Boston Underground Film Festival

The Boston Underground Film Festival is an annual event held in the Boston, Massachusetts, area that specializes in alternative film and video. The Boston Underground Film Festival, also known as BUFF, is the largest underground film festival in New England, spotlighting short films and feature length films that would not otherwise find an audience. It is the only film festival in the world to give an award for "Most Effectively Offensive."

Despite the festival's title, BUFF has not taken place in Boston since 2003. The 2004 festival was held mainly in Arlington, MA. In 2005, BUFF was held entirely in Somerville, MA. From 2006-2008, BUFF has taken place entirely in Cambridge, MA. Although BUFF, as an organization, hosts year round programming at various Boston venues (such as Space 242 in the South End and the Milky Way Lounge in Jamaica Plain), there seem to be no current plans to hold the festival in the City of Boston.

History

Started in 1998, by film professor/curator David Kleiler, BUFF was an extension of an all night film marathon produced by Kleiler and Dima Ballin. The First Annual Boston Underground Film Festival took place in February of 1999 at the now defunct Revolving Museum in South Boston. Described by programmer Bernard Broginart as "a wonderful hoax of a film festival," [ [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=155498 "The Harvard Crimson", "Cine Manic" March 5, 1999] ] the first BUFF was an extremely informal event. Patrons were encouraged to wander from room to room for a single ticket price in the art gallery converted to a cinema. This format was continued for the 2000 festival.

In the years following, BUFF has adopted a more traditional festival format with set screening start times and using actual cinemas and screening rooms. Between 2001 and 2004, BUFF had expanded and contracted with no central location or venue and no set duration. The festival took place during the month of February from 1999 to 2002. In 2003, it was moved to October; then to May in 2004. During this period, numerous venues housed BUFF screenings, including the Milky Way Lounge in Jamaica Plain, The Allston Cinema Underground (now defunct), The Arlington Regent Theatre, and the Brattle Theatre.

By 2005, BUFF was under new management, with Anna Feder and Kevin Monahan taking over as co-managing directors and bringing on Bryan McKay as graphic designer. David Kleiler retained Executive Director duties this year. One of Feder and Monahan's first actions was to feature the Bacchus bunny front and center by using McKay's striking designs. They also centralized operations during this year, with all screenings taking place at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square. In 2006 they made Harvard Square BUFF's new home, using the Brattle Theatre as the primary venue. The Brattle also hosted the festival in 2007 and 2008. Kleiler stepped down as Executive Director after the 2006 festival.

BUFF's core staff is currently:Executive Director - Anna Feder, Director of Programming - Kevin Monahan, Managing Director - Nicole McConvery, Associate Director/Graphic Design - Bryan McKay

The Bacchus Award

Rather than giving cash or trade value prizes for awards, BUFF doles out a trophy, that vibrates when held, in the shape of a demonic black bunny with red eyes. The Bacchus Award was incorporated into BUFF in its second year and has since become the official mascot of the festival, a focal point in poster/logo design, and the rationale behind the festival's red/black color scheme. "And the bunny goes to..." is the much-anticipated phrase at the award ceremony that closes the festival. A new version of Bacchus, clad in white briefs and clutching a liquor bottle was unveiled for the 2008 festival. The 2008 Bacchus was designed by Casey A. Riley.

Notable films featured

*"I Stand Alone", Gaspar Noe (2001)
*"Rejected", Don Hertzfeldt (2001)
*"Shucking the Curve", Todd Verow (2001)
*"We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll", Penelope Spheeris (2001)
*"Don't Ask, Don't Tell", Doug Miles (2002)
*"Zero Day", Ben Coccio (2003, Best of Fest winner)
*"Horns and Halos", Galinsky/Hawley (2003)
*"Titler", Jonathan Bekemeier/Gregory Roman (2003)
*"Searching For Mr. Butch", S.G. Collins (2003, encore in 2005)
*"Dear Pillow", Bryan Poyser (2004, Best of Fest winner)
*"", David Frickas (2004)
*"Son of Satan", J.J. Villard (2004)
*"", Douglas Buck (2005)
*"", Elza Kephart (2005, Best of Fest winner)
*"Thundercrack!", Curt McDowell, (2005)
*"Stryker", Noam Gonick, (2005)
*"Ennui", Charles Doran (2005)
*"Rick Trembles' Goopy Spasms Live Cartoon Show", Rick Trembles (2005)
*"Neighborhood Watch" (aka "Deadly End"), Graeme Whifler (2006)
*"Monsters", Robert Morgan (2006)
*"The French Guy", Ann Marie Fleming (2006, Best of Fest winner)
*"Psychopathia Sexualis", Brett Wood (2006)
*"Twitch", Leah Meyerhoff (2006)
*"American Stag", Benjamin Meade (2007)
*"Dante's Inferno", Sean Meredith (2007)
*"Viva", Anna Biller (2007, Best of Fest winner)
*"The Hamster Cage", Larry Kent (2007)
*"Roman", Angela Bettis (2007)
*"Gary's Touch", Ken Takahashi (2007)
*"La Belle Bête", Karim Hussain (2008, Best of Fest winner)
*"The Wizard of Gore", Jeremy Kasten (2008)
*"Pop Skull", Adam Wingard (2008)
*"Who is KK Downey?" Darren Curtis & Pat Kiley (2008)
*"Otis", Tony Krantz (2008)

Notable guests

* Bill Plympton (2003)
* George A. Romero (2004)
* Douglas Buck (2005)
* Ann Marie Fleming (2006)
* Lloyd Kaufman (2006)
* Angela Bettis (2007)
* Lucky McKee (2007)
* Anna Biller (2007)
* Todd Verow (2007)
* Larry Kent (2007)
* Karim Hussain (2008)
* Jeremy Kasten (2008)
* Tony Krantz (2008)

An Interview with BUFF Founder "David Kleiler"

Kleiler has found a place for himself in the wonderful world of bizarre, alternative, offensive and at times disturbing films. In our interview, we talked about the year long film project "12" amongest other insightful, and undiscovered movies. Years past, Kleiler has been a regular on "A Time to Review" discussing the latest happenings with underground filmmaking. Kleiler can be seen on Brookline Studios on a recently taped interview with Executive Producer and Host [http://www.bnpg.org/danielberman.html Daniel Berman] .

Kleiler can be seen on Thursdays at 8am then, rebroadcasted at 8pm, Sundays at 8:30pm, and Fridays at 2pm, channel 3. The program is currently airing on [http://www.batv.org Brookline Studios] .

References

External links

* [http://www.bostonunderground.org/ Boston Underground Film Festival] website
* [http://www.myspace.com/bostonunderground Boston Underground Film Festival] at MySpace
* [http://fargofilmmaking.wikia.com/wiki/Boston_Underground_Film_Festival Boston Underground Film Festival] at the Fargo Filmmaking Wiki Project
* [http://www.brattlefilm.com/ Brattle Theatre] website
* [http://www.localsightings.com/ Local Sightings] David Kleiler's film consulting business