BUFF Sponsors Herzog Screening @ MFA
4 February 2010
When: February 6, 2010 (7 p.m.)
Where: Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? (Werner Herzog, 2009, 91 min.)
"Five Stars! Mesmerizing ... A singular cinematic object" (Kevin Uhlich, Time Out New York). Based on a true story, police officer Hank is called to a bungalow in a respectable San Diego neighborhood where a man named Brad has barricaded himself in his house and taken two hostages. Across the street, Brad's mother lies dead, found sprawled in a pool of blood, the victim of a sword wound. The son is suspected of the murder. Slowly the bizarre pieces of the story are placed in front of Hank. The mood and tone Herzog imparts is an eerie blend of David Lynch, who executive produced the film, and his own singular style. (Description courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival.)
Members, seniors, and students $12; general admission $15
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BUFF presents Town Called Panic at the MFA
8 January 2010
When: January 16, 2010 (1:20 p.m.)
Where: Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
Cost: $10-15
Town Called Panic by Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar (2009, 75 min.). Based on the animated Belgian cult television series, A Town Called Panic follows Cowboy, Indian, and Horse through their zany adventures. After attempting to build a birthday barbeque for Horse, the three friends set out on a surreal escapade filled with underwater barracuda battles, and the occasional romantic tryst. The film's meticulous stop-motion animation and humor is reminiscent of Toy Story, but with the sensibility of South Park.
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BUFF sponsors New Japanese Cinema at the MFA
15 November 2009
When: Wed 11/18 - Sun 11/29 (8:00 p.m.)
Where: Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
Cost: $8-10
BIG MAN JAPAN by Hitoshi Matsumoto
Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 8 pm
Friday, November 20, 2009, 5:10 pm
Saturday, November 21, 2009, 12:30 pm
A "bizarre send-up of classic monster movies" (Sacha Howells, film.com), cameras follow Daisato, a hero who grows to the size of a skyscraper after he is blasted with volts of electricity. While his monster-fighting predecessors were seen as saviors, Daisato is thought of as a noisy nuisance who destroys buildings. A mockery of kaiju - Japanese "strange beast" movies - Big Man Japan (Dai-Nipponjin) uses juvenile humor to portray the sad existence of Daisato.
CRIME OR PUNISHMENT by Kera
Saturday, November 21, 2009, 3 pm
In this black comedy, an unsuccessful pin-up girl steals a magazine featuring her photo from a convenience store. After she's caught in the act, her penance requires her to act as police chief for a day. Naturally, that's the day a multitude of things go wrong: murder, robbery, and car accidents. "Almost too wacky for words ... this comedy ... tosses conventional morality into a blender and hits the 'high' button" (Mark Schilling, Japan Times).
CYBORG SHE by Jae-young Kwak
Friday, November 27, 2009, 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 29, 2009, 1:40 pm
A love story between a Terminator-type woman and her boyfriend-and creator. In the year 2070, Kitamura Jiro builds a cyborg to help take care of him, and sends her back to 2007 to save him from the accident that would cripple him for life. She and Kitamura start to build their relationship, but just when things are going well, a major earthquake strikes, damaging the Cyborg and leaving her wellbeing in Jiro's hands.
VACATION by Hajime Kadoi
Saturday, November 28, 2009, 1 pm
Prisoner #350 doesn't know it yet, but in two days he's going to die. Soft-spoken guard, Toru Hirai, is going to walk him through it. In return for accepting the responsibility of being the prisoner's "crutch"-restraining him while he makes his way to the gallows, and holding his legs during his final death spasms-Hirai receives an extra week's vacation so he can go on his honeymoon with a bride he barely knows.
THE MAGIC HOUR by Koki Mitani (2008, 136 min.).
Saturday, November 28, 2009, 3:20 pm
Teshio, a gang boss, discovers his ex-girlfriend, Mari, in the bedroom with her new lover, Bingo. Bingo saves himself by telling the boss he knows the whereabouts of legendary hit man, Della Togashi. Bingo comes up with a terrific plan-he talks Taiki Murata, a third-rate actor, into playing Della for his new movie. "The Magic Hour may refer to the brief window of time before sunset when filming conditions are best, but the film itself is also magic of the comic kind" (Mark Schilling, Japan Times).
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Yelp's Passport to Kendall Square!
7 October 2009
You know that square in Cambridge? The one with all of the technology and industrial space? Yep, that's Kendall Square, and it's home to delectable restaurants, booze-filled bars and fantastic retail spaces, too! To help you get to know them better, Yelp has created Passport to Kendall Square, a week of divine discounts from some of this hood's very best.
To kick it all off, we're holding a fun-filled and free launch party on October 14th from 8pm -10pm at the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center, a glorious three-floor space with expansive views of the Boston skyline.
BUFF will be presenting a sixty-minute loop of dark comedy shorts, including some unseen gems. For more information, check out Yelp and be sure to RSVP by Friday, October 9!
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J. Cannibal's Tapas of Terror at The Savant Project on September 1!
26 August 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 9-10:00 p.m.
The Savant Project
1625 Tremont Street (map)
One drink minimum
BUFF is pleased to have a guest curator for this special program of treats and terrors: J. Cannibal, producer and MC of the biannual "J. Cannibal's Feast of Flesh" zombie fest, brings you a program of horror shorts hand-picked from the BUFF meat locker. The real-life undertaker—crowned Boston's king of horror and oddities by local media—has put together an evening of cannibalistic cowboys, gun-totin' grannies, homicidal Christmas trees and nightmarish animations. With more than enough blood to wash it all down, there's something for every freak in attendance!
Of the selections, J. Cannibal writes: "There are films here that made me laugh and clap, and a few that genuinely creeped me out. When you cut people open for a living it takes a lot to scare you, or make you laugh. Some of these images have stayed with me for weeks; I think horror fans will be very pleased." As the local horror expert, I'm not sure you could find a better endorsement for the selection of films contained in this program.
As always we will have plenty of BUFF swag to raffle off including t-shirts, bags, sex toys from Good Vibrations. J. Cannibal will be there to host the evening in full costume!
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CineMental presents Outrage by Kirby Dick
12 August 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental presents: Outrage at the Brattle Theater
40 Brattle Street Harvard Sq. Cambridge
9:30pm $10
For advance tickets visit brattlefilm.org
More info available at Truth Serum
Outrage played in June and many people missed it. We're excited to give it another screening as part of CineMental. Please join us. Please spread the word!
Academy Award nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (This Film Is Not Yet Rated) delivers a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to. Outrage boldly reveals the hidden lives of some of our nations most powerful policymakers, details the harm they've inflicted on millions of Americans, and examines the media's complicity in keeping their secrets.
CineMental is a series that explores the fringes of queer film, video and groundbreaking performative work with a decidedly alternative perspective. CineMental showcases the best of independent queer media in a way never before seen in Boston. CineMental is the convergence of film, video, performance and music. It will change the way you think about what is queer, what is art and what is queer art! In a world where "The Gay" is becoming mainstream, we celebrate the radical. CineMental is every third Wednesday at the Brattle Theatre (though sometimes we move around.)
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Laughing Wild at The Savant Project on August 4!
3 August 2009
Tomorrow night at The Savant Project in Mission Hill, we are proud to present Laughing Wild: Selections from BUFF 2007, eleven hilarious (and frequently copyright-infringing) short films!
Featuring warped work by Damon Packard, Lyn Elliot, Adam Gooder, Alam Raja, Nick Childs, Pat Vamos, and more, this screening should be a real treat for aficionados of the strange!
This program includes the award-winning shorts Mola Ser Malo (Best Comedy, Rebel Planet Film Festival 2007), Trionyx: Soft-Shelled Turtle (Director's Choice Best Short, Boston Underground Film Festival 2007), and I'm Keith Hernandez (Best Short, Chicago Underground Film Festival 2007).
Remember: the first Tuesday of every month at The Savant Project we scren tripped-out shorts and raffle off some cool swag (DVDs, t-shirts, bags, etc.).
The Savant Project, 1625 Tremont Street, 9:00-10:30 p.m., FREE
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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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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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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 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.
