BIFF Shorts: Experimental (Program X)

Cinematic poetry in pixels and on celluloid; and works that experiment with the form, function and structure of film and media ecosystems. 72 minutes.

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“Body-oddy-oddy-oddy: Destabilizing the Surveilling of Queer Bodies”

Benjamin Rosenthal + Eric Souther (Dir), 10 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Eric Souther in attendance.

"Body-oddy-oddy-oddy..." explores the nature of how we understand our bodies, the ways in which we “queer” the body, and performative nature of how we explore our identities in mediated space. The work challenges the supremacy of normative human body-to-body contact, by exploring the role that a hybrid human-object-virtual encounter might pose for alternative forms of intimacy and exchange. The use of self-surveillance as a strategy of making and being is critical to our understanding of contemporary bodily experiences in the piece. The lens, the camera, video as both electronic mirror and surveyor, the scanner, generative A.I., and motion capture technology construct the performance of identity—who we are as hybrids and how we exploit our self-awareness and positions.

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"Are We Human, or Are We Machine?"

Jamie Hager (Dir), 9 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Jamie Hager in attendance.

A documentarian who is out of touch when it comes to modern technology, conducts interviews with a professor who researches posthumanism, two artists who utilize Artificial Intelligence in their art practice, and a traditional illustrator, to learn more about how this technology is affecting the way artists produce and share their work, as well as society at large.

Through a comedic and satirical lens, this shirt investigates the harsh realities of AI, including how it can be used to conduct art theft, create autonomous war machines, compromise job security, and more. The filmmaker uses AI technology to combat hate speech perpetuated by a conservative political commentator, as well as to have a difficult conversation with themselves regarding how to use this technology ethically, but they soon learn that the answer is not so simple.

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"Poem with Human Intelligence"

Pamela Falkenberg + Jack Cochran (Dir), 4 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Directors Pamela Falkenberg and Jack Cochran in attendance.

Based on J. Estanislao Lopez' "Poem With Human Intelligence," is a meditation on the difference between human intelligence and artificial intelligence, and what that might mean as we all confront the dangers of global warming, geopoltical unrest, ... and possible AI disruption of the global (human) job market

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"Some Thoughts on the Common Toad"

G. Anthony Svatek (Dir), 11 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Diretor G. Anthony Svatek in attendance.

A collaged found-footage manifesto against political cynicism and environmental alienation. Based on George Orwell's 1946 essay and read by Tilda Swinton.

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"After We're Gone"

Saige Kanik (Dir), 6 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Diretor Saige Kanik in attendance.

There is comfort in the collective.

Animating physical miniature rooms with interviews, "After We’re Gone" explores our relationship with death and mourning through a conversation. Each story is completely different, yet how each relates shows how connected the mourning process can be. In the end, there is comfort in the collective experience of mortality.

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“Ancient Lore”

Patrick Müller (Dir), 6 minutes, Germany, Western New York Premiere

Troubled waters and accursed thaumaturges: H.P. Lovecraft's haunting vision of the sea and the unfathomable mysteries that lie within its depths, but also the ancient lore hidden beneath the waters.

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"29° S, 71°W"

Sandy Williams IV (Dir), 10 minutes, USA/Chile, Western New York Premiere

In Spanish and English w/ English subtitles.

A travelogue from 2018 in Totoralillo Norte, Chile. A solar eclipse disrupts the tranquility of a small coastal town, now the site of pilgrimage for thousands of tourists from all over the world.

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"This Night"

Roshni Jayakrishnan Nair (Dir), 9 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

A religious old woman has a vision confirming her next step in life.

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"Memories of an Empty House"

Bruno Carnide (Dir), 11 minutes, Portugal, US Premiere

In Portuguese w/ English subtitles.

An evocative video journal chronicling the warm embrace of a first love and memories and emotions we leave behind.

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