Buffalo, New York – Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival returns to Dipson Theatres’ Eastern Hills Cinema for in-person screenings, premieres, and filmmaker Q&As Fiday, November 5th – Thursday, November 11th. Filmmakers from around the country will attend and network with local artists and moviegoers. Over 90 films will screen, primarily from the genres of action, horror, science fiction, and animation. In addition, sound mixer Adam Bloch will receive the festival’s Local Hero Award for his many contributions to the western New York film community at the Dreamer Awards presentation held at the WBBZ TV studio in the Eastern Hills Mall on Sunday, November 7th.
Among the festival highlights:
A 40th anniversary screening of Fear No Evil, an Omen-like horror film directed by Frank LaLoggia in Rochester, which programmers Greg Lamberson and Chris Scioli credit as the first horror feature produced in the area. Friday, Nov. 5th, 7 pm.
The western New York premiere of New York Ninja, a campy martial arts film shot in New York City in 1984 and only completed this year, featuring the talents of Don “the Dragon” Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock. Sat, Nov. 6th. 7 pm.
The World Premiere of Self Isolated, a pandemic-related suspense thriller written and directed by Chad Ridgely, who will attend. Sat, Nov. 5th, 4:30 pm.
The North American premiere of the thriller Mystery Spot, about travelers drawn to a mystical roadside attraction, written and directed by Mel House, who will attend. Sat, Nov. 6th, 9:30 pm.
Clowns in the Woods, a comedic horror film directed by Rochester filmmakers Adrian Esposito and Curt Markham, who will attend. Sat, Nov. 6th, 1:30 pm.
The NYS film festival premiere of The Last Frankenstein, filmed in Central New York, with writer-director David Weaver.
Abyssal Spider, a Taiwanese film about a giant spider-crab hybrid that attacks the crew of a freighter, with outstanding special effects. Wed, Nov. 10th, 4 pm.
Advance tickets are available at Dipsontheatres.com, and All Festival Passes are available at the box office. Admission is $10 per screening, $20 for a Day Pass, and $70 for an All Festival Pass. Visit www.buffalodreamsfilmfest.com for additional details.
The 15th Annual Buffalo International Film Festival starts tonight at the North Park Theatre with the local premiere of Luguna Ave produced by Buffalo Expat Alison Barone. In this charmingly campy, lo-fi sci-fi comedy, a disaffected former musician is drawn into the mysterious and sinister world of his downstairs neighbor.
LAGUNA AVE TRAILER
The Buffalo Int’l Film Festival is excited to announce this year’s lineup and its return to presenting screenings at the North Park Theatre and Burchfield Penney Art Center, as well as virtually via the Eventive digital cinema platform.
BIFF 2021 TRAILER
This year’s festival will again screen over 120 films from 24 countries with a celebration of stellar locally produced films, including an opening night presentation of Catch The Fair One, the Tribeca Film Festival winning thriller filmed in Buffalo with Star Kali Reis and Producer Kimberly Parker presenting the film.
“We look forward to welcoming new and old friends back to BIFF to celebrate our fifteenth anniversary and our official selections. Great storytellers have found innovative ways to stay creative and it has been very exciting to see how filmmakers have adapted to the challenges we’ve collectively faced” said Artistic Director John J. Fink.
Tickets and passes are on sale now at WWW.BUFFALOFILM.ORG including the all-access Bison Pass ($45) and Triptych Virtual (3 virtual screenings for $20). Individual tickets to live screenings with filmmaker Q+As are $12 and virtual screenings are $9.
Catch the Fair One, Josef Kubota Wladyka (Dir), 85 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Opening Night Gala
Star and co-writer Kali Reis, and Producer Kimberly Parker in attendance.
A boxer retraces the steps of her kid sister in this Western New York lensed revenge thriller. This enthralling exploration of personal justice is simultaneously a meditation on the plight of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) across North America. Starring and co-written (with Wladyka) by Boxing World Champion Kali (KO) Reis. Produced by Oscar-winner Mollye Asher, and Executive Producer Darren Aronofsky and more. An IFC Films release.
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Bitchin’: The Sound of Fury of Rick James, Sacha Jenkins (Dir), 111 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Regional Centerpiece & Special Presentation
Director Sacha Jenkins, and Producer Steve Rivo in attendance.
Legendary funk/R&B icon and lifelong Buffalonian Rick James is the subject of this quintessential introduction to the life and work of this oft misunderstood, musical genius. A kaleidoscopic portrait of the man, the myth and the legend that has you tapping your foot from the opening shot through the end credits. A Showtime Documentary Films release.
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Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez, Susan Stern (Dir), 71 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Arthouse Centerpiece
Director Susan Stern in attendance.
A loving tribute to the legendary and controversial, Buffalo-raised underground cartoonist and graffiti artist, Spain Rodriguez.
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100 Years From Mississippi, Tarabu Betserai Kirkland (Dir), 60 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
WNY Spotlight
Director Tarabu Betserai Kirkland in attendance.
Fleeing Ellisville, Mississippi in 1915 as her father escaped a lynch mob, Mamie Lang Kirkland resettles and eventually raises her family in Buffalo. In this illuminating oral history directed by her son Tarabu Betserai Kirkland, Mrs Kirkland looks back on a life well lived in the shadow of America’s legacy of racial violence.
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Rust Belt Driller, David R. Williams & Tilke Hill (Dir), 84 minutes, WNY Feature, USA, East Coast Premiere
Late Night Spotlight
Directors David R. Williams and Tilke Hill, and Star and Writer Aaron Krygier in attendance.
An artist (writer Aaron Krygier) spirals into a homicidal rage, turning his studio into a slaughterhouse thanks to his trusty Drillinator 9,000 in this Western New York-filmed bloody valentine to grindhouse classics.
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We Burn Like This, Alana Waksman, (Dir), 81 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Closing Night Gala
Director Alana Waksman in attendance.
When 22 year-old Rae (Madeleine Coghlan), a descendant of Holocaust survivors, is targeted by Neo-Nazis in Billings, Montana, her ancestors’ trauma becomes tangible.
Catch the Fair One, Josef Kubota Wladyka (Dir), 85 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Friday October 9, 7:30pm, North Park Theatre
Laguna Ave, David Buchanan (Dir), 80 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Thursday October 7, 9:30pm, North Park Theatre
Landlocked, Timothy Hall (Dir), 81 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Monday October 11–5:00pm, North Park Theatre
Leda (in 3D), Samuel Tessler IV (Dir), 75 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere — Screening with: This Bank of The River, Shoaib Sultan (Dir), 30 minutes, Pakistan, WNY Premiere
Sunday October 10–12:00pm, Burchfield Penney Art Center
Life After You, Sarah T. Schwab (Dir), 89 minutes, USA, NY Premiere — Screening with: Turning Blue, Dana White & Christopher Knoblock (Dir), 15 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Sunday October 10–6:30pm, North Park Theatre
My Dead Dad, Fabio Frey (Dir), 90 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Sunday October 10–9:00pm, North Park Theatre
The Laws of the Universe — The Age of Elohim, Isamu Imakake (Dir), 120 minutes, Japan, NY Premiere
Sunday October 10, 11:00am, North Park Theatre
Rust Belt Driller, David R. Williams & Tilke Hill (Dir), 84 minutes, WNY Feature, USA, East Coast Premiere
Saturday October 9–9:45pm, North Park Theatre
We Burn Like This, Alana Waksman, (Dir), 81 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Narratives and documentaries from around the region and around the block. 78 minutes
Sunday October 10, 4:00pm North Park Theatre
“Be Good, Make Me Proud” — the Honorable Arthur O. Eve and the Educational Opportunity Program, Dorothea Braemer & Steve Peraza, 18 minutes, WNY Short Film, USA, World Premiere
City Eyes, Nick Green, 11 minutes, Local Student Short Film, USA, World Premiere
Echo Falls, Aaron Webb, 18 minutes, WNY Short Film, USA, World Premiere
Invisible Niagara, Brett Michael Cox, 14 minutes, WNY, USA, World Premiere
Winter Mourning, Dahee Yun, 17 minutes, Republic of Korea / USA, WNY Premiere
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BIFF SHORTS: GLOBAL DOCUMENTARY
Reel stories from around the world. 66 minutes
Friday October 8, 5:30pm, Burchfield Penney Art Center
From Trash to Treasure: Turning Negatives Into Positives in Lesotho, Iara Lee, 25 minutes, USA/Lesotho, WNY Premiere
Junior, AJ Wilhelm, 11 minutes, USA/Haiti, WNY Premiere
Our Feet Are Rooted, Krista Imbesi, 30 minutes, USA/Uganda, NY Premiere
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BIFF SHORTS: EXPERIMENTAL
Cinematic poetry and essays in pixels and celluloid. 77 minutes
Sunday October 10, 2:15pm, Burchfield Penney Art Center
Action Potential, Caitlin Mary Deibel, 3 minutes, USA, World Premiere
Ancient Sunshine, Jason Livingston, 20 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Diachrony, Jason Bernagozzi, 4 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Fracture, Laura Kraning, 4 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
the gleaners, and: ritual for signaled bodies, Benjamin Rosenthal & Eric Souther, 9 minutes, USA, Special Presentation
The Lake, Tyler Hubby, 13 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Probes and Burrows, Barbara K Lattanzi, 4 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Scary Places/Shapes & Sizes, Pamela Falkenberg, Jack Cochran, 6 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Volcano Rondo, Barbara Lattanzi, 7 minutes, WNY Short Film, USA, World Premiere
The Wind and The Kite, Robert Machoian, Keely Song, 7 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
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BIFF SHORTS: DANGER ZONE
NSFW / OMG / LMFAO flicks… the weirder, wilder sider of BIFF is back. 103 minutes
Friday October 8, 9:45pm North Park Theatre
As I Lie Awake, Benjamin Tomson, 6 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Behind Door Two, Frank Felipe, 5 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Black Goat: The 6000 Steps (Series Pilot), Davey Robertson, 44 minutes, WNY Short Film, USA, World Premiere
Can’t Help But Run, Pedro Tamames, 11 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
The Mainframe, Courtlin Byrd, 13 minutes, USA, World Premiere
Nuevo Rico, Kristian Mercado, 16 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Toy Terminator, Matt Wisniewski, 7 minutes, WNY Short Film, USA, World Premiere
Where’s Mommy?, Jarek Pulit, 1 minute, USA, World Premiere
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BIFF SHORTS: SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS
A collection of fun family friendly cartoons from Western New York and international creators. 58 minutes
Saturday October 9, 11:00am North Park Theatre
Anthropocene Sketchbook ( version 2), Katy Shepherd, 4 minutes, UK, NY Premiere
Eye of the Terrier, Geoff Roberts, 3 minutes, USA, World Premiere
Fight or Flight, Eileen Hill, 2 minutes, USA, World Premiere
Hobros Train of Pain, Jack Gatto, 5 minutes, USA, World Premiere
Jumbo, Austin Deer, 3 minutes, USA, World Premiere
King’s Game, William Doyle, 3 minutes, USA, World Premiere
Memory Lane, Jessica Ochs, 4 minutes, USA, World Premiere
Muscle Beach Party of Awesomeness, Kyle Payne, 3 minutes, USA, World Premiere
On / Off, Nicolas P. Villarreal, 7 minutes, Argentina, WNY Premiere
Turtle Bird, Daniel Houghton, 4 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
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BIFF SHORTS: THE UNEXPECTED
Comedies and light documentaries and dramas with a twist. 85 minutes
Saturday October 9, 4:45pm North Park Theatre
FCK (Friends Can’t Kiss), Sarah Young, 24 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
I Am A Unicorn, Natalie Malla, 14 minutes, UK, US Premiere
Swipe, Anthony Sneed, 5 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Welcome to the Dollhouse, Elizabeth Miller-Derstine, 20 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Wives of the Skies, Honey Lauren, 22 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
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BIFF SHORTS: STUDENTS
The next generation of filmmaking, today. 104 minutes.
Saturday October 9, 12:00pm, Burchfield Penny
Amica, Mira Steuer, 2 minutes, Local Student Short Film, USA, World Premiere
Artifact, Durotimi Akinkugbe, 5 minutes Local Student Short Film, Nigeria/USA
World Premiere
BL00D 0F A R0B0T, Abby Mohaddes, 15 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Bond, Simon Yahn, 18 minutes, USA, Buffalo Premiere
Calla Lilies, Aidan Hamell, 19 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
can’t talk, a movie’s on, Anna Evtushenko, 13 minutes, Local Student Short Film, Russia
World Premiere
The Line, Everett Marston, 15 minutes, New Zealand, NY Premiere
Oh No, Aaron Ettestad, 6 minutes, Local Student Short Film, USA, World Premiere
Voice Box, Eamon Kelly, 8 minutes, Local Student Short Film, USA
WNY Premiere
Y2Koncert, Jake Jasie, 9 minutes, Local Student Short Film, USA, World Premiere
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ONLINE:
BIFF SHORTS: RACIAL JUSTICE IN VIEW
A curated program of documentary, experimental, video essays and narratives that shine a light on race, (de)colonialism, and inequity in the United States, Canada and neighboring Indigenous Nations. 84 minutes
Online, Free with RSVP
The Ascendants (Episode 2), Ladan Osman, 9 minutes, USA, Special Presentation
Big Touch, Christopher Tenzis, 3 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Ego of a Nation, Wes Day, 3 minutes, Canada, Special Presentation
Graffica!, Yogi Dada, 15 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Hallowed Ground, Catherine Rafferty, 13 minutes, WNY Short Film, USA, Buffalo Premiere
Hustle, Xavier Cousens, 10 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Monologue Harmonic, Yuma Dean Hester, 7 minutes, Canada, Special Presentation
Shoulders Deep, John Fiege, 8 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Superstar, Jordan Hidalgo, 16 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
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BIFF SHORTS: TIME STANDS STILL
A series of shorts making sense of the last year. 116 minutes
Online
Chokablok, Cameron Carver, 19 minutes, UK, NY Premiere
Disappearing Pathways, Michael Covello, Elizabeth Schneider, 13 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Faith, Carol Butrón, 19 minutes, Spain, WNY Premiere
Lilies, Joni Renee Whitworth, 9 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Ships in the Night, Katherine Bourne Taylor, 12 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
Time Time Ki Baat (A Matter Of Time), Abhiiruchi Lovel Risshi, 18 minutes, India, US Premiere
Tornado Lake, Tiffany Deater, 11 minutes, USA
World Premiere
What If?, Katia Shannon, 15 minutes, UK, NY Premiere
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BIFF SHORTS: INTERVENTIONS + INTERSECTIONS
Films about life changing moments. 109 minutes
Online
Between the Headphones, Matt Colin Evans, 23 minutes, UK, NY Premiere
Feeling Through, Doug Roland, 18 minutes, USA, Special Presentation
Frankie, James Kautz, 11 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Lion on the Mat, Asali Echols, 17 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Moço, Bernardo Lopes, 14 minutes, Portugal, NY Premiere
Paper Gease, Elizabeth Chatelain, 14 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
No big city mayor has been a bigger supporter of film production than Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. From the jobs created to the overall economic impact, the Mayor’s partnership and support have been a key element in creating a sustainable industry in our region. On this edition of Behind the Camera, Cindy Abbott Letro had a chance to interview Mayor Brown and review the big production wins for the City of Buffalo and talk about his hopes for the future.
On this edition of Behind the Camera, Cindy Abbott Letro interviews Academy Award Winning Producer Jonathan Sanger on the latest feature film to shoot in Buffalo and Western New York “The Untitled Francesca Cabrini Biopic”. Jonathan talks about how this major feature film came to film in Buffalo and the origins of it’s production.
CHRISTIANA DELL’ANNA, JOHN LITHGOW, DAVID MORSE & ROLANDO VILLAZÓN STAR IN THE POWERFUL TRUE STORY OF AN UNKNOWN AMERICAN LEGEND, FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI
JONATHAN SANGER & LEO SEVERINO ARE PRODUCING FOR FRANCESCA FILMS
BUFFALO, NY July 14th, 2021. Principal photography is underway on TIFF’s “People’s Choice Award” winning director Alejandro Monteverde’s The Untitled Cabrini Film in Buffalo, NY. Production will conclude in Rome, Italy in the early Fall.
The Untitled Cabrini Film, based on a story by Alejandro Monteverde (Sound of Freedom, Bella) and Rod Barr and a screenplay by Rod Barr (Little Boy, Sound of Freedom). The project is the brainchild of Eustace Wolfington. Mr. Wolfington’s passion for Francesca Cabrini’s story began over 60 years ago. “The minute I learned of Cabrini’s life story, I realized this was a story that deserved to be brought to the big screen…” says Wolfington, “As a pioneer of human rights long before today, her story will be an inspiration to today’s pioneers of human rights which makes her story and unprecedented accomplishments as relevant today as ever.”
The film stars Christiana Dell’Anna (Gomorrah, Mr. Happiness), Montserrat Espadalé (Crescendo, Little Boy), Romana Maggiora Vergano (Gli Anni Belli, Imaturi), David Morse (The Green Mile, The Hurt Locker), Patch Darragh (Succession, Boardwalk Empire), John Lithgow (The Crown, Bombshell), Jeremy Bobb (The Outside, Russian Doll, Virginia Bocelli (Unici, Andrea Bocello: Believe in Christmas), Andrew Polk (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Billions, House of Cards), Giampiero Judica (All The Money In The World, Boardwalk Empire) and Rolando Villazón (Mozart in Prague: Rolando Villazón on Don Giovanni, La Bohèmme, La Traviata).
Joining Monteverde behind the camera are Academy Award and BAFTA Award-winning producer Jonathan Sanger (Marshall, The Elephant Man) and producer Leo Severino (Bella, Sound of Freedom), production designer Carlos Lagunas Hernar (Colombiana, Belzebuth), director of photography Gorka Gomez Andreu (House of Others, Seagull), costume designer Alisha Silverstein (Stargirl, Adam Ruins Everything), music supervisor Mary Ramos (Marshall, The Hateful Eight), composer Gene Back (Cowboys, Holler), second unit director Pepe Portillo (Little Boy, This Is the Year), editor Brian Scofield (Suicide Squad, The Tree of Life), sound mixer Paul Pouthier (Uncle Frank, Between Two Ferns), special effects coordinator Fred Kraemer (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, The Forgotten), stunt coordinator Scott Burik (In the Heights, The Trial of the Chicago 7),visual effects supervisor Brian Battles (Star Trek Beyond, The Irishman) and UPM/line producer Lukas Behnken (American Skin, Sound of Freedom).
The film tells the story of Francesca Cabrini, one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 19th Century She began with nothing and created the largest multinational charitable empire the world had ever known. Her accomplishments equaled the likes of Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. Remarkably, Cabrini accomplished all of this and just happened to be a woman, an Italian immigrant, and a nun without a penny to her name.
The Untitled Cabrini Film charts the meteoric rise of an astonishing and audacious woman who – through her relentless perseverance and business skill – overcame the sexism and virulent anti-Italian bigotry of 19th century America, to build schools, orphanages and hospitals that transformed the lives of immigrants worldwide.
The film is a gripping, inspirational story about one of the great unknown figures of American history, and a powerful exploration of two of today’s biggest issues: immigration and the empowerment of women. Cabrini speaks to our time – a time that more than ever needs the wisdom and example of this unstoppable woman who triumphed magnificently against all odds.
“As an immigrant myself, I am honored to be able to shine a light on the astonishing story of a true warrior of social justice who transformed the lives of immigrants worldwide. Cabrini was a pioneer of women’s empowerment, making her story as relevant today as in the 1890’s. This picture – like Cabrini herself – is surprising, courageous, gritty… and deeply inspirational,” said director Alejandro Monteverde.
Producer Jonathan Sanger adds: “In a time when the achievements of women in every sphere of life have inspired a new generation, it is fascinating to contemplate the work of Francesca Cabrini, an Italian immigrant who came to New York in 1889. She would fit perfectly as a leader in today’s world.”
Construction began in April on the massive sets that recreate Five Points, a 19th Century neighborhood in Lower Manhattan which was especially cold, unwelcoming and impoverished; an area where immigrants got their first impression of the land that promised to offer new hope and fulfilled promises. That construction includes a dilapidated orphanage, an Italian hospital, a brothel, a main street, slum dwellings, and many other edifices that look as if they came right from the pages of Jacob Riis’ “How The Other Half Lives.”
Filming is planned to take place on many Buffalo and neighboring locations to double for other iconic New York City sites circa 1890 including the West Park neighborhood north of Manhattan and what is now the posh Upper East Side, before completing principal photography in Rome, Italy in the early Fall.
The Untitled Cabrini Film is a Francesca Films production.
On this edition of “Behind the Camera” Cindy Abbott Letro sits down with Dennis DiPaolo, owner of the popular Ilio DiPaolo’s restaurant in Blasdell, New York and the location of numerous Fred and Chris Olen Ray films. Cindy and Dennis discuss his various film cameos, the use of Ilio DiPaolo’s restaurant for a filming location and the colorful history of the DiPaolo family including legendary former professional wrestler Ilio DiPaolo.
