2018 BFF Award Winners Announced and Festival Photos Posted!
Bushwick Film Festival Celebrated 11th Anniversary With 95 Films & 3,500+ Attendees
*View Official #Bushwick2018 Photo Gallery*
Featured On: NY1, AM New York, BKLYNR, WPIX 11, BKReader, Bushwick Daily, Sincerely Hueman, Revelist & More
"The Bushwick Film Festival is working to shine a light on indie filmmakers and diversity in the film industry.” — NBC
“The arts haven’t always reflected NYC’s Diversity… The Bushwick Film festival makes an effort to change That” — NY1
“The event brings together filmmakers, artists, and creative thinkers.” — Fox News
“Get to know NYC’s next filmmaking generation at the Bushwick Film Festival.” — Tribeca Film
“A celebration of film diversity and culture will be on display this weekend ...At The Bushwick Film Festival” — AMNY
“An opportunity to see amazing films that you won’t find in regular U.S. cinemas. They are true gems!” — Indiewire
Brooklyn, NY – November 20, 2018 – The Bushwick Film Festival (BFF) celebrated its 11th anniversary last month, with nearly 100 films, a dozen panels and events, and over 3,500 attendees! Follow this link to see Best of Photos. Five exceptional filmmakers were chosen by BFF’s jury to accept awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short and Best Web Series/New Media. Winners, Runner-Ups and Programmer’s Choice awards included:
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE: Anissa 2002 | Fabienne Facco
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Victorious | Robert Mac
BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM: The Shuttle | Lu Han
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM: Oleg | Boris Krichevsky & Alexander A. Brodsky
BEST WEB SERIES/NEW MEDIA: Brooklynification | Keith Miller
RUNNER-UP NARRATIVE FEATURE: Are You Glad I’m Here | Noor Gharzeddine
RUNNER-UP DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: A Day With Martha | Josh Ethan Johnson
RUNNER-UP NARRATIVE SHORT: Babs | Celine Held & Logan George
RUNNER-UP DOCUMENTARY SHORT: The World’s Greatest Storyteller | Horatio Baltz
RUNNER-UP WEB SERIES/NEW MEDIA: KYNNSTLAH | Sandra Bertalanffy & Joel Fendelman
PROGRAMMER’S CHOICE NARRATIVE FEATURE: Sange i Solen (Songs in the Sun) | Kristian Sejrbo Lidegaard
PROGRAMMER’S CHOICE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Seaman and 207 | Sophia Tewa
PROGRAMMER’S CHOICE NARRATIVE SHORT: Allen Anders - Live at the Comedy Castle (circa 1987) | Laura Moss
PROGRAMMER’S CHOICE NARRATIVE SHORT: The Shit! (An Opera) | Kevin Rios
PROGRAMMER’S CHOICE DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Coronados (Crowned) | Josefina Alen & Abril Lucini
PROGRAMMER’S CHOICE ANIMATION SHORT: ねこ の ひ (Cat Days) | Jon Frickey
Surrounding this celebratory anniversary, BFF presented their 2nd annual Rising Star Award to BFF alum Stefon Bristol. The Rising Star Award was created to acknowledge Bushwick Film Festival alumni who have broken new ground in the film industry and are achieving notable levels of success. It’s a testament to the recipient’s hard work and to the festival's continued commitment to give incredibly talented filmmakers and creators a spotlight. In 2017, the festival screened Bristol’s short film See You Yesterday and he is currently editing the feature length version, which is produced by Spike Lee.
BFF’s jury included:
JURY: NARRATIVE FEATURES
Dana Gills, Lionsgate
Bilge Ebiri, Film Critic
Catherine Curtin, Actress
Rotimi Paul, Actor
Graham Fine, Film Sales Company
JURY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Kristen Fitzpatrick, Women Make Movies
Sola Fasehun, United Talent Agency
Mat Levy, Passion River
Daniel Cantagallo, Cargo Film & Releasing
JURY: SHORT FILMS & WEB SERIES/NEW MEDIA
Aijah Keith, Acquisitions Manager, IFC Films
Gabrielle Nadig, Beachside
Jeff Seelbach, Director, Non-Fiction Programming, Topic Studios
Elaine Del Valle, Producer, Writer, Actress
Sponsors for BFF 2018 included:
B&H Photo, Spectrum, 100 Bogart, McCarren Hotel & Pool, Brugal 1888, Liman Video Rental, No Muse No Art, Camber, Partida Tequila, Node Living, Canon, Brooklyn Fire Proof, Brooklyn Crafted, Essentia, Brooklyn Oenology, Fine & Raw, Bushwick Daily, Mixmag, Radio Free Brooklyn, Syndicated, Lot 45, Chemistry Creative, LightSpace Studios, House of Yes, The Rookery, UpNorth
Keep an eye out for BFF 2019! For more information, please visit www.bushwickfilmfestival.com
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About Founder, CEO Kweighbaye Kotee
Kweighbaye Kotee is the founder of the Bushwick Film Festival (BFF). Dedicated to her community and the arts, Kotee serves on The Bushwick Community Board and is co-chair of its Arts & Culture committee. In addition, in 2016 she founded MCCG, an M/WBE community affairs company that helps companies positively engage with communities to create empowering opportunities for its residents and local organizations. To date, her company has helped facilitate the distribution of over $400,000 in grants to local organizations and artists.
Born in Liberia, she and her family immigrated to the U.S. at the brink of the Liberian Civil war. She attended public school in Newark, NJ where she was awarded a scholarship from the Wight Foundation to attend Blair Academy, a private boarding high school. She moved on to receive her B.S in Media, Culture, and Communications from New York University.
She has been featured on NBC, NY1, Fox News, The Revelist, Huffington Post, POPSUGAR, Delta Air Lines, Brooklyn Magazine, Indiewire, Tribeca Film and lives in Brooklyn.
About the Bushwick Film Festival
Founded in 2007, The Bushwick Film Festival (BFF) is a leading independent film and media company in Brooklyn. The festival is hailed as one of Brooklyn’s most influential cinematic events for its contribution to the borough’s artistic, cultural, and economic growth. The festival attracts film and entertainment industry leaders at national and international levels; and showcases films created by the best and most diverse emerging independent filmmakers in Brooklyn and worldwide. BFF provides a platform for emerging filmmakers to share their stories and present opportunities for them to make a living doing what they love. BFF provides spaces for audiences from all backgrounds to connect and discover new independent movies and experience unique cultural events.
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Shoshie Aborn | Big Picture Media
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