BIFF Shorts: WNY Stories

Stories from around the region, and around the block. 87 minutes.

Special introduction by Buffalo Niagara Film Commissioner Tim Clark!

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"Lured"

John Hurley (Dir), 6 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director John Hurley, ad Stars Rick Lattimer, Sue McCormack, Afrim Gjonbalaj, Sean McCormack, Jessica Stone in attendance.

In 1881 the United States sent Adolphus Greeley in command of a group of cavalry soldiers 1100 miles above the arctic circle to study the weather. When the ship never returned to get them the 24 soldiers retreated south. Seven were eventually rescued. Their data is the foundation of Arctic climate science. Filmed on the shores of Lake Erie outside of Buffalo, NY, and featuring an all-Buffalonian team.

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"To the Moon & Back"

Amanda Besl (Dir), 5 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Amanda Besl in attendance.

A film about the gravitational orbit within an unhealthy relationship. Leaving might feel as impossible as traveling to outer space or could space be closer than we imagine?

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"Mi vida en 2 maletas/ My Life in 2 Luggages"

Gabriel Ponte-Fleary (Dir), 12 minutes, USA, Buffalo Premiere

Director Gabriel Ponte-Fleary in attendance.

"Mi vida en 2 maletas" focuses on the stories and everyday life of an immigrant Venezuelan family. They will be sharing their struggles and ultimate triumphs, and the unbreakable bonds of families despite their separations.

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"Bill Buys A Car"

Nate Chateaux (Dir), 6 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Nate Chateaux in attendance.

Bill doesn't think he needs a car, but when Melanie, the waitress at his favorite diner, brings up the idea of getting in a car just "getting the heck out of here", it gets him thinking he might just want one.

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"The Mafia"

Logan Girdlestone (Dir), 11 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Logan Girdlestone in attendance.

A short documentary on the best fan base in the NFL: Bills Mafia.

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"The Cookbook"

Pedro Chaves (Dir), 20 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Pedro Chaves and Writer/Producer John Licata in attendance.

The story of Sarikh Kalil, a third-generation Lebanese immigrant who reunites with his estranged parents in Central New York after his father suffers a debilitating stroke. Sarikh is faced with a choice: take over his father’s Lebanese restaurant and preserve his familial heritage, or sell out to pursue his American Dream. "The Cookbook" is a heartfelt story about the sacrifices we make for family, preserving culture in melting-pot America and father-son relationships.

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"This is not a pipe dream."

Tracy Snyder (Dir), 18 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Tracy Snyder and Writer/Producer Diane Almeter Jones in attendance.

Far-removed in a backyard woodland, our suicidal woman is united with a younger and older version of herself in a surrealist dreamscape. Ancestral ghosts materialize staging stories that rally our woman who is nearing release from a psychiatric hospital. A fanciful tale based in truth.

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"hArmless"

Elizabeth Cappuccino (Dir), 9 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Elizabeth Cappuccino in attendance.

A young woman works the moonlight shift at her local bodega when upon closing she discovers a patron who won't exit the bathroom. This quirky thriller exemplifies the everyday dread of existing in a females body, the fear, the guilt from the fear, and then the question of how to handle transgressions whether they're hArmless or not.

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"Pink Pottery"

Christine Banna (Dir), 4 minutes, USA, Buffalo Premiere

Director Christine Banna in attendance.

"Pink Pottery" primarily juxtaposes vibrant imagery of ancient art and object making with modern technological devices predominantly drawn on 35mm film. The visuals in this film include imagery of ancient material culture such as cave paintings, ancient pottery, female fertility figures, rapidly shown alongside modern communication devices and weapons such as missiles. Each individual category of material culture is rendered in modern, saturated colors such as neon pink and rich cobalt blue, and are activated through replacement animation. With this method the individual objects undulate, allowing the quintessential idea of the objects’ platonic forms to become juxtaposed with the distinct shapes of the individual pieces in the sequence.