8th Bushwick Film Festival wowed audiences, and attracted the industry’s best!
8th Bushwick Film Festival wowed audiences, and attracted the industry’s best!
“The annual Bushwick Film Festival has evolved into not only one of the borough's strongest cinematic events, but a breeding ground for aspiring young filmmakers”
“Move over L.A.: Bushwick is the epicenter of the independent movie scene..”
Brooklyn, NY (October 16, 2015) – The 8th Annual Bushwick Film Festival (BFF), presented by Slate Property Group and Sebastian Printing, once again wowed audiences, inspired filmmakers and attracted the industry’s best! The 40-event festival kicked off with a hugely successful Opening Night screening of the Festival’s winning Feature Narrative film Wallabout (NYC) directed by Eric McGinty. The other winners for this year, were Uncle Tony, Three Fools and the Secret Service (Bulgaria) (Best Documentary), Come, The Light (Macau) (Best Short Film), and Lahore Landing (Pakistan) (Best Web Series). The awards were presented by festival sponsor, MOFILM, who also provided a production grant of $2,000 to the Best Narrative and Best Short Film categories. To read about winners, see red carpet photos and watch all panels you can visit the festival’s website: www.bushwickfilmfestival.com
Doubling the amount of screenings within a year’s time (24 features, 25 shorts), the festival expanded across its hometown borders into Williamsburg, Dumbo, and the Lower East Side. Prestigious news outlets such as Fox News and Village Voice covered the festival as well as local outlets such as Bushwick Daily, Brooklyn Spectator, Radio Free Brooklyn(listen!) and many more. Attendees included media professionals from the New York Times, Forbes, CNN, Elite Daily, UTA and BRIC TV to name a few. From the festival’s kick off and filmmaker welcoming ceremony in August held at the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, to the support of local restaurants who held free industry events for the BFF, such as Lot 45, Montana’s, Mominette, Rookery, and Amaranto, The Bushwick Film Festival has become a beacon in the community and a featured event in the Borough of Brooklyn.
The approach the BFF takes to offering a wider range of events to its festival goers is becoming very popular. “It’s really important for me to hold a spotlight on the success that women are having in both the film and tech industries” said Festival Director Kweighbaye Kotee. “That’s why we continue to bring back our Women in Film & TV panel and decided to introduce a Women In Tech Panel this year as part of our NYU New Media Interactive Day.” A few additional highlights to note, especially with its October timing, is the screening of the horror film, Old 37, the screening of the films Sand Dollars (Dominican Republic), Out of my Hands (Liberia), the popular short film programs, the Bushwick homecoming of the film Bizarre, and the controversial Two Black Men a Week which focuses on the recent police shootings and gun violence against the African American community. Popular panels included American vs European Film Market and Q&A with the Director’s of Glen’s Village and Two Black Men. The festivities came to a close with a champagne reception at Montana’s Trail House and an awards ceremony at LightSpace Studios on Sunday, October 4th.
The festival would like to thank all of its Sponsors & Partners, Filmmakers, Participants, Venues and loyal audiences for contributing to the success of this year’s 8th edition. If you are wondering what’s next on deck, then make sure to visit The festival’s latest documentary project, The Bushwick Diaries at www.thebushwickdiaries.com and attend it’s kickstart party on Friday, November 6th. For event information and tickets visit the film’s website.