Buffalo Niagara Film Festival
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The last weekend
If you haven’t yet been out to see any films in the Second Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, don’t fret—it peaks this weekend, so there’s plenty left to see. (And if you’re reading this on Thursday, you still have time to get out to the Riviera Theater in North Tonawanda for the special science fiction/fantasy/horror day, capped with an appearance by Herschell Gordon Lewis, creator of the gore film, who will be showing his 1964 classic 2000 Maniacs, and a midnight showing of the 1980s cult hit Slime City.)
Friday, March 28:
THE WRECKING CREW—If you like pop music of the 1960s, you’ll definitely want to see this documentary about the studio band that played on hundreds of sessions in the 1960s with Phil Spector, the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Rivers, Sonny and Cher, the Fifth Dimension, the Byrds, Sam Cooke and many others. (The full list is amazing.) The band included Glen Campbell, the powerhouse drummer Hal Blaine, and guitarist Tommy Tedesco from Niagara Falls, whose son Donny produced this film. 4:30pm, Market Arcade
LA TERRA PROMESSA—A documentary about the history of Italian immigrants in Western New York, featuring contributions from hundreds of area residents who provided old family films and photos to filmmakers Joe Giambra and Marc Odien. 5pm, Market Arcade
THE SWEET LADY WITH THE NASTY VOICE—Documentary about the classic rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson, who toured with (and held her own against) the likes of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins. The film will be followed by a live performance from Jackson. 6pm, Adam’s Mark
Saturday, March 29:
RELEASE THE FUNNY—Local filmmakers Beth and Jerry MacKay set out to produce a short film or two for submission to film festivals, and ended up with a enough of them to comprise this anthology feature. It’s not as raunchy as The Groove Tube or Kentucky Fried Movie, but it made me laugh a lot, and I haven’t even watched all of it yet. It’s worth getting out of bed early for. Noon, Market Arcade
NOT BROKEN— Tonawanda native Todd Schmidt, who has lived in New Orleans since the early 1990s, produced this mesmerizing documentary about hurricane Katrina. Its inside perspective focuses on people who (like Schmidt) remained in their houses during the storm that wreaked such devastation that the images are still hard to believe. It will be screened with Rebirth on the Waterfront, a documentary by local broadcast journalists about the history and potential future of Buffalo’s waterfront region. 4pm, Market Arcade
There’s lots more happening, including more feature and short films, panel discussions and parties. For more info www.BuffaloNiagaraFilmFestival.com. Advance tickets are available at the Riviera and Market Arcade box offices, and at TicketLeap.com.
—m. faust
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