Today! Free Screening!
7:15 PM – NORTH PARK THEATRE
Erica Tremblay (Dir), 91 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Decolonial Spotlight
Since her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of losing custody to Jax’s grandfather, Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother in time for the powwow. What begins as a search gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world and at the mercy of a failed justice system.
Festivals: Sundance
*In celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Seneca/Haudenosaunee lands, this is a free screening. RSVP is encouraged and donations welcome.
TODAY @ HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER CINEMA
4:30 PM – HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER CINEMA
Giorgio Cugno (Dir), 108 minutes, Italy, North American Premiere
Director Giorgio Cugno and Producer Giulia Mercandino in attendance.
In Italian w/ English subtitles.
Who are we when nobody is watching? What are our fantasies and phobias if we don’t share them? After many years in a protected psychiatric community, Alberto comes to stay with Vicky’s family. As a vulnerable adult, Alberto divides his time between his old therapeutic community, his work, and adapting to the rhythms and boundaries of his new ‘home’. A touching, unexpected friendship anchors this stark, first-person window into psychosis.
Festivals: Rotterdam
Read an interview w/ Director Giorgio Cugno + Producer Giulia Mercandino here.
12:30 PM – HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER CINEMA
Timothy Harris (Dir), 94 minutes, USA WNY Premiere
This inspiring love story Executive Produced by Al Roker (NBC’s TODAY) follows a self-described “poor, gay, Black man from North Philly” on his historic run for the United States Senate.
But this race is about more than taking on the political competition. It’s about taking on an entire system
2:30 PM – HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER CINEMA
Otilia Babara (Dir), 73 minutes, Belgium/Moldova/Netherlands/France, WNY Premiere
In Romanian w/ English subtitles.
During a mass exodus in the early 1990s, women left Moldova to provide for their families from afar amid the economic hardship wrought by the breakup of the Soviet Union. From the West, they would mail gifts like blue jeans, treats, toys, and oranges. Their children reciprocate by sending videotapes from home. Using personal video archives, Love Is Not an Orange paints an intimate portrait of familial exchange and love from afar, as a nation of children become motherless in the wake of capitalism. A Taskovski Films release.
Festivals: MoMA Doc Fortnight
6:30 PM – HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER CINEMA
Tracy Droz Tragos (Dir), 99 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere
A secret grassroots organization persistently fights to expand access to abortion pills across the USA, keeping hope alive during a global pandemic and the fall of Roe v. Wade.
8:45 PM – HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER CINEMA
David Redmon + Ashley Sabin (Dirs), 88 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere
In English, Italian, Korean w/ English subtitles.
For two decades, New York City cinephiles had access to a treasure trove of rare and esoteric films through Kim’s Video. Originally run by the enigmatic Yongman Kim out of his dry-cleaning business, his franchise eventually amassed 55,000 rental titles. In 2008, facing a changing industry, Mr. Kim offered to give away his collection provided that it stay intact and be available to Kim’s Video members.
In a bid to revitalize tourism, the small Italian village of Salemi, Sicily became home to the archive. But after the initial publicity faded, so too did any sign of the collection. Enter filmmaker David Redmon, who credits Kim’s Video for his film education. With the ghosts of cinema past leading his way, Redmon embarks on a seemingly quixotic quest to track down what happened to the legendary collection and to free it from purgatory.
12:00 PM – NORTH PARK THEATRE
Brian Beckman + Miriam McSpadden (Dir), 111 minutes, USA, Wetern New York Premiere
Go On, Be Brave is the story of one woman’s race against time – a diagnosis of ALS and an attempt at the impossible – to be the first person with ALS to complete a marathon in all 50 states. Follow Andrea’s journey as she inspires others to go on, be brave.
2:45 PM – NORTH PARK THEATRE
ᎤᎶᎩᎳ/Schon Duncan & Michael McDermit (Dirs), 94 minutes, USA, New York State Premiere
Director of Photography & Editor Jacob Koestler in attendance.
The Cherokee language is deeply tied to Cherokee identity; yet generations of assimilation efforts by the U.S. government and anti-Indigenous stigmas have forced the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes to declare a State of Emergency for the language in 2019. While there are 430,000 Cherokee citizens in the three federally recognized tribes, fewer than an estimated 2,000 fluent speakers remain — the majority of whom are elderly. The covid pandemic has unfortunately hastened the course.
Language activists, artists, and the youth must now lead the charge of urgent radical revitalization efforts to help save the language from the brink of extinction.
This feature-length documentary was shot on-location in Oklahoma and North Carolina from 2019-2022; through intimate interviews, vérité footage of community gatherings, and extensive archival materials, the film explores the nuanced ways the Cherokee language is vital to maintaining a unique cultural identity and relationship with the world. The collaborative project is also meant to act as an empowering agent of hope for Indigenous voices despite enduring inequity and oppression.
5:00 PM – NORTH PARK THEATRE
Stephen R. Powell (Dir), 59 minutes, USA, World Premiere
Director Stephen R. Powell and Star Zamir Gotta in attendance.
Feeling lost and abandoned Zamir Gotta, a longtime friend of Anthony Bourdain goes in search of the America Tony knew. Bourdain knew America as a complex place. He knew there was no single statement that can tell us who we are. Instead, Bourdain preferred to show us tiny parts of this country.
In 2009, Tony brought his long time traveling companion Zamir Gotta to America so Zamir could see for himself how “f-ed up” this place was… the result? Zamir instantly fell in love.
The film, 98 Degrees West Zamir Discovers Bourdain’s America represents the approximate geographic center of the United States. This point represents the reciprocal of 98 Degrees East, the center of Russia.
BIFF’s Annual Awards Ceremony for Official Selections in Competition.
BIFF’s Juried Award Categories Include:
Experimental Competition (Features + Shorts)
Animation Competition (Features + Shorts)
Narrative Feature Competition – Global
Narrative Feature Competition – Domestic
Documentary Feature Competition – Global
Documentary Feature Competition – Domestic
WNY Feature Competition (Narratives + Documentaries)
WNY Short Competition (Narratives + Documentaries)
Documentary Short – Global
Documentary Short – Domestic
Narrative Short – Global
Narrative Short – Domestic
WNY Student Film Competition
Additional Awards Include:
BIFF Audience Award – A balloted award voted on by BIFF audiences! Feature films only. (announced after the festival has concluded)
BIFF Boundary Breaker Award – Issued by the BIFF staff and awarded to a groundbreaking work.
The Tilke Hill W.i.P. Award – A grant supported by the WNY community and its larger public. A panel of film professionals and community members review applications and make selections.
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