sundance and IFP Documentary Fellowship. Natalie Gee, a multiple short film producer leads BFF's Short Narrative category. Brandon Harrison, a graduate of the UCLA School of Film and Television is the Short Documentary programmer. Melanie Abramov, a BFF Alumni and director from Brooklyn, is the Experimental category programmer. She received her BFA from Parsons School of Design and later founded her Production Company, Dame Productions, which lends a necessary and provocative voice to women in media. Julia Cowle, BFF's Animation programmer, is an independent filmmaker, illustrator, animator, and comedy writer.

About the Exchange
For the sixth consecutive year, on June 10 from 11am-5pm at Kickstarter in Greenpoint, the festival will continue its BFF Exchange, aimed ultimately at connecting filmmakers with film distributors. BFF Exchange will feature a pitch session, panels and a Happy Hour.

About KFF
On Saturday, June 3 from 1pm-3pm at Made in NY Media Center by IFP, BFF will present the 13th annual kidsfilmfest, which aims to discover, expose and promote the youngest generation of filmmakers. The film program is tailored for children of all ages (films are rated "G"), and consists of numerous animated shorts, documentaries and live-action films. A Q&A with the filmmakers and a filmmaker's workshop will follow the program.

About BFF
The organizers of the Brooklyn Film Festival 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 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

For more info about the festival please visit www.brooklynfilmfestival.org.
For more info about kidsfilmfest, visit www.kidsfilmfest.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.