14TH ANNUAL BUSHWICK FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS HYBRID RENDITION RETURNING TO LIVE SCREENINGS AND SPECIAL EVENTS ALONGSIDE VIRTUAL STREAMING OCTOBER 20-24, 2021

 

Inspiring And Thought-Provoking Multicultural, Diverse And NYC-Based Stories; Participants and Panelists Include Creator Mynette Louie, Yael Hersonski, Caryn Coleman, Dana Kuznetzkoff And More

Brooklyn, NY (September 28, 2021) - The Bushwick Film Festival (BFF), one of Brooklyn’s most exciting cultural attractions, is presenting a hybrid rendition for their 14th year with live film screenings, virtual streaming worldwide, special events and panels taking place October 20-24, 2021. Proudly shining a spotlight on diverse filmmakers, this year’s festival will include over 135 independent films from 27 different countries. The latest addition to the festival is the acceptance of screenplays as well as Non-Fungible Token (NFT) videos.

A full day of in-person screenings will take place on October 23 through a partnership with Regal Cinemas in downtown Brooklyn. The festival will also be hosting special events including its Opening Night Reception at Lot 45 in Bushwick on October 20, a full day of industry networking at Circa Brewing Co. in downtown Brooklyn on October 23, and a Movie Industry Conference online on October 24 with panelists including Emmy nominated Producer Mynette Louie, Editor of HBO’s Scenes from a Marriage Yael Hersonski, Rahul Roy from Magnolia’s Theatrical Distribution, Founder of Fourth Agreement Entertainment Dana Kuznetzkoff, Founder of The Future of Film is Female Caryn Coleman and more. The festival will continue streaming all films on its platform watch.bushwickfilmfestival.com with daily filmmaker Q&A’s, and its awards ceremony will be available to watch on Facebook Live.

“Every year our program is dynamic, but what makes this year so special is the renewed enthusiasm and appreciation for personal interactions,” says Founder and CEO Kweighbaye Kotee. “This makes the ability to experience the arts together again so much more exciting. Our hybrid model still has its limitations, but gives us hope for the future. The stories we share always offer us the ability to see ourselves in ways we hadn’t imagined before, and we look forward to the incredible lineup this year.”

Approximately ten filmmakers will walk away with awards in categories such as Best Feature (Narrative & Documentary), Best Short (Narrative & Documentary), and Best Series, joining the ranks of incredible BFF alumni such as Marcus Reinaldo Greene, Dawn Porter, Adepero Oduye, Stefon Bristol, Shaka King, Alexander Dinelaris, Bradford Young, Katori Hall, Kitty Green and many more. The 14th Bushwick Film Festival highlights include: 

  • Women is Losers - In 1960s San Francisco, a once-promising catholic school girl, Celina Guerrera, sets out to rise above the oppression of poverty and invest in a future for herself that sets new precedents for the time. Starring Lorenza Izzo (in a star making turn), Simu Liu (star of the upcoming Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Liza Weil (Gilmore Girls, How To Get Away With Murder).

  • Hudson Falls - The secrets of a small upstate town that revolve around an eccentric scientist (William Sadler) begin to unravel when a private eye from the city (Richard Kind) takes on a seemingly mundane job in an effort to rekindle a relationship with his ex-wife (Jessica Hecht).

  • Emma Without Edmond - Emma (Lynn Cohen) is an embittered, solitary widow. When she discovers old polaroids of her husband at a younger age in bed with another woman, she interrogates his urn and, in a fit of rage, knocks it off the mantle. She vacuums up the ashes and then uses the vacuum cleaner as a proxy for her husband as she embarks on a mission to conjure his spirit so they can have one last fight. 

  • Rehab Cabin - Best friends Chloe and Domenic are quickly growing apart. At Chloe’s insistence, for their last hurrah, they kidnap their favorite celebrity, washed-up former child star Amanda Campbell. Driving a stolen limo, they take Amanda to a secluded cabin where they improvise a rehabilitation program designed to rejuvenate her career.

  • Cracked - It's the end of the summer of 1985 in Queens, New York City. Toya, a feisty young girl, falls in love for the first time. After a series of disturbing events, Toya's affection for Poochy compels her to face her traumatic past.

  • Bangla Surf Girls - Shobe, Aisha and Suma break away from the drudgery of their lives by joining a surf club in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The girls fight family pressure and social judgement for a few hours on the waves each day and gain confidence as their natural skill and prowess gains attention and praise. The joy and freedom of the waves are a stark change from the abuse and hardship they face at home. Soon they are poised to make history as Bangladesh’s first women surfers.  However, the fate of the club itself hangs on the leadership of the coach who has his own challenges. The odds are stacked against them but the girls refuse to give up. Balancing the freedom of the waves with the restrictive realities of their circumstances, we experience the thrill and struggle of coming-of-age in a developing country.

  • Have a Nice Life - After hitting dead ends in life, Jyothi, an Indian housewife, and Sophie, a stoner musician, find themselves on the run from the law, together on a wild, surreal American road trip from Durham, North Carolina to Montreal, Canada.

  • The Knot (Uljhan) - Shirish and Geeta, an upper middle class couple in Lucknow, run over a rickshaw driver with their car and get caught up with dramatically opposing reactions to the tragedy. Shirish attempts to move on, harnessing the invisible protections afforded to him by class structure, and hiding behind the visible walls and locked gates of his home. In parallel, Geeta’s guilt drives her to surreptitiously employ Manoj, the victim’s younger brother, intertwining two lives otherwise separated by class and power. The small collision quickly turns into a dramatic suspense, spurred by greed, betrayal, guilt, and the nocuous effects of grave inequality threaten to unwind the very fabric of each of their lives.

  • The Last Out - Three young Cuban baseball players leave their families and risk exile to train in Central America and chase their dreams of playing in the Major Leagues. Filmed over more than four years, The Last Out tells the very human story of people caught between countries who want nothing more than to make a better life for their families. 

  • Boy From The Blaze - Aleixo Paz A.K.A “Boy from the Blaze” is the survivor of a tragic accident that destroyed his life and that of his family. About to turn 18, without a job or an education, he spends his days in the darkness of his room. Consumed by pain and anger, his only hope is writing songs for an imaginary crowd. Inspired by a friend and encouraged by his mother, he will find the strength to go on stage and overcome his fears. 

  • FINESSE - An unexpected psychedelic bonding experience leads three roommates to question their flailing intimate relationships and risk it all. We follow Martell (Vincent Martell), Kizer (Shea Couleé), and Daryn (Jeez Loueez), as they struggle to survive capitalism and find intimacy in Chicago. Daryn explores her sexual fantasies and gets heavy-handed with a submissive. Kizer lip-syncs for a drag competition show. Martell thinks he hit the jackpot with a new client. 

  • Americanized - Growing up in Oakland’s hip-hop culture, Eng struggles with her Chinese American identity. To her high school basketball team, she’s just that girl who sits on the bench; but to the Asian kids she’s "Americanized." As her sophomore year of high school comes to an end, Eng tries to find a sense of belonging within the two worlds that don't accept her.

Tickets to the 14th Annual Bushwick Film Festival are now available at watch.bushwickfilmfestival.com 


Bushwick Film Festival would like to thank the following sponsors and partners: Spectrum, Regal Cinemas, New York City Artists Corps, Broadway Stages, Circa Brewing Co., Heard City, Liman Video Rental, Lot 45 and Schenps Media. 

About The Bushwick Film Festival

The Bushwick Film Festival is a M/WBE certified independent film festival based in Brooklyn, showcasing the best-emerging films from NYC and around the world and featuring conversations with leading voices in the film industry. Over the last 14 years, we have been recognized by our community, top press outlets, local elected officials, and just recently Lucy Liu for doing groundbreaking work in film and entertainment! 

Our annual festival attracts over 3500 attendees, as well as more than 1500 film submissions from 60 countries around the world, contributing to the Borough's cultural and economic growth. We are committed to community building, empowering underrepresented storytellers, and increasing diversity in film and other forms of media through year-round programming. Our programming includes free public screenings and events, hands-on film production workshops, and career training for young adults so that they have the tools to enter a successful career in the media industry.

For more information visit watch.bushwickfilmfestival.com. Follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

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Contact: Fox Greenberg Public Relations,  bushwickfilmfestival@foxgreenberg.com 

 
kweighbaye Kotee