BUFF 2022 Highlights

BUFF 2022 WAS A SUCCESS THANKS TO VIEWERS LIKE YOU!

A double-dose of Gaspar Noé, Rwandan Afrofuturist sci-fi, Macedonian shapeshifting witches, and Nordic thrillers: BUFF’s 2nd 22nd anniversary was a wonderful, COVID-safe way to come back to life after a two year physical hiatus/virtual pivot to the genre festival Voltron that was NIGHTSTREAM (2020-2021).

Opening night film YOU ARE NOT ALONE kicked off a program full of introspection and examinations of the heady and horrific from all corners of the globe.

Between screening over 90 short films, music videos, and feature films, and five nights of cozy, COVID-friendly cavorting in outdoor terraces around Harvard Square, we were humbled by the return of many familiar faces.

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. The last two years have taken an incalculable toll on independent cinemas, arts organizations, and art spaces, not to mention the human loss. 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. We must rebuild.

Enormous thanks goes to our partners at the Brattle Theatre for hosting our annual audio-visual bacchanalia in the safest way possible and to those of you who bought tickets and badges and showed up for us and each other.

Infinite gratitude to our event hosts at: Whitneys, Alden & Harlow, Charlie’s Kitchen and Shay’s Pub & Wine Bar. Awe, love, and endless thanks to: this year’s presenting sponsor Final Draft, the invaluable work of BudgetDCP, the incomparably cool organizers of the Weird Local Film Festival, the saviors of cinema etiquette – Triple Yeah Productions, Brother Cleve, the artisans of Skinwalker Studios, our friends at—IFFBoston, the Goethe-Institut Boston, Women in Film and Video New England, Wicked Queer, Boston Sci-fi, IFC Midnight, Utopia Films, the American Genre Film Archive, Kino Lorber, Focus Features, XYZ, Yellow Veil Films—and BUFF’s incredible volunteer staff.

While BUFF 2022 is now behind us, we’re already excitedly at work on our 23rd edition. In the meantime, indulge in a little nostalgia for our 22nd edition via the links below. Viva la underground!

• Browse our 2022 films
• Check out this year’s Bacchus Award winners