Now you can go to the movies — and the movies can come to you.

The 2022 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival (June 1-12) is showing over 70 new indie films in-person in venues across the Borough... and around the world, with three virtual premieres and virtual encore screenings!

The 2022 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival (June 1-12) is bringing people back to the movies… and bringing movies home to the people. Over 70 new films can be seen in-person across Brooklyn, and AoBFF is also offering its entire season online with virtual encores and special streaming premieres. This new hybrid format gives audiences the most flexibility to #supportindiefilm.

Cofounder Anthony DeVito said,"Producing our 2020 festival online during lockdown was tough, but there were unexpected upsides. We connected with audiences all over the world and three of our feature premieres got distribution. For us, nothing beats watching films in a theater, but we didn't want to give to give up the accessibility of streaming. So this year we're doing both!"  

And, for the first time ever, AoBFF will screen virtual premieres of features from the UK, San Francisco and Taiwan complete with filmmaker Q&As just like our live events. "The way forward is to give audiences as many options to watch as possible. Now you can go to the movies and the movies can come to you," said DeVito.

Festival Highlights Include:

​Silent River (East Coast Premiere)
Chris Chan Lee's uncanny David Lynch-ian new feature opens AoBFF '22 at Brooklyn's historic Cobble Hill Cinemas on June 1.
TRAILER & TICKETS

Dark Takes From Channel X (NYC premiere) -- plus more Horror!
Welcome to the dark side with this award-winning new horror anthology featuring curses, creatures and stalkers. And that's only the beginning of our horror and thriller films!
EXPLORE THE DARK SIDE

Short Docs and Comedies in Bay Ridge!
'True Stories' Block and Cracked Comedy Shorts come to 11209 on June 10.
BAY RIDGE NIGHT

The Blood Of A Poet 90th Anniversary Screening — with new, original score composed and performed LIVE by Brian Bonz!

A unique multimedia event: Our 90th Anniversary Screening of Cocteau's avant-garde silent classic THE BLOOD OF A POET with an all-new live score commissioned by The Art of Brooklyn. One night only and the beautiful new venue The Atlantic BKLN!
TICKETS

SHAMROCKS
(San Francisco) Barry is a low-level crook who takes what he wants when he wants. Watch as this criminal buffoon's selfish actions impact the lives of a group of people over St. Patrick's Day weekend in San Francisco. A love letter to crime films and classic film noir. 

GHOST AMBER
(United Kingdom) In the wake of analogue film’s great vanishing from the commercial film industry, a celluloid ghost materialises inside the ruins of a mysterious phantom cinema, beginning a phantasmagoric drift through death, rebirth, and the bardo like spaces in between. Blending animation, documentary, archive material and supernatural horror, Ghost Amber is a meditation on the inescapable nature of impermanence.

​HIDEOUT
​(Taiwan) Drug dealer Guo-hao hopes to make enough money so that he and his girlfriend can leave their life of crime behind. One day, he is contacted by Michael, a drug broker, with an offer to buy a batch of rare cocaine. On the day of the exchange, however, Michael is found dead, and the drugs are already gone. The owner of the cocaine threatens to kill Guo-hao if he fails to come up with the drugs or money. At the same time, Uncle Ma dispatches his henchmen to recover the loan. In the middle of the night, Guo-hao receives a phone call from a mysterious man claiming to be in possession of the lost cocaine, telling Guo-hao he has a new deal for him.

Narrative Features:

Dark Tales From Channel X
74 Minutes | United States | 2021
Horror, Thriller, Scifi, Lgbtq+, Body Horror  
A babysitter, Cassie, finds an old TV set in the basement which pulls her into the world of The Viewer; an anonymous entity in a mask who broadcasts seven stories of horror from monsters under the bed and ominous stalkers, to ancient curses and personal demons in this anthology.
​
Ghost Amber
60 Minutes | United Kingdon |  2021
Animation
Directed by Tim Grabham
In the wake of analogue film’s great vanishing from the commercial film industry, a celluloid ghost materialises inside the ruins of a mysterious phantom cinema, beginning a phantasmagoric drift through death, rebirth, and the bardo like spaces in between.

Hideout
119 Minutes  | Taiwan  | 2021
Crime, Mistery, Thriller 
Directed by Yen Kuang Chen
Drug dealer Guo-hao hopes to make enough money so that he and his girlfriend can leave their life of crime behind. One day, he is contacted by Michael, a drug broker with an offer to buy a batch of rare cocaine. Guo-hao teams up with long-time buddy Da-wei to borrow money from local crime boss Uncle Ma to complete this deal. 
On the day of the exchange, however, Michael is found dead and the drugs are already gone. The owner of the cocaine threatens to kill Guo-hao if he fails to come up with the drugs or money. At the same time, Uncle Ma dispatches his henchmen to recover the loan. In the middle of the night, Guo-hao receives a phone call from a mysterious man claiming to be in possession of the lost cocaine, telling Guo-hao he has a new deal for him…

Rock Paper Scissors 
100 Minutes | United States | 2021
Thriller, Horror
Directed by Doug Bollinger
Sam and Missy Wagner have reached a crossroads in their mundane, suburban relationship. One night of horrific events lead them down a path of fear, retribution, and renewal.  

Silent River
121 Minutes | United States | 2022 
Supernatural Spychological Drama
Directed by Chris Chan Lee  
On the road in a desperate attempt to reunite with his estranged wife, Elliot takes respite at a desert motel. He encounters Greta, a mysterious woman bearing a striking resemblance to his wife. Elliot soon discovers her secret and descends into a mind-bending journey that forces him to question exactly who she is and where they are. Haunting and hallucinogenics, “Silent River” is a layered and nuanced film that boldly challenges the very notions of reality and illusion. 

Shamrocks
106 Minutes  | United States  | 2021
Crime, Comedy
Directed by Greg Lofrano
Shamrocks tells the story of Barry a low-level crook who takes what he wants, when he wants. We soon learn that he owes money to Donato, a local loanshark. In order to pay his debts, Barry sets up a plan to rob the home of the Joneses, a host family that his Au Pair "girlfriend", Luisa, works for. 

Skagit
104 Minutes | United States |  2021
Psychological Horror 
Directed by Nick Thompson
Four friends leave Seattle for a weekend in a remote, rain-soaked corner of Washington State's rustic Skagit Valley. The foreboding October landscape begins to warp their minds, plunging each of them into alternate realities where they must grapple with personal demons, sexual tensions, and a sinister natural world as they claw their way back to sanity.

Documentary Features: 

Cycle of Memory 
72 Minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by Alex Leff
Cycle of Memory follows filmmaker Alex Leff and his Younger sibling Koby as they try to uncover the past and capture the present, in order to be remembered in the future. Guided by old photographs of teh 1945 trip, they search for places aged by time. But while searching for Grandpa Mel’s past, the two are confronted with their own fraught history. If they’re going to complete the turbulent journey, they’ll have to face their own emotional potholes and tumultuous relationship.  With the help of a grandmother learning to l ive alone for the first time, Mel’s lifelong friend and co-adventurer on the bike trip, and a family collection spanning 1950s film reels to 1990s video tapes, Cycle of Memory explores the importance of intergenerational connection, healing apinful pasts, and leaving a meningful time capsule for the future. 

More Than Academics
93 Minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by Elizabeth Mealey
Dejinay Reed is a 7th grade English teacher defying the status-quo curriculum that prioritizes test scores over social-emotional literacy and independent thought. Under her guidance, Harlem charter school students learn their love languages, repair family relationships, and start their own small businesses, all while the Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter uprising combine to make 2020 the most challenging school year in recent history.   

Nasima
86 Minutes | United States | 2020
Directed by Heather Kessinger 
A little girl’s dream of riding the waves threatens to change the course of history for an entire nation. Selling trinkets on the beach, 7 year old Nasima’s attention is caught by something out on the water and immediately she is transfixed: surfing has come to Bangladesh. Nasima instantly knows what she wants and that is to surf the waves. She will become the first female surfer in Bangladesh, a place where women don’t even swim in public, let alone ride waves.

Squatters
89 Minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by Catalina Santamaria
At the end of the 1980s, two abandoned buildings in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhoods of the "truquito" and the "maroma" were occupied by a group of young artists, mostly immigrants, who renovated them and turned them into self-sustainable homes outside the boundaries of the law. Santamaría gathers records from multiple sources to chronicle the transformation of Puerta 10 and Umbrella House based on the stories of their singular protagonists. Part of the material in this documentary comes from video recorded by them during the renovation of the buildings in order to document a community that built these houses by hand in order to inhabit them in their own way. This film pays homage to that desire by showing some of the difficulties that come with being a collective utopia, including fragility in the face of time and the looming threat of the system.  

The Sun Rises In The East
58 Minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by Tayo Giwa
The Sun Rises in The East chronicles the birth, rise and legacy of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Led by educator and activist Jitu Weusi, The East embodied Black self-determination, building more than a dozen institutions, including its own African-centered school, food co-op, newsmagazine, publisher, record label, restaurants, clothing shop and bookstore. The organization hosted world-famous jazz musicians and poets at its highly sought-after performance venue, and it served as an epicenter for political contermporaries such as teh Black Panther Party, the Young Lords and the Congress of Afrikan People, as well as comrades across Africa and the Caribbean. In Effect, The east built an independent Black Nation in teh heart of Central Brooklyn. 


Film As Art - Experimental & Non-Linear Shorts:

ArtMinute1 - The Perfect Selfie
4 Minutes | Denmark | 2019
Animation
Directed by Asta Wellejus & Teddy Kristiansen
The story is about the Danish painter Jens Juel, who through his travels and inspiration from the old masters (Rembrandt) gains a unique inspiration and expertise. This is shown in the light/ colors he gathers on his travels and a special light/ glow that emerges from his brush.

Beatings of the Devil
8 Minutes | United States | 2021
Experimental Documentary
Directed by Bradly Dever Treadaway
"Beatings Of The Devil" is based on the concept and weather event called sunshowers, or, as my grandmother would often say when it rained while the sun was shining, “The devil is beating his wife”. This wildly inappropriate, and outdated colloquial phrase, which resonated deeply within me as a child, provides a point of departure and interpretation for this work.

Caprice x²
4 Minutes | Austria | 2021
Animation
Directed by Claudia Ungersbäck
Forms and gestures, situations over a copy (is_t) existance. marks and notes happening while light resounds.

Chiaroscuro
7 Minutes | United States | 2022
Experimental
Directed by Asia Vo
Chiaroscuro is an immersive sound and video installation that follows an anonymous glowing figure as they traverse an empty, black and unknown plane.

Collage 38.2 (Version Multiple)
4 Minutes | Spain | 2021
Experimental
Directed by Luis Carlos Rodriguez
Collage 38.2 is an Intervention (construction / deconstruction), in the form of an audiovisual collage, on the film in the public domain: Of Human Bondage (1934) by John Cromwell.

Echo’s Answer
3 Minutes | United States | 2021
Music Video
Directed by Cat Tassini
This is a proof of concept video for "Echo's Answer," a feature-length psychedelic reimagining of the life and legacy of Trish Keenan of Broadcast. Although Keenan died in 2011 at only 42, the enchanting world she created with her music, writing, and art lives on through her influence on other artists. This film is an answer to that echo.

Haptic Memory 
1 Minute |  United States |  2021
Animation 
Directed by Mike Enright
Paint on glass with monotype animation. The images are captured with Dragonframe stop motion software and composited together in Adobe After Effects. This piece is part of research into the tension between hand made and digital animation.

Ma1nframe
5 Minutes | United States | 2021
Music Video
Directed by Qieer Wang
MA1NFRAME is the story of an artificial intelligence created to bring us together as a planet after so many millennia of divisiveness. 

Pursuit of Sadness
3 Minutes | United States | 2020
Poetry
Directed by Lea Wülferth
‘Pursuit of Sadness’ is an audiovisual collaboration built around the following repeating words displayed on screen and interspersed with other images: he gets himself a balloon / he lets it fly away / he flees to the attic / he cries.

Secrets of the Galleries
7 Minutes | United States | 2022
Experimental
Directed by  Peter Meng
This is your ticket to unlock the secrets in the galleries of Mount Kilimanhattan. Follow the Arthouse players as they go beyond the realm and revel in this magical, mystical world.

Social Distancing 
5 Mintues  | United States | 2022
Animation
Directed by Kayoko Nakamura
Social Distancing is a video piece, visualizing the data of the Covid 19 pandemic, and the audio is also converted from the numerical values of the data. It explores new ways of communicating with the audience by presenting the data in a different perspective.

The Animal 
9 Minutes | United States | 2021
Animation
Directed by Nora 6592
A poem that explores girlhood through the lens of poverty and alienation in the American South.

The Dark Forest
10 Minutes | United States | 2021
Videopoetry
Directed by Martin Del Carpio
“To honor the memory of his father who passed away in 2019, Martin Del Carpio opts for the medium of film once again, and delivers his most lyrical work to date. At once deeply personal, carefully veiled in a delicate fabric of pure emotions, and absolutely immersive in its dreamlike, mysterious beauty, ‘The Dark Forest’ transmutes its author’s innermost life into an admirable piece of introspective cinema.”

The Sixteen Showings of Julian of Norwich 
8 Minutes | United States | 2020
Animation
Directed by Caroline Golum
This actor-less, handmade work is an exercise in texture and tableaux, depicting the visionary experience and historic significance of the first woman to write a book in English.
  
Three Pride Flags
2 Minutes  | United States |  2022
Music, Animation
Directed by Tom Bessoir
Inspired by Jasper Johns in anticipation of the joint retrospective exhibitions at The Whitney Museum of American Art and The Philadelphia Museum of Art, this is three pride flags permutating at different speeds. Music by Matthew Fritz.

Universal Frequencies 
2 Minutes | United States | 2020
Experimental
Directed by Paul Arsenault
The history of the universe through 1590 hand painted frames. 

Utera
5 Minutes | United States | 2021
Experimental
Directed by Alexandra Tahereh Kaucher
The director’s thoughts on her influences as a young girl to want children.

Narrative Shorts:

Always for the First Time
20 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by John Caliendo, Victoria Meade
Loosely based on the first meeting of surrealist writer Andre Breton and surrealist artist Elisa Latte Elena Bindhoff Enet.

Angst
10 Minutes | Austria | 2021
Sci-Fi
Directed by Béla Baptiste
In a distant future fear has been completely eradicated in order to find relief and peace beyond the hectic pace of life. That's where Bobby comes in: selling pills to those who wish to get back in touch with their primal instincts.

Bitten, A Tragedy
20 Minutes | United States | 2021
Horror
Directed by Monika Estrella Negra
Bitten, a Tragedy follows Lydia, a Black queer woman living in Philadelphia. At a Philly rave, ancestral warfare wreaks havoc on the bloodline of an unfortunate party goer, connecting Lydia to a world of blood, ritual, secrets and vengeance.

Breakfast at the Bodega
15 Minutes | United States | 2021
Comedy
Directed by  Marina Barham
A talented young Brooklynite/Palestinian-American attempts to live out his dreams of becoming a French pastry chef despite his first-generation father's wishes. Struggling to fill his first big order for a gig, tensions arise when the father forbids him from using their family bodega to cook.

Bridge 
15 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by Shannon Morrall
When her grandfather passes away, a young girl sets off on a quest to find him and bring him home. "Bridge" explores a child's journey experiencing grief and loss for the first time.

Bygone
8 Minutes | Spain | 2022
Thriller
Directed by Mickey Tetrov
A young woman wakes up in the middle of an apocalyptic, deserted world. As she meanders through the abandoned remains, she encounters a looming presence.

Cameo
16 Minute | United States | 2021
Thriller
Directed by Ryan G. Kelly
A graduate student questions her reality after she receives a mysterious necklace.

Community Service 
15 Minutes | United States | 2020
Dark Comedy
Directed by Grayson Tyler Johnson
A young man gets too drunk one night and is arrested in the street. He now must perform community service, delivering spaghetti to home-bound adults throughout Brooklyn. The last stop on his route is Shecky…

Daytrip Massacre
11 Minutes United States 2021
Horror, Comedy
Directed by Artie Brennan & Anthony Giordano
In the late 1970's a group of young adults go camping near the old abandoned Freak Show Camp. Legend has it, the bearded lady's son, a half-fish-half-child monster called "Fishboy" still roams the woods slaying anyone in his stream. Will they make out? Probably. Will they make it out? Probably not.

Detour
15 Minutes | United States | 2020
Drama
Directed by Bobby Webster
Two broken people have a chance encounter one night in New York City.

Fish Story
20 Minutes | United States | 2021
Comedy, Drama
Directed by Annique Witdoeckt
A grieving father and daughter struggle to connect, until Mom returns…as a fish.

From Water Comes Melon 
13 Minutes | United States | 2021
Sci-Fi
Directed by Micah Vassau
A woman finds the last watermelon on earth. 

Homebound
19 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by Usher Morgan
HomeBound is the story of Jamie Rockwell, a woman burdened by severe agoraphobia. After losing her therapy dog, she must muster the courage within, not only to find her dog, but ultimately, to find herself.

I’m Fine
17 Minutes | United States | 2019
Dramady
Directed by Justin Ho
Allyson and her father join after years of separation and are both forced to revisit their past together.

In Defense of Civil Society
8 Minutes | United States | 2021
Dark Comedy
Directed by Rafeh Mahmud
A (non)Muslim refugee becomes entangled in government-subsidized terrorism!

In the Mountains
6 Minutes | United States | 2021
Animation
Directed by Wally Chung
A couple goes on a hike and run into some trouble.

It’s Very Common 
11 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by Megan Hessenthaler
Set in a queer collective house in Brooklyn, NY we spend a day or so with Amanda as she lives through the miscarriage of what would have been her second child. Led by her need to keep things light around her daughter we witness as she manages heavy feelings with help from her wife, roommates, and her signature dry wit.

Later Daters
12 Minutes | United States | 2021
Comedy
Directed by Fred Shahadi
A widower decides to re-enter the dating world only to discover he's in way over his head.

Lioness
7 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by Molly E. Smith
Barricaded in a motel room, a mothers determination and primal instincts kick in to protect her child's innocence.

No Way Out
11 Minutes | United States | 2021
Horror
Directed by Caleb Bergner
Jack, a young man suffering from sleep deprivation is studying for an exam. After receiving some bad news and falling asleep, Jack finds himself greeted by disturbing figures in a reality separate from his own.

Puss
9 Minutes | United States | 2020
Comedy
Directed by ​​Leah Shore
Samantha desperately wants to get laid, but is finding it to be difficult for some reason.

Sally 
5 Minutes | United States | 2022
Comedy
Directed by Phillip Russell
After his car breaks down, a man seeks refuge at a seemingly abandoned mansion.

Sold
20 Minutes | United States | 2022
Drama
Directed by Christopher Thompson
A Downtown Artist struggles with his newly found sobriety.

‘Til Death Due Us Part
6 Minute | United States | 2020
Dark Comedy
Directed by Taylor Coriell
Bride-to-be Jill wakes up on the morning of her wedding, and starts to believe that everything she touches, dies.

‘Til Morning 
15 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by Ana Moioli
'Til Morning is a coming of age short film about Julia, a Brazilian student in New York City. When Julia can't pay for her tuition, she has to choose between surrendering to her conservative family and selling herself to a stranger.

The Game
21 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by Aldo Vassallo
Set in early 2000’s suburbia, The Game portrays a bewilderingly tense period in eight year old George’s life. One night, as he attempts to drown out his parents' constant and escalating conflicts by gluing his eyes to his Gameboy, he's startled by the sound of a deafening scream coming from his mother's bedroom. Based on a true story.

The Walk Up
12 Minutes | United States  | 2021
Comedy
Directed by Nick Brown
When a young woman from Texas moves to Manhattan, her ambition and independence are shaken by the long six flight walk up to her apartment.

The Smartest Dumb Girl
13 Minutes | United States | 2021
Comedy
Directed by  Angie Comer
With a flood of mischief, a woman with an acute sense of entitlement is persistent in her goal to get a discount for a murder-for-hire scheme from a prickly and foul-mouth female assassin.

Treehouse
25 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by William Austin
A reclusive construction worker is stricken with grief after witnessing the sudden, tragic death of his brother. Tortured by guilt, he struggles to build a treehouse—the unfulfilled dream of their childhood.

Wake
11 Minutes | United States | 2021
Drama
Directed by Andrew Patrick Torrez
As Jackie mourns her husband's death at his own wake, her best friend Gwen is on hand to console her amidst an unforgiving family as Jackie discovers the truth behind his untimely death.

Your Silhouette
15 Minutes | China | 2021
Directed by Haoyue “Caroline” Wu
The boy runs for his dream; The girl runs for her own life
They tries to connect with each other that ignores the gap between them which is caused by their family background. They are the medicine for each other, but they still need to face the reality.

Short Documentaries: 

Adam Milner Takes Care of the Details 
9 Minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by Lorena Alvarado
From flower petals to eyelashes, plastic gemstones, a friend’s hair or Babybel cheese wax casing, Brooklyn-based gay artist Adam Milner mixes and matches an unexpected range of objects into artworks that explore our often fraught relationships with the things that fill our lives.

Breaking Ground
6 Minutes | United States | 2022
Directed by  Phil Garrison
The story of Fred Moore, America's first black soldier to become a prestigious Tomb Guard in Arlington National Cemetery.

Chilly & Milly 
9 Minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by William David Caballero
Chilly and Milly is an animated documentary exploring a father’s chronic health problems as a diabetic with kidney failure, and his wife’s role as his eternal caretaker.

DOPO YUMEmories
14 Minutes | United States | 2022
Directed by Jordan Galland
The short documentary explores Dopo Yume, a NYC-based rock band that gained traction in the late 90s, early 00s, but never quite took flight. Told through home videos and present day narration from the band’s lead singer, we experience his memories of the highs and lows, the friendships and community that formed around the music and the role that fate and tragedy played.

From Darkness to Light: The Peter Krueger Clinic 
40 Minutes | United States  | 2021
Directed by Joe Fox
“From Darkness To Light” is a documentary film that tells the story of the Peter Krueger Clinic (PKC) – one of the first HIV/AIDS clinics in the United States, which was established at Beth Israel Hospital in 1989.

Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley
24 Minutes |  United States | 2021
Directed by Patrick A Riviere
A short documentary film about the career and life of Mary Ellen Ashley who made her Broadway debut in 1943 in The Innocent Voyage (as Mary Ellen Glass) and went on to do the entire run of the original Broadway Production of Annie Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman. Her career has spanned 80 years and includes: opening for headliners in Vegas; performing on Broadway, and starring in regional theatre, radio, film and early Television.

Manji
39 Minutes | Japan | 2022
Directed by Yousuke Kiname
MANJI follows Reverend TK Nakagaki, a Japanese Buddhist priest living in America for the past thirty-five years, as he travels the globe on a mission: to reclaim the swastika as a symbol of peace.

Night at Downtown Beirut
10 Minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by Mike Enright
A quasi-documentary short about the quasi-legendary East Village punk bar, Downtown Beirut, shot and assembled in 1990 and rebuilt in 2021.

Slow Burn & The Muse
15 Minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by Darah Golub
Two songs, many years and one fruitful night tell the story of a singer/songwriter's road to success.

The Savior of Coney Island 
10 Minutes | United States | 2022
Directed by Gary Beeber
Meet Dick Zigun, “Honorary Mayor of Coney Island” and learn about the beginnings of Coney Island USA.

The Brother Mike Tapes
12 Minutes |  United States |  2021
Directed by Rodd Perry
Michael Cohen secretly recorded his parents growing up, then animated their conversations decades later.

Unattached
3 Minutes | France | 2021
Directed by Fanny Texier
A young French woman on the precipice of youth and adulthood releases her long hair as a symbol of her femininity.

2022 Screenplay Competition:

Finalists:

Centurions — Written by Sally Stubbs 
Pick — Written by Bernhard Riedhammer
Sergeant Freeman — Written by Gloria J. Browne-Marshall
The Puppeteer — Written by Alexander Julian III

Semi-Finalists:

Lost Memories — Written by Bernhard Riedhammer
Prudence — Written by Sally Ann Hall
The Comeback — Written by Maurice Hicks
The Faerie Rings — Written by Zina Brown
The Heart Lies Slain — Written by Dario Marcucci and Luca Zamparini

Quarter Finalists:

American Street — Written by Eugene Martin
Amy & Angel — Written by Robert Craig
Arthur’s Yearbook — Written by Jim Norman 
At The Mercy of Faith — Written by Samuel Taylor 
Control — Written by Jacob Davis
Deep Hush — Written by Kristy Walsh
Fatal — Written by Gregory Cala
Namaste — Written by Lora Grillo
The Mojave Experiment — Written by Chinisha Scott
Wake Me Up — Written by Karen Wang

Honorable Mentions:

Avalon Farms Academy — Written by Sierra Blanco
Known Unknowns — Written by John McCloskey
Money Tree — Written by Isaac Ballesteros Barba

Become a volunteer at the 12th Annual AoBFF and help us celebrate all things indie film!

The 2022 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival (June 1-12) is very excited to be returning with a full slate of in-person screenings, parties, & events featuring the best emerging filmmakers from the Brooklyn NYC scene, across the country and around the world. And we need your help to make it great!

We're looking for motivated, reliable volunteers to help us with production tasks including:

• Set up and break down our ticketing and merch tables
• Set up and break down our pop-up banners, signage, and step-and-repeats
• Scan in ticket holders and usher guests

AoBFF is a big part of NYC's cultural calendar. Volunteering is a great opportunity for people starting their careers in the NYC film community. Every volunteer also gets a VIP Pass to attend every screening and event for free. We'll do an orientation meeting over Zoom to get you ready before the fest.

AoBFF is always a fun event that supports and celebrates diverse independent artists. Many past volunteers have gone on to work on film projects with collaborators they met at our festival. And much of our staff started out by volunteering with us!

We will schedule shifts based on your availability. Our weeknight blocks are 7PM to 9PM and 9PM to 11PM, and our weekend blocks start at 2PM and go every 2 hours until 11PM. We will have a schedule of screenings available soon showing every event and slot. Because we are a live event with a small dedicated staff, it's important that you only apply if you're confident you can attend the festival in person on the dates and times you commit to. 

Our 2022 venues include Cobble Hill Cinemas, Sunset Park High School and the Mary White Ovington School in Bay Ridge.
​
(Please use our form below to apply)

ABOUT US:

The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival is a 501c3 nonprofit organization proudly supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, and the NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs. All donations are tax deductible. 

The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival is a unique event that brings Brooklyn’s celebrated film and media makers together with their peers across the country and around the world. The award-winning AoBFF is a filmmaker-focused event, platform and showcase for exciting emerging creators and established voices. We partner with film distributors and media organizations, host world-class talkbacks, create innovative programming for networking and skill building, and screen for enthusiastic audiences across Brooklyn.
 
Founded by working artists in 2011, AoBFF has had over a dozen festival premieres get theatrical distribution to date — and one became an HBO series. We've held events in nineteen different venues in nine neighborhoods across Brooklyn (so far,) often partnering with local businesses and organizations to reach the widest possible audience.

Award-winning filmmaker Brian Ratigan has been named Guest Festival Director for the 2022 season of the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival.

The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival  is excited to announce that award-winning filmmaker Brian Ratigan has been selected as Guest Festival Director for its 12th season in 2022. Ratigan said, "AoBFF always provides so many opportunities for artists while cultivating a supportive community. I am honored to be chosen to work with Art of Brooklyn for 2022.”

Every season the Art of Brooklyn selects a different filmmaker from around the world to curate their festival. Executive Director Joseph Shahadi said, "This year's search brought us into conversation with fantastic candidates from all over, but Brian was the clear choice for next season and we couldn't be happier he agreed." 

The founder and principal at Non Films — a label for ephemeral animation and experimental cinema — Brian screens at festivals internationally. A significant voice in the Brooklyn indie film community, his fascinating work was curated at AoBFF twice, and he has attended the festival as a filmgoer in person and virtually. The Alabama-born filmmaker is also Director of Animation for Kumar Pictures where he designs animation and motion graphics, and co-manages Chaotic Cinema.

"Brian is the first experimental filmmaker to take the reins at the festival.” Shahadi said, a position previously held by award-wining filmmakers and programmers Christie Conochalla, Alan McClane Alejos, Sean Mannion, Victoria Negri, Dave Chan and Eric Trenkamp. “The past few years have required looking at everything in a new way and cinema reflects that. Brian is the perfect choice for this moment.”

In addition to being a successful filmmaker Brian is an experienced festival programmer and juror, having worked for Slamdance, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Animation Nights New York, the Film & Video Poetry Society, and the London Indie Festival, among others. Film programming has been central for Brian since the beginning of his career. He began exploring his love for the avant-garde and independent film in his hometown of Birmingham, AL, creating digital and 16 mm visual projections for ambient music artists and hip hop collective LOBOTOMIX while curating screenings at the Sidewalk Film Festival.

About The Art of Brooklyn
The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival is an annual event designed to connect Brooklyn's diverse independent filmmakers with peers around the world. Founded by artists in 2011, AoBFF has been named Brooklyn Creative Group of the Year, One of the Top Seven American Film Festivals and One of the Five Notable Regional Festivals Worth Traveling For. Art of Brooklyn takes place in neighborhoods across the entire borough, including those underserved by art and culture dollars. AoBFF has produced film events in 20 ADA compliant venues, in 10 different neighborhoods, often partnering with area businesses and community organizations to boost economies and empower local audiences. Over a dozen AoBFF premieres have gotten distribution, and one became an HBO series.

Brain Ratigan said, “I look forward to collaborating with the incredible AoBFF team to make 2022 the best festival yet."

Lanie Zipoy's debut feature THE SUBJECT world premiered with Art of Brooklyn in 2020 and it was a smash with our audience. It won three awards with us: Best Feature, Best Director and Outstanding Performance for lead actor Aunjanue Ellis. THE SUBJECT went on to have an acclaimed festival run and got a distribution deal with Gravitas Ventures, including a major market theatrical release — one of two AoBFF '20 feature world premieres that got distribution.

​The Subject's upcoming Theatrical run in 10 markets including Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Dalles Fort Worth, Cleveland, and Detroit, and a wide VOD and release both debut on October 22, 2021. Make sure to see this powerful film!

THE SUBJECT is available on VOD and in theaters on 10/22/21.

​Official Film Website

Outstanding Cinematography: 
Shabier Kirchner for ‘Jamestowne’

Outstanding Sound: 
Brad Nayman for ‘Gestura’

Outstanding Editing:
Peter Hogenson for ‘Inevitability’

Outstanding Musical Score:
Andy Hasenpflug for ‘Dirt’

Outstanding Ensemble: 
Triple Threat (Stacey Maltin, Margarita Zhitnikova, Jay DeYonker, Catherine Curtin and more!)

Outstanding Performance in a Narrative Short: (Our first tie!)
Johnny Brown in ‘The Inconvenience of Being Black’
Louis Ozawa Changchien in ‘Sitting’

Outstanding Performance in a Narrative Feature: 
Martha Brown in ‘DimLand’ 

Outstanding Animation: 
Lea Zalinskis for ‘Seashells’

Outstanding Visual Effects:
Christopher Phelps and Joel Barlow for ‘Odyssey’

The Dark Side Award for Outstanding horror/thriller/Noir/ Sci Fi: 
'Hell of a Pitcher' directed by Daniel Burity

The Vanguard Award for Outstanding Experimental Film: 
'Entre Puerto Rico y Richmond' directed by Alicia Diaz

Outstanding Comedy: 
'Miss Blueberry Beauty Pageant' directed by Sarah Kennedy

Outstanding Drama: 
'Sisters' directed by Sarah Nolen

Outstanding Short Documentary: 
'Cat Man Do' directed by Matt Tyson

Outstanding Feature Documentary:
'Last Call' directed by Johnny Sweet

Outstanding Director of a Narrative Short: 
Stacey Maltin for ‘Appetite’

Outstanding Director of a Narrative Feature: 
Byron Lamarque for ‘The Desiring’

Outstanding Narrative Short: 
'Song & Grace' directed by Maisa Chian

Outstanding Narrative Feature: 
'One Moment' directed by Deirdre O'Connor

Outstanding Screenplay: 
'Saratoga' by Robert Potter

Jury Award: 
'Koreatown Ghost Story' directed by Minsun Park and Teddy Tenenbaum

Audience Choice Award: 
'Mina Martin' directed by Anthony Petrucci

Narrative Feature: 

Canvas
76 minutes | United States | 2021    
Horror, Animation, Drama, Thriller
Directed by Ryan Guiterman
In this midnight thriller, a demon known as ‘The Painter' comes to Earth with a gruesome mission- to create new spawn from chaos and murder. FBI agent George Rohan finds himself tasked with covering up The Painter's multiplying murders, meanwhile a dogged investigative journalist, Reila Martin works to unveil George’s growing web of lies.
 
DimLand
75 minutes | United States | 2021    
Drama
Directed by Peter Collins Campbell
In an attempt to shake off her melancholy, a young woman escapes the city to her family’s country cottage only to rediscover a world she’d long forgotten and the old friend who may convince her to leave reality behind.
 
One Moment
115 minutes | United States | 2020    
Comedy, Drama
Directed by Deirdre O'Connor
One Moment is a humorous, heartwarming story of middle-age siblings struggling to manage their own lives while also caring for their recently widowed aging father. Welcome to the "Sandwich Generation." One Moment features the final performance of beloved actor Danny Aiello.
 
The Desiring
81 minutes | United States | 2021    
Drama
Directed by Byron Lamarque
A Southern Gothic tale -- Richard is a typical Southern American who works hard and loves his wife, Claire. However, when he discovers her with another man, instead of feeling betrayed, Richard finds himself increasingly intrigued by the affair. His curiosity triggers conflicting emotions, uprooting his assumptions from the past.
As he falls deeper into despair he wrestles with the resentment he harbors toward his father and begins to yearn for the love he desires.

Triple Threat
96 minutes | United States | 2020    
Drama, Comedy
Directed by Stacey Maltin
Just as the life-long Broadway dream of three friends is coming true, one decides that he wants to be a father and not just to art babies. With three friends, two babies, and one messy love affair, personal and professional lines become crossed in irreversible and life-changing ways.

Documentary Feature: 

KUBOTA’S KIMONOS. HISTORY ON SILK
52 minutes | United Kingdom | 2020    
Directed by Radik Kudoyarov
Kubota's story begins with his time as a prisoner of war in the USSR during WWII. Beautifully produced reenactments capture this difficult yet pivotal period of his life. While locked up in his cell, Kubota saw a vision of the Siberian sunset which would later inspire his lifelong project, ‘The Symphony of Light,’ a series of kimonos that would illustrate the grandeur of the universe.
This fascinating documentary describes the complex and intricate craft of Tsujigahana - a traditional technique of decorating fabric. Since there were no instructions of how to recreate this age-old process, Kubota spent decades experimenting to form his own version of the method called Itchiku Tsujigahana. 
 
Last Call
61 minutes | United States | 2020    
Directed by Johnny Sweet
The hospitality industry is the artistic heartbeat of New York. Nowhere is that more prevalent than in Queens. Thousands of artists, musicians and actors flock to the city’s most diverse borough to work in the service industry to supplement their dreams. In March of 2020 these dreamers put their lives on hold, self-isolating and sacrificing their income as Queens became the global epicenter of covid-19. As the weeks go by we follow two local bars fight off the virus, financial ruin and the deaths of loved ones, while the frontline workers battle to slow down the death toll engulfing the borough. Under strict and safe filming guidelines, we witnessed how both industries needed each other in order to bend the curve. It’s a tale of two sacrifices that saved not only the lives of thousands but the future of New York.

Right Now I Want to Scream: Police and Army Killings in Rio - the Brazil Haiti Connection
62 minutes | United Kingdom | 2020    
Directed by Cahal McLaughlin, Siobhán Wills
The film was produced using participatory practices in collaboration with mothers whose children have been killed during police operations in Complexo do Alemão, Manguihos, Complexo de Maré; and Salgueira. Janaina Matos, founding member of a group of Brazilian police officers campaigning against militarization, states that in Brazil ‘it has become normal’ for police ‘to enter a territory and treat the population as if it were a war enemy…Brazil’s security policy is not aiming to guarantee security for everyone, but just for an elite while oppressing the other larger number of the population, especially the black people.’ This film explores the relationship and close similarities between the militarised policing of favela communities in Rio de Janeiro and the militarised law enforcement tactics used by the Brazilian-led UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) between 2004 and 2007. 
 
Who is Lun*na Menoh?
81 minutes | United States, Japan | 2021
Directed by Jeff Mizushima 
"Who Is Lun*na Menoh" follows the life and work of the extraordinary Japanese artist. From her early career in Japan to the underground music scene in Los Angeles, from fashion show runways featuring her sculptural designs to art galleries showing her fantastical work, Lun*na's edgy, witty and beautiful creations are explored.
Director Jeff Mizushima follows Lun*na's artistic career, showcasing her uniquely individual expressionism and interviewing her family, gallery owners, models, fans, and fellow visual artists & musicians to find out who and what Lun*na Menoh is and why her art, in all of its forms, fits in our world.
 
FILM AS ART:

2020
2 minutes | United States | 2020
Short, Experimental, Animation
Directed by Tom Bessoir  
A film for 2020, a year to remember. 2020 different colors create a flicker film. Music by Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth.)
 
Cycle Du Matin
27 minutes | United States | 2021    
Experimental
Directed by Francis Berry
A man deals with the psychological hardships of loneliness during quarantine.
 
Entre Puerto Rico y Richmond: Women in Resistance Shall Not Be Moved
18 minutes | United States | 2020    
Experimental, Dance
Directed by Alicia Diaz
This dance film combines biography, poetry, and ritual with the energy of live performance to bridge stories of resistance and liberation between Puerto Rico and Richmond, VA, honoring Black women tobacco workers in Richmond and Puerto Rican tobacco factory readers and activists Dominga de La Cruz Becerril (1909-1981) and Luisa Capetillo (1879-1922).

lat.copiare
4 minutes | Austria | 2006    
Animation, Experimental
Directed by Claudia Ungersbäck
Asking the question of originality in a world of DIY Reproduction.
 
Mina Martin
94 minutes | United States | 2021    
Drama
Directed by Anthony Petrucci
In this 'no-budget,' impressionist poem-dream, three outlier students cross paths amidst deadly shootings at their high school on Long Island, NY, and struggle for meaning in the ephemera and loneliness of life.

Our Mine
11 minutes | United States | 2021    
Experimental, Animation 
Directed by Shayna Strype
 
Seashells
3 minutes | United States | 2020    
Animation, Music
Directed by Lea Zalinskis
A surreal and whimsical animated music video for the song "Seashells", by San Francisco singer/songwriter Rachel Garlin. Done in stop motion with completely handmade paper cutouts.
 
The Other Shore
7 minutes | United States | 2020    
Directed by Lynn Bianchi
The Other Shore is an experimental film on the topic of the refugee crisis and the wide societal gap between the fortunate and the forgotten. The four interludes each depict a different sunny scenario of various microcosms at a colorful European beach resort. 
 
Triggered
13 minutes | United States | 2021    
Experimental
Directed by Ariyan Johnson
Cell phones. Social media. Our lifelines to the outside world. Daily we’re barraged with images, words and video that trigger our emotions. But what happens when it’s one post too many and the emotional dam breaks? 
 
Documentary Short: 
 
Cat Man Do
13 minutes | United States | 2021
Directed by Matt Tyson
A shrimp boat captain in Florida spends his nights caring for the town's feral cats.
 
Meriem Bennani: In Between Languages
8 minutes | United States | 2020    
Directed by Nick Ravich, Danielle Brock
What if one language just isn’t enough? Featuring her acclaimed works at the 2019 Whitney Biennial, rising young artist Meriem Bennani chronicles a recent set of ambitious video installation works, unpacking her uniquely humorous and political mix of digital animation, documentary footage, and interactive sculpture. Originally from Morocco, New York City-based Bennani explains how “being here for ten years and being English [as a] second language, and feeling like I’m losing a little bit of my first language…I’ve found that developing this practice that pulls from so many different languages of TV, cinema, sculpture and installation, mixing it all together has allowed me to hit the right note, in my own way.”
 
Priced Out: Why You Can't Afford A Place to Live in the City
15 minutes | United States | 2019    
Animation 
Directed by Dyan Ruiz
Nearly everyone living in a major city is experiencing the stress, instability and high costs of housing. Priced Out is our response to the increasingly polarized debate about why nearly everyone is struggling to afford the price of housing. Communities and organizations fighting displacement have been asking for years for a simple story that will help turn the tide. Priced Out is engaging, comprehensive and will change how people understand solutions to housing affordability. This production is voiced in English, and we are producing subtitled versions in Spanish, Tagalog and Chinese.
 
Riddle Passageways
15 minutes | United States | 2020    
Drama
Directed by Jessie Brown
Riddle Passageways tracks a young woman’s journey through COVID-19 as she becomes placed in self-quarantine for 14 days. Revealing her family’s annual Easter hunt tradition in which her and her brother are given riddles curated by their parents; the film follows the family’s celebration of this tradition as she remains stuck in quarantine. Depicting her nostalgia for the fantastical power of childhood and her emotional passage through the hardships of growing up and the challenges of COVID-19, the film comments on themes of identity, love, and the importance of a self-contentment with one’s individual journey.
 
Narrative Short: 
 
Appetite
14 minutes | United States | 2020
Drama, Romance, LGBTQIA
Directed by Stacey Maltin
At an open love party, music and burlesque dancers seduce the patrons. Jack, distracted by the elaborate and decadent food offerings, becomes increasingly uncomfortable as his wife, Ruby, flirts and later goes home with Rex, a non-binary burlesque performer. While Jack hesitantly agreed to an “open marriage” on this night as a birthday gift to his wife, he nonetheless feels emasculated. This is the first power shift away from Jack, the classic male, “master of the universe”, weakening his control and providing the audience with a variant perception inconsistent with the traditional marital paradigm.

Clark!
4 minutes | United States | 2021
Comedy
Directed by Claire Dub
On her one-year anniversary with Clark, Nell attempts to write a romantic poem. The task proves impossible... until Nell finds a way to tap into her true inspiration.
 
DAWN
8 minutes | United States | 2020    
Sci-fi, Suspense, Experimental, Silent
Directed by Nona Catusanu, Katherine Castro, Liza Gipsova, Red Dawn Trio
One woman faces her final obligation in her isolated, waning days among a post-apocalyptic world.
 
Death Homework
9 minutes | United States | 2021    
Directed by Ashley Teague
Two siblings reckon with the meaninglessness of grief etiquette and customs in the wake of their father's untimely death.
 
Dirt
12 minutes | United States | 2020    
Experimental 
Directed by Helanius J. Wilkins, Roma Flowers
Through the fusion of text, movement, layered visuals, and sound, this work presents a meditative exploration of identity and Blackness in a heightened time of unrest and uprisings fueled by issues of police brutality and systemic racism in America.
 
French Picnic
9 minutes | United States | 2020    
Comedy
Directed by Cameron Tharma
A couple wakes up after the night before to find that something isn’t quite right in the bedroom. The repercussions of last nights actions might bring up some hidden insecurities bubbling under the surface of their relationship as well as new opportunities.
 
Gaining and Losing
11 minutes | United States | 2018    
Directed by Stacey Maltin
What happens to friendship when a shared dream is abandoned? Gaining and Losing explores a friendship torn apart when a young dancer combats an eating disorder and her talented friend can't understand.
 
Gestura
5 minutes | United States | 2021    
Experimental 
Directed by Drake Woodall
A performing artist faces her fears on stage.
 
Greenshields
26 minutes | United States | 2021    
Drama, Comedy
Directed by Nat Swyer
When an out of work playwright arrives to close up his family's summer home, the ghost of his great uncle interrupts his seemingly endless solitude.
 
Hell of a Pitcher
11 minutes | United States | 2021    
Horror, Thriller
Directed by Daniel Burity
Hell of a Pitcher is a film about a group of high school friends that trespass on a little league baseball field on independence day.
As the night unfolds, they get stalked by a mysterious baseball player and are forced into a deadly game that questions the place of Latino immigrants in current American society.
 
House Hunting
7 minutes | United States | 2020    
Horror, Thriller
Directed by Patrick Andrew Higgins
Hunters sneak inside our homes to steal our most private moments and anonymously post the video for all the world to see.
 
In Sync
5 minutes | United States | 2019    
Directed by Eddie Shieh
A young couple walk a fine line while thriving in an open marriage until they catch each other breaking the rules.
 
Inevitability
24 minutes | United States | 2021    
Comedy
Directed by Zoë Greenbaum
A romantic comedy about liars. When Lu shows up looking for his ex-fiancee, he finds instead that a beautiful, eccentric heiress addicted to cheesecake, cookies, and rugelach has moved into her apartment.
 
Insider Comedy Short Challenge
7 minutes | United States | 2019    
Comedy
Directed by Michael Codispoti
An interview with a former band aid (not groupie) who is seeking sponsorships and credit.
 
Jamestowne
14 minutes | United States | 2019    
Drama, Thriller
Directed by Nick Grau
In the infant colony of Jamestowne, Virginia, a young woman resorts to cannibalism to survive as her husband starves to death.
 
Koreatown Ghost Story
15 minutes | United States | 2021    
Horror
Directed by Minsun Park, Teddy Tenenbaum
In this supernatural horror tale based on a Korean ritual starring Margaret Cho and Lyrica Okano, a woman entertains a macabre offer that would let her pursue her dreams, for better or for much much worse.
 
Kumquat Kelly
13 minutes | United States | 2020    
Directed by Shane Allen
A delicious little film about grief.
Living in the blue of his computer screen, a mourning man finds himself at risk of another heartbreak when the object of his daily solace bites off a bit more than she can chew.
 
Matched
4 minutes | United States | 2020    
Horror, Thriller
Directed by Zack Kron
A young woman explores an apartment during a blackout with nothing more than a box of matches.
But she’s not alone...
 
Maya
8 minutes | United States | 2020    
Directed by Maren Lavelle
Maya, a Queer, Korean-American stage manager in New York City, struggles to run the rehearsal for a play about a gay couple falling in love as she pores over the details of her real-life break up from the night before. In a series of flashbacks, we watch Maya and her white partner, Phoebe, reenact their first date, in an attempt to rekindle their romance, which ultimately unravels into an argument about race, class, and privilege within their relationship. In the end, Maya must choose between letting go of her grievances or the woman she once loved.
 
Miss Blueberry Beauty Pageant
12 minutes | United States | 2019    
Horror, Thriller, Comedy
Directed by Sarah Kennedy
Welcome to the 1984 Miss Blueberry Beauty Pageant! Where the girls are a feast for the eyes and as sweet as honey. Follow these three finalists as they navigate the twists and turns of a pageant that reveals a much more sinister secret.
 
Odyssey
14 minutes | United States | 2021    
Sci-Fi, LGBT, Romance
Directed by Christopher Phelps
A selfless young woman must undertake a critical mission that will either save the Earth and all of its inhabitants... or destroy it. Her fearless perseverance is only given pause by the remorseful memories of her past love who languishes on Earth, trapped in a dystopian society.
 
Other Half
10 minutes | United States | 2020    
Drama, Comedy
Directed by Emily Lerer
An atypical love story: two close but deeply flawed friends bond in unexpected ways.
 
Quarantween
4 minutes | United States | 2020    
Directed by Daniel James McCabe
Set on Halloween 2020, this short film follows the only trick-or-treater in NY on an odyssey through a city under lockdown.
 
Seven Fishes
11 minutes | United States | 2021
Drama    
Directed by Jaclyn Gramigna
So wrapped up in creating the perfect holiday memory at their Feast of the Seven Fishes, an Italian American family completely miss the fact that one of their own does not intend to stick around for the dinner...or at all.
 
Sisters
16 minutes | United States | 2020    
Drama
Directed by Sarah Nolen
Two sisters who have grown apart reconnect after the loss of their mother. An exploration of grief, intergenerational feminism and family trauma.
 
Sitting
13 minutes | United States | 2019    
Drama
Directed by Jones
Bryn’s week goes from bad to worse, when her latest babysitting gig turns out to be a grown man. Kyle is terminally ill, and wants company for the last hours of his life - he intends to kill himself by the end of the evening.
 
Snaps
14 minutes | United States | 2020    
Drama
Directed by Joseph Mazzella
Amidst a grief-ridden anxiety attack, a man is gifted with a mental awakening during the funeral of his best friend.
 
Song & Grace
11 minutes | United States | 2020    
Directed by Maisa Chiang
When a stubborn Chinese grandmother can't rely on her usual translator to communicate, she must find a new way to celebrate her 75th birthday with her American granddaughter.
 
The Inconvenience of Being Black
8 minutes | United States | 2020    
Drama
Directed by Ukachi Arinzeh
A young motorist faces the challenge of driving while Black during a routine traffic stop.
 
Things Could Be Worse
7 minutes | United States | 2021    
Drama
Directed by Mecca Mcdonald
After a fight with his coworker young man deals with his anger and the world’s perception of it over the course of the night. In a year where so much pain from black bodies was on display, Writer and Actor David Bell start a conversation about the voice, anger, and joy of black men in America. This short talks about how the world might judge us but how we judge ourselves.
 
WATER
15 minutes | United States | 2020    
Drama, Comedy
Directed by Brittney Rae
In a dystopian Miami landscape in the late 60's, Lucy, our lead character, is trapped in a cult-like pool club, an example of a social group reinforcing societal pressures of conformity. In this world, everyone is required to choose a social group to assimilate to at the age of ten, separated by gender and arranged by skin-tone. As a result of an unorthodox family dynamic, Lucy is self-aware and independent at a young age, a trait that carries onto her young adult life. While in shock after discovering her mother's sudden death, Julian, her estranged friend from a different social group, invites Lucy to a secret gathering of rogue social group members, (each representing a true civil rights activist of the 60's), who are high in revelry and speak on ideologies rebelling against this American Dream.
 
 
Reality/Unscripted:
 
Love Locked
25 minutes | United Kingdom | 2020    
Directed by Breanne Krause
Love Locked is an escape room dating show where individuals are set up on blind dates in an escape room looking to find their true love. If couples are able to escape, there will only be one question left to ask; Do they ever want to see each other again?
 
 
2021 Screenplay Competition: 
 
Finalists: 
 
WALLS&BALLS by Kenneth Klein, Irwin Hahn
The MicroCosmic Cartoon Show by Prema Rose, Hugh A. Rose, Suryananda Rose
Saratoga by Robert Potter
 
Semi-Finalists:
 
Heaven Schmevin by Jim    Norman
Amira by Bob Celli
The Strange Affair of the Elevator by Katy Regnery
THE BRACELETS by Joanne Bellew
Underbelly by Sally Stubbs
Nescience by Bryce Jackman
Just Jane by Carl Huebner
SAVING SIMON by Joanne Bellew
Quest for Light, Adventure of the Magi by Byron Anderson
Racism Is Funny by Greg    Fusco
Are You Wild Like Me? Pilot: Dirt Universe by William Nawrocki
 
Quarter-Finalists:
 
The Mourners by John Painz
Dog Bite by Sean Kenealy
Back in Business by Jim Norman
Review by Jonathan Zarantonello
Bringing Down the Cartel by Chris Feistl
The Postcard by Mike Sorrinni
The Carrier by Todd A Restler
Dead Shot Mary by Robert K. Benson
North River by Joseph M. Montagna
Benjamin Lee High School by John Pastore
6 Fairview Drive by Paul Charisse
 
Honorable Mentions: 
 
Little Compton by Rachel Ingrisano
Yoga Like Me by Eric Hollerbach, Emily Hollerbach
The Overpass by Jeff Baker
Imago by Sean Mannion
I AM HERE by Francisco Solorzano
Shane and Ivy - We're Eloping to Vegas by Sandra Gregory
Hanging Gardens of the Sea and Sky by Zoë Greenbaum
Retirement Road Trip by Joe Leone
Surprise by Robert K. Benson
The Death of Jeremy by David Seader
UNDER DARK by Paul Charisse
 

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