The 2022 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival 

Our 12th Annual festival (June 1-12) was a true hybrid edition. We returned to a full slate of in-person screenings, plus streaming screenings and events.
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  • 24 in-person events (film screenings, parties, and our awards ceremony)

  • 29 online events (encore screenings of in-person films, 3 virtual-only premieres, and 2 workshops.)
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  • We programmed a total of 72 films and selected 22 screenplays.

  • We welcomed over 1,000 guests throughout the festival.

2022 Funders and Partners:
Our 2022 Festival Trailer:

In-Person Events

Opening Night, Launch Party, Screenings and More

  • We were able to rent a theater in Brooklyn's Cobble Hill Cinemas to screen the East Coast Premiere of the surreal dramatic feature SILENT RIVER, directed by Asian-American filmmaker Chris Chan Lee.
  • Our 2022 Launch Party took place at Chilo's Greenwood. We supported this local business by providing free drinks and free tacos to our guests, who were able to meet and network in this amazing outdoor space. 
  • Our main screening location was the modern auditorium of Sunset Park High School. We also screened our annual Bay Ridge Night at PS/IS 30. We secured extended use permits and event insurance for both spaces.
  • We produced our popular free outdoor screening again, which we've held on the main lawn of Sunset Park in partnership with the NYC Parks Dept. since 2016. We screened a block of family-friendly short films for over 500 people, and invited our filmmakers to socialize and network. ​
  • We had after parties at Minnie's, a local bar right across the street from Sunset Park High School. They provided drink specials and a great spot for our filmmakers and fans to celebrate and socialize after each screening.

Special Live Music/Film Event

  • We conceived a special live event to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of Cocteau's silent classic THE BLOOD OF A POET. We hired Brooklyn indie musician Brian Bonz to create a new score for the film and perform it live, one night only. 
  • We rented out the music venue "The Atlantic BKLN" in Boerum Hill and paid a licensing fee to screen the film. 
  • Our Exec Director Joseph Shahadi created original artwork that we used for our promo materials for the event.
  • We created a social media ticket giveaway to increase awareness, along with boosted posts and video ads to create awareness of the event as part of the festival.
  • We hired local photographer Ash Marinaccio to take pictures of the event and we also filmed it. 

Virtual Screenings, Panels and More

  • We employed the Eventive Virtual Festival Platform to screen Encore Presentations of all our features and shorts, increasing accessibility for non-local audiences.
  • We produced Streaming Premieres for 3 feature films by filmmakers from LA, England, and Hong Kong. 2022 was the first year we were able to increase our programming in this way, and will become a permanent part of how we curate films going forward.
  • We made films viewable with studio-grade antipiracy protection for a limited window, based on our schedule. 
  • ​We pre-recorded filmmaker talkbacks for our Streaming Premieres so they could be watched after each film. 
  • We invested in a platform upgrade to include live captions for all live-streamed events, as part of our commitment to accessibility.
  • We worked with industry pros in our network to livestream 2 free Online Workshop/Discussions to help filmmakers learn about setting themselves up to succeed, and how to create an effective pilot episode for a series.

Original Video Content

  • In 2022 we created over 60 pieces of video content, including festival promos, trailers, filmmaker interviews, and award acceptance videos.
  • We created a new free video showcase we've named "ART OF BKLYN TV" to gather all the free video content we've created over the years in one spot.
  • We shot and edited a new "Sizzle Reel" of our 2022 highlights to get people excited about our 2023 Call For Entries. Watch it below.
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Promotion and Marketing

  • In addition to video content, we created a range of posters and graphics to highlight individual screenings and special events. We do this to keep our social media networks excited and engaged with new visuals, and to emphasize how much we have going on during the festival.​
  • We create film poster collages for each screening so each event has a unique image.
  • We boosted posts to local geography to maximize awareness among potential audience members.

Staged Screenplay Reading

Each year we produce a staged reading for the grand prize winner of our Screenplay Contest, cast with professional actors. The 2022 edition was for our 2021 winner SARATOGA, a feature film script by Robert Potter. 

​To watch the video, click the image below and enter password POTTERSCRIPT.
"I just wanted to say thank you all for treating SARATOGA with such care, and passion, and talent.  That was awesome!!" - ROBERT POTTER

Press and Industry

  • NEWS 12 BROOKLYN attended the festival to interview educator Dejinay Reed, whose documentary MORE THAN ACADEMICS premiered at AoBFF and went on to win Outstanding Feature Documentary. Watch segment HERE.​
  • ​Broadway World covered the NYC Premiere of short doc JUST A BROADWAY BABY.
  • We created press releases for the festival and paid for Premium Distribution to increase their reach.
  • Our 2022 Opening Night film SILENT RIVER got distribution from Gravitas Ventures and credited their participation in AoBFF as essential to their success. Gravitas Ventures attends our festival each year for potential new deals.
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NEWS 12 BROOKLYN segment
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Broadway World article
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​"For some reason, securing a film festival for the East Coast Premiere of our narrative feature was a hazard-ridden journey until we found and were invited by The Art of Brooklyn. We were so fortunate to screen here, and had an amazing experience interacting with the festival team, filmmakers, and attendees. AoB really makes it all about supporting the films and filmmakers. They have daring and eclectic programming and truly do practice ethical and proactive communication with filmmakers. I expect to hear about many great things & discoveries happening at this festival in the coming years." - CHRIS CHAN LEE, director of SILENT RIVER

Some 2022 Filmmaker Reviews on FilmFreeway

The Art of Brooklyn is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to the independent film, media and art of Brooklyn, New York and beyond.
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