Cambridge, MA – Following up on last week’s feverish announcement, the Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) is proud to reveal the remainder of its eclectic 19th edition, taking place from March 22nd through the 26th at the Brattle Theatre and Harvard Film Archive. BUFF’s already dynamic lineup is rounded out with even more intriguing films from around the world, including over 80 short films and music videos that promise to disturb, dazzle, and delight.
BUFF is honored and thrilled to be hosting the East Coast Premiere of hotly-anticipated doc A Life in Waves, an intimate portrait of one of the most influential electronic composers of the last 40 years, Suzanne Ciani. Documentarian duo (and BUFF alum) Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason will be in attendance, along with the diva of the diode herself for a post-screening Q&A at the Harvard Film Archive. Fans of synth would be remiss to miss this! On the other end of the documentary spectrum is our New England Premiere of Dean Fleischer-Camp’s Fraud, an impossible to categorize hybrid-doc and bold experiment in filmmaking that explores the essence of “truth” in a post-truth era. Come and catch one of the most controversial films to take HotDocs by storm last year.
Lovers of all things dark and disturbing are advised to pencil in this quadruplet of narrative nightmares: A grieving mother and a bullying occultist (Steve Oram) face their demons in black magic thriller A Dark Song, from Irish, first-time director Liam Gavin. Valentin Hitz’s gorgeous and unnerving Hidden Reserves gives us a peek at the future-that-could-be (ponder this: death insurance) with his Austrian dystopian sci-fi masterpiece. And speaking of hidden, BUFF presents for the first time ever a Secret Screening; we can’t tell you what it is, but we can tell you that it’s one of the most highly anticipated genre titles coming out this year. Take the leap into the rabbit hole with your pals at BUFF and catch it before all your friends.
Lightening things up substantially is a triple threat of comedic treats: A group of awful idiots fail at throwing a party over and over in Slamdance smash Neighborhood Food Drive, with BUFF alum & director Jerzy Rose and writer Halle Butler in the house. Emerson College alum Michael Reich brings his surreal and sensational She’s Allergic to Cats to the Brattle; you’ll laugh, cry, and ponder duck boobs. Rounding things out is our anniversary screening of oft underappreciated Southland Tales, Richard Kelly’s gonzo anarchic vision of the near future (which may be closer to the near present), which we lift up and celebrate ten years later.
The festive environ would be incomplete without a set of accompanying parties: BUFF delivers in spades this year with our opening night, All Your Heroes Are Dead-themed shindig at Zuzu (hosted by Moon Button and all things vinyl). We’ll have a night of karaoke at Tasty Burger, themed Dystopioke (aren’t you curious), a late-night jaunt out to Boston Bowl for Big Lebowski-themed shenanigans (costumes highly encouraged, dudes), an incredible closing night happening at the Lilypad, hosted by our favorite merchants of awful, The Whore Church, and complete with synth soundscape provided by Dust Witch, Antoni Maiovvi, and Timothy Fife. And, of course, more! Save up your stamina because we work hard and play harder on team BUFF.
Grab Festival Passes, only available through Kickstarter, until March 17th: bit.ly/KickstartBUFF19
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BOSTON UNDERGROUND FINAL WAVE
A DARK SONG – East Coast Premiere
Liam Gavin | Ireland | 2016
A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.
A LIFE IN WAVES – East Coast Premiere
Brett Whitcomb | USA | 2017
This incredible documentary explores the even more incredible life and innovations of composer and electronic music pioneer, Suzanne Ciani. Join us for a Q&A with Suzanne & the filmmakers following the screening!
FRAUD – New England Premiere
Dean Fleischer-Camp | USA | 2016
A struggling family commits fraud in this contentious docu-ficto hybrid.
HIDDEN RESERVES – East Coast Premiere
Valentin Hitz | Austria/Germany/Switzerland | 2016
Where death with dignity comes at a premium, an insurance salesman turned narc must reevaluate his ideology when he falls for the rebel he’s assigned to entrap.
NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD DRIVE – East Coast Premiere
Jerzy Rose | USA | 2017
A group of awful idiots fail at throwing a party over and over.
SECRET SCREENING – Secret Premiere
Secret Director | Secret Country | Secret Year
One of the best genre films coming out this year.
SHE’S ALLERGIC TO CATS – New England Premiere
Michael Reich | USA | 2016
A dog groomer in Hollywood aspires to be more than a dog groomer in Hollywood.
SOUTHLAND TALES – Anniversary Screening
Richard Kelly | USA | 2006
During a three day heat wave just before a huge 4th of July celebration, an action star stricken with amnesia meets up with a porn star who is developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.
BOSTON UNDERGROUND SHORTS LINEUP
Shorts Block DISORDERED STATES:
A TOWN CALLED THEOCRACY
Jehad Al-Kateeb, Syria/USA, 15 min.
Boy and girl meet cute through the magic of municipal overreach.
GUTS
Carrie Drzik, USA, 4 min.
The delightful tale about a plucky young heroine left to her own devices.
MARGINAL CIRCUS EMBASSY
Oliver Kowalczyk, Spain, 10 min.
We can’t always hide our anxiety and loneliness with costumed pool parties.
ISADORE
Brooke Paxton, Australia, 14 min.
A German Expressionist ode to pantomime and our desperate need to please another at our own expense.
YULETIDE
Marinah Janello, USA, 5 min.
Krampus can spy you. But that doesn’t mean you can spy on Krampus.
WALL
Giannis Vlahopolous, Greece, 14 min.
Those who control the money may also be controlling your outrage.
YOU CAN’T ESCAPE
Goirick Das, USA, 3 min.
Ding dong ditching—or the endless cycle of running from our fears and ourselves.
NO WAVE
Stephane Lapointe, Canada, 12 min.
After he hears a man scream within the calming sea of a relaxation radio station, sleep deprivation is the least of Henry’s problems.
BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION
Tim Woodall, UK, 15 min.
The brief hijacking of a TV signal leads a lonely, grief-wracked video archivist onto an obsessive quest for meaning.
Comedy Shorts Block DON’T LOOK BACK INTO THE SUN:
DEATH METAL
Chris McInroy, USA, 5 min.
A metalhead gets passed down a satanic guitar that riffs to shreds.
CALLING IN DEMONS
Porcelain Dalya, USA, 8 min.
Instead of calling out of work sick, Daphne finds that she has demons in her home.
EULOGILIA
Alex Grossman, USA, 11 min.
After her bizarre addiction to eulogize is discovered, a troubled young woman fights to prove her sanity while attempting to survive group therapy.
EARWORM
Tara Price, USA, 5 min.
A lonely man does battle with a relentless piece of music.
IDIOMS ORIGINS ANOTHER TALE
Jim McDonough, USA, 6 min.
According to the legend, each and every idiom came to be after happening in real life. These stories have never been told. Until now
COMPUTER FIGHTERS
Kevin James & Neil Cicierega & Ryan Murphy, USA, 22 min.
When the local rich kid begins to hog a new groundbreaking video game at the arcade, it’s up to Ryan, Neil, and Kevin to stop him.
PET MONKEY
Eric Maira, USA, 8 min.
A date night turns ugly when a persistent boyfriend offers to buy his girlfriend a monkey.
STAYCATION
Zachary Fleming, USA, 12 min.
Rob just wants some quality alone time. So does the apartment he rented.
4D
Laurence Rosier Stanies, Australia, 7 min.
if the fourth dimension is time, what would a real 4D printer look like? A time machine? A black hole?
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Mark Kuczewski, UK, 6 min.
One man’s quest to rekindle his love with his zombie bride.
TAMPOON
Jeanne Jo, USA, 7 min.
When Miranda makes bad decisions about her love life, a possessed tampon enters to take care of business.
CHICKEN TUESDAYS
Brandon Daley, USA, 10 min.
Will Gillman sets out to impress his date by bringing her to a chicken photography competition at a local bar. From the director of last year’s Savasana.
Animated Shorts Block GET THE BALANCE RIGHT:
THE PAST INSIDE THE PRESENT
James Siewert, USA, 12 min.
A couple replays the same encounter day after day.
ADAM
Veselin Efremov, Sweden, 6 min.
A criminal wakes to find he has been stripped of his body and placed into a machine.
MOLAR
Luke Liberty, USA, 2 min.
Strange things are afoot in the dark of the forest.
HOLD ME (CA CAW CA CAW)
Renee Zhan, USA, 11 min.
A bird and her boyfriend are seemingly happy until she wants more.
PANIC ATTACK!
Eileen O’Meara, USA, 3 min.
Maybe you did leave the coffee on; maybe your house plants are gaslighting you.
LILLY HITS THE ROAD
The Bum Family, Canada, 5 min.
An adventure of a 10 foot tall orange monster and her friend Fluffle.
ROGER BALLEN’S THEATRE OF APPARITIONS
Emma Calder & Ged Haney, UK, 5 min.
The theatre of the subconscious; sex and death cavort for the audience’s amusement.
THE GOLDEN CHAIN
Adebukola Bodunrin & Ezra Claytan Daniels, USA, 13 min.
On a distant space station, a scientist becomes obsessed with the pocket universe she is monitoring.
THE HISTORY OF MAGIC: ENSUEÑO
Jose Luis Gonzalez, USA, 5 min.
In a small Texas town, a teenage girl’s imagination transforms her bike ride home.
THE ITCHING
Dianne Bellino, USA, 15 min.
A wolf just wants to party with some bunnies, but there is something under her skin.
OPOLIS
John F. Quirk, USA, 3 min.
Lookout! Space alien Attack!
Midnight Shorts Block TRIGGER WARNING:
HELL FOLLOWS
Brian Harrison, Japan/USA, 11 min.
The soul of a sadistic killer posses the body of his identical twin, and is out for vengeance.
STUDDED NIGHTMARE
Jean Claude Leblanc, Canada, 9 min.
Can a man resist the pull of the suicide chair?
FOR A GOOD TIME CALL
Izzy Lee, USA, 12 min.
Maybe you shouldn’t.
MUTT
Bruce James, USA, 14 min.
Faith will do some crazy thing to you, down in the buckle of the bible belt.
MOUSE
Celine Held & Logan George, USA, 11 min.
Two cokeheads come up with an uniquely opportunistic way to stick it to the man. Held and George are a filmmaking duo to keep an eye on.
THE LOWER RACE
Graham Roberts, USA, 10 min.
In the near future, when our toxic earth is ruled by giant ants, one part-human warrior is all that stands against total Insecta domination.
FANGS & CLAWS 2
Francisco Lacerda, Portugal, 17 min.
Get ready for the trashiest sequel of the year!
PRINCESS
Jonty Williment-Knowles, USA, 5 min.
A troubling love story, told through a broken lens.
FUCKING FREAK
Salamo Manetti-Lax, USA, 15 min.
As an Alien walks the sun drenched landscape of Los Angeles, it encounters a slew of angry inhabitants mirroring various facets of LA society. A nice little message picture.
New England Horror Shorts Block HOMEGROWN HORROR:
LETTING
Hannah Neurotica, Vermont, 3 min.
A little girl’s nightmares manifest in her toy collection.
LOOKER
Diana Porter, Massachusetts, 10 min.
A scorned woman has a special plans for her lecherous harassers.
FRACTAL
Anna Gravél, Maine, 14 min.
A woman’s return to her childhood home releases terrible memories.
STRANGE HARVEST
Stee McMorris, Massachusetts, 6 min.
A pair of strangers awaken to find themselves imprisoned in a bizarre alien goo.
THE DISSOLVING MAN
Ben Swicker, Massachusetts, 20 min.
An aimless young adult finds his life literally disintegrating before his eyes.
THE PRICE OF BONES
Brandon Taylor, Massachusetts, 10 min.
A pair of women go to disturbing lengths to achieve a socially-desired body type.
THE CALL OF CHARLIE
Nick Spooner, Rhode Island, 14 min.
A Lovecraftian creature makes things awkward for guests at a dinner party.
PEPPERCORN HEARTS
Christine Louise Marshall, Maine, 13 min.
A funeral holds more than sadness for the spurned mourners gathered there.
Shorts Playing with BUFF Features:
WALDEN PINK
Peter Bolte, USA, 11 min.
Walden sits on a park bench as an endless stream of religious proselytizers, process servers, and angry bartenders distract him from from finding peace and clarity to his repetitive and draining existence. From BUFF alum Peter Bolte (Dr. Sketchy’s) and starring David Yow of The Jesus Lizard.
HOME EDUCATION
Andrea Niada, United Kingdom, 25 min
A domineering mother and her inquisitive daughter engage in unusual acts of faith in an attempt to cajole an attic-bound pater familias back from the dead.
THE BRIDGE PARTNER
Gabriel Olson, USA, 14 min
A timid housewife is jolted into a fight for her survival or sanity by her new partner at a weekly bridge game when she thinks she hears a whispered threat.
FROM THE DIZZINESS OF FREEDOM: THE PHILOSOPHY VESSEL
Melissa Ferrari, USA, 8 min.
A visualization of the strategies people incorporate to find meaning in their lives inspired by the mythology and functions of mazes and labyrinths across history.
THE QUANTIFIED SELF
Gleb Osatinski, USA, 11 min
Lozinski, Clare and their daughters Daniela1 and Daniela2 prepare for the girls’ first trip to a The Pillar, which gives meaning to their highly ordered lives. But The Pillar takes and gives and when it blesses the family with a new addition, it takes from them in ways they can’t anticipate.
INK
Ashlea Wessel, Canada, 10 min
A traumatized woman seeks penance and personal transformation through tattooing after surviving a devastating pregnancy. One night, drenched in booze and ink, her deepest fears threaten to consume her.
THREE POINT DYNAMICS
Keaton Smith, USA, 15 min.
An alcoholic, theoretical physicist seeks to right the wrongs of his past by applying his unified theory to reality.
BYEFURNOW
Michael Elliott Dennis, USA, 17 min.
A bereaved pet owner, on the suggestion of a stranger in a bar, resorts to a mobile app to help him find closure.
AN ELDRITCH PLACE
Julien Jauniaux, Belgium, 17 min.
Terror grips a man keeping watch over an erratic researcher’s late night experiments.
RITES OF VENGEANCE
Izzy Lee, USA, 5m
Nuns’ justice comes, their will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
TROLL: A SOUTHERN TALE
Marinah Janello, USA, 12 min.
An eccentric artist navigates self-expression through his experiences living and growing up in the South.
DISCONTINUITY
Lori Felker, USA, 15 min
When Tabitha moves back “home” to the house she shared with her long-distance boyfriend Stephen, their reunion is interrupted by communication problems, neighbors, and a clowder of cats.
BOSTON UNDERGROUND MUSIC VIDEOS
“Turbo Killer”
Carpenter Brut
Seth Ickerman
“Shooter”
Clipping.
Carlos Lopez Estrada
“Being”
Millington
Josh Thomas & Darcy Prendergast
“Father”
Rysy
Martyna Iwańska
“Ten Year Tenure”
Halfsour
Ariana Ratner
“Molly”
Palehound
Lara Jean Gallagher & Brian Kinkley
“No Reason”
Bonobo & Nick Murphy
Oscar Hudson
“Bury the Body”
Ruby Rose Fox
Ruby Rose Fox & Dave Brophy & Roger Metcalf
“Happy”
Mitski
Maegan Houang
“Good Earth”
Fawn
Ariana Anderson
“Nothing”
Tesla Boy
Ryan Patrick
“Roller”
Quilt
Adi Putra
“Ya Ya Ya”
You Won’t
Josh Arnoudse
“Big Dead Heart”
Eldridge Rodriguez
Pat Breen & Cameron Keiber
“Overcame the Sun”
Cloudy Busey
Julian Clark & Adam Hersko & Matt Twohig
“Dropped Bench Press”
Skinny Bones
Eli Susser
“Back Around, Devil”
Dessert
Alex Lill
“Black Man In A White World”
Michael Kiwanuka
Hiro Murai
“Lite Spots”
Kaytranada
Martin C. Pariseau
“Blood in Love”
Ruby Cube
Pierre Teulieres & Milo Gony
“Closer”
Lemaitre
Ewan Jones Morris & Casey Raymond
“I Wanna Prove To You”
Lemon Twigs
Nick Roney
Limelight Magazine 