BUFF 2019 Highlights

BUFF 2019 WAS A SUCCESS THANKS TO OUR KICKSTARTER BACKERS & VIEWERS LIKE YOU!

Robots and Satan and Wax Trax: Oh my! BUFF’s 21st anniversary proved to be one of our best years yet, with our sold-out opening night screening of Penny Lane’s critically-acclaimed documentary, HAIL SATAN!, leading into a brass band procession across Harvard Square to the opening night soiree, setting the tone for a celebration of diverse and provocative films and independent voices from around the world.

Between screening over 90 short films, music videos, and feature films, and five nights of jubilant, thematically relevant festivities, we’re proud of another successful year of pushing Boston forward as a cultural center for film and keeping things a little weird in a city desperately in need of weirdness.

A film festival is more than just an opportunity to see new films or commune with fellow cinephiles; it’s a community, a sanctuary, an inimitable experiential monument to the myriad powers of visual storytelling enjoyed in a communal setting. Film is meant to be enjoyed on a massive screen with an audience and passionately discussed afterwards. As independent cinemas and spaces have vanished over the last decade in favor of the conveniences and comforts of home entertainment (and instant gratification), it’s important now, more than ever, to show up and support our institutions of art and culture, our rising generation of filmmakers, and our local communities.

Enormous thanks goes to our partners at the Brattle Theatre and Harvard Film Archive for hosting our annual audio-visual bacchanalia and to our 130 Kickstarter backers who stepped up and bought passes & tickets and fully funded us before a single title was announced. Infinite gratitude to our event hosts at: Pink Noise Studios, The Lilypad, Tasty Burger, Alden & Harlow, Brass Union, and Shay’s Pub & Wine Bar. Awe, love, and endless thanks to: Brother Cleve, Pentagram Home Video, Argo Arkestra, the Weatherman at WEATHER IS HAPPENING, The Satanic Temple, the amazing team at Boston Sci-Fi Fest, the incomparably cool organizers of the Weird Local Film Festival, the saviors of cinema etiquette – Triple Yeah Productions, our friends at IFFBoston, the artisans of Skinwalker Studios, the invaluable work of BudgetDCP, the photographic wizardry of Andrea Wolanin and BUFF’s incredible team of volunteers.

While BUFF 2019 is now behind us, we’re already excitedly at work on our 22nd edition (and perhaps a few surprises in the interim). In the meantime, indulge in a little nostalgia for our 21st edition via the links below. Viva la underground!

• Browse our 2019 films
• Check out this year’s Bacchus Award winners
• Additional photos from this year’s festival