Award-Winning Filmmaker Brian Ratigan Named 2022 AoBFF Guest Festival Director

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.”

"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.”
— Award-Winning Filmmaker Brian Ratigan

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."

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Entries for AoBFF '22 are now open for films and screenplays in all genres.