BUFFALO, NY (October 1, 2026) – The Buffalo International Film Festival announces its full line-up for the 20th annual festival. The festival will feature over 200 films from over 40 countries, running October 8-15th. Festival screening venues include the historic North Park Theatre, Scene One Market Arcade 8 Cinemas, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, and Buffalo Toronto Public Media (WNED Studios).
“We’re so excited to welcome everyone to our 2026 festival, the centerpiece of our 20th anniversary celebration, which includes additional events and programming beyond the scope of our flagship festival. We can’t wait to once again be in community with our filmmakers and audiences and to deliver an incredible eight-day cinematic experience to the city of Buffalo” said Executive Director Anna Scime.
Tickets and passes for this year’s edition are on sale to the general public now at buffalofilm.org
OPENING NIGHT GALA
Friday October 9, 7:00PM North Park Theatre
LITTLE AUDREY, directed by Michael Mailer (USA)
When a Vatican commission investigates mysterious phenomena surrounding a comatose girl in Massachusetts, a skeptical child psychologist is drawn into a world where faith and reason collide. As unexplained events mount, she must confront the limits of science and the possibility of miracles, forcing her to question her deepest beliefs.
Filmed in Buffalo and starring Emily VanCamp, Jennifer Esposito, Aidan Quinn, and Josh Bowman. Director Michael Mailer + Producer Jeff Thomas
CLOSING NIGHT GALA
Thursday October 15, 7:00PM North Park Theatre
DOC MEETS WORLD, directed by Chris Levitus + Zane Rubin (USA)
Thirty years after Boy Meets World made them teen idols, Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Rider Strong reunite for a wildly popular rewatch podcast and national tour. Funny, candid, and unexpectedly emotional, DOC MEETS WORLD becomes a nostalgic ride through fame, friendship, and the messy reality of growing up on screen and off.
Co-director Zane Rubin in attendance.
BIFF LEGACY GALA
Saturday October 10, 6:00PM North Park Theatre
DEAD MAN (4K Restoration), directed by Jim Jarmusch (USA)
The screening will be followed by a discussion and live audience Q+A with Dead Man Star and BIFF 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Gary Farmer.
Jim Jarmusch’s iconic Acid Western “imagined the nineteenth-century American West as an existential wasteland, delivering a surreal reckoning with the ravages of industrialization, the country’s legacy of violence and prejudice, and the natural cycle of life and death.
Gary Farmer is an actor and musician, born on Six Nations of the Grand River, Ohsweken, Ontario. He grew up in both Niagara Falls and Buffalo, NY, graduating from Lafayette High School, then Genesee Community College and Syracuse University, then on to Toronto where his interest in acting was nurtured.
He is widely recognized as a forerunner in the development of Indigenous media in Canada and was the founding director of an urban Indian radio network, Aboriginal Voices Radio Network. He also published Aboriginal Voices Magazine from 1993 – 2003.
ARTHOUSE CENTERPIECE
Thursday October 8, 9:00PM Scene One Market Arcade
EVERY CONTACT LEAVES A TRACE, directed by Lynne Sachs (USA)
Filmmaker Lynne Sachs has saved every business card anyone has ever given her. After 40 years of collecting, she recognizes their mnemonic powers. With 600 cards in her grasp, Sachs contemplates the impact of these haptic exchanges. In both real and imagined ways, her essay teases apart their vivid resonances, entwining personal memory with geopolitical history through visual abstraction, music, and a poet’s sense of introspection.
Director Lynne Sachs in attendance.
DOCUMENTARY CENTERPIECE
Sunday October 11, 3:45PM North Park Theatre
ALL AMERICAN GIRLS, directed by Christy Wegener (USA)
All American Girls pulls back the curtain, revealing the inner world of American Girl; the wildly popular brand that shaped girlhood for generations from the ’80s onward. Today, the brand is a cultural touchstone, triggering debates about social and political issues.
Director Christy Wegener, Producer Andrea Berman, and Documentary Participant and Author of The Addy Series Connie Porter in attendance.
DECOLONIAL SPOTLIGHT
Thursday October 8, 6:30PM Scene One Market Arcade
AANIKOOBIJIGAN [ANCESTOR/GREAT-GRANDPARENT/GREAT-GRANDCHILD], directed by Zack Khalil + Adam Khalil (Anishinaabe/ Kānaka Maoli/ Kumeyaay/ Lenape/ Massachusett/ Nipmuc/ Wampanoag Nation Homelands + USA)
Trapped in museum archives, Ancestors bend time and space to find their way home. History, spirituality, and the law collide as tribal repatriation specialists fight to return and rebury Indigenous human remains, offering a revealing look at the still-pervasive world-views that justified collecting them in the first place.
Co-Director Zack Khalil in attendance.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
499 Days, directed by Jamie Buckner (USA)
Kyler, a sweet Kentucky boy is diagnosed with an incredibly rare “orphan” brain cancer, and fights alongside his family with resilience and hope against a backdrop of personal strife, a global pandemic, and the profound power of love and the indomitable human spirit in the face of adversity.
Friday October 9, 2:30PM Scene One Market Arcade
DAD JEANS, directed by Craig Downing (USA)
Two decades after his donation, Aaron Long registers with 23andMe and discovers he has several biological children (with more continuing to be discovered).
Saturday October 10, 4:30PM Scene One Market Arcade
HUMBOLDT USA, directed by G. Anthony Svatek (USA)
Countless places across the United States still bear the name of Alexander von Humboldt — queer naturalist, visionary ecologist, now largely forgotten. The longing filmmaker uses three of them as unlikely common ground, weaving Humboldt’s own words through present-day lives.
Saturday October 9, 6:45PM Scene One Market Arcade
HUMBOLDT, directed by Jillian Hanesworth, Stephen McKinley Henderson & Stephen W. Rosenthal (USA)
Humboldt Parkway was a beloved feature of Buffalo. In the 1960s it was bulldozed to make way for an expressway that has caused a great health hazard for people living around it. The expressway has exceeded its life expectancy. Now the people of Buffalo have the opportunity to restore this glorious masterpiece of the Olmsted-designed Parkways system.
Monday October 12, 5:30PM North Park Theatre
IDEAS OF ORDER, directed by Erin Espelie (USA)
A collision between the macro-collapse of ecosystems and the minutiae of cellular colonies in a story about entropy, unrestrained growth, waltzing mice, and the bacteria that made Earth rich in oxygen.
Saturday October 10, 12:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
KI~BÉ~GIŠ, directed by Sama Waham (Canada)
A hybrid documentary rooted in Iraq’s October 2019 uprisings. Told through a diasporic lens, the film traces the rise and unraveling of a silenced revolution—one that, for a fleeting moment, stirred a shared sense of pride and resistance across the region, and in exile.
Monday October 12, 2:30PM Buffalo Toronto Public Media
KNIFE: THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF SALMAN RUSHDIE, directed by Alex Gibney (USA)
Based upon Salman Rushdie’s memoir, the film provides an unprecedented look at Rushdie’s recovery and life after the attack, including never-before-seen footage captured by his wife, acclaimed poet and writer Rachel Eliza Griffiths, alongside Rushdie’s own candid reflections on survival, creativity, love, and finding a way forward after an act of violence that fundamentally changed his life.
Tuesday October 13, 6:45PM North Park Theatre
LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY, directed by Leah Galant (USA/Germany)
A deeply personal work of self-reflexive nonfiction, director Leah Galant journeys through Germany as she reckons with family trauma and the weight of historical memory of the Holocaust. Interwoven stories of a Holocaust-survivor descendant, a Nazi-descendant historian, exiled Palestinian artists and her father’s ALS reveal the uses and abuses of memory culture.
Tuesday October 13, 1:00PM North Park Theatre
LOVE APPTUALLY, directed by Shalini Kantayya (USA/France/Noway)
Tired of swiping without results? Follow one journalist’s quest to unpack the dating app algorithms shaping modern romance as she reveals how, in an already lonely world, technology, bias and profit are increasingly influencing who we meet and why.
Monday October 12, 4:30PM Buffalo Toronto Public Media
MICRONATIONS, directed by Joe Kowalski (Albania / Denmark / North Macedonia / Sweden / USA)
From backyard kingdoms to full-blown micronational summits, this whimsical debut gives a glimpse into a DIY culture of self-declared kings, queens, and emperors; and transforms into a timely exploration of borders, identity, and the meaning of community in an increasingly fragmented world.
Sunday October 11, 6:15PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
MINESHAFT: THE CRUISING MURDERS, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz (USA)
This meta-filmic meditation peels back the layers of controversy surrounding the making of the 1980 thriller, “Cruising.” Directed by William Friedkin, the film triggered fierce protests from the LGBTQ+ community for its portrayal of a serial killer targeting gay men in New York’s leather bars.
Tuesday October 13, 9:30PM North Park Theatre
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM, directed by William Greaves and David Greaves (USA)
In 1972, legendary filmmaker William Greaves gathered an extraordinary group of artists, writers, actors, musicians, and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance. After more than 50 years, his son David Greaves has completed his breathtaking miracle of a movie.
Monday October 12, 2:30PM North Park Theatre
PARTNERS: HOW STARBUCKS BARISTAS STARTED A LABOR REVOLUTION, directed by Chris Sessions (USA)
When a group of baristas in Buffalo, New York announce their intention to start a labor union, Starbucks responds with an elaborate, illegal anti-union attack.Featuring on-the-ground footage from workers and organizers, Partners takes us to the front lines of the historic union campaign that catalyzed America’s Gen Z labor revival.
Sunday October 11, 4:30PM Scene One Market Arcade
RODEO DE CAMPO: AN ANDEAN ROUNDUP, directed by Rodrigo Domínguez + José Lecaros (Chile)
In the Andes Mountains, ten cowboys embark on a new rodeo, following a tradition that dates back almost two centuries. As they herd cattle through the mountains, they carry on a custom marked by hard work and camaraderie.
Monday October 12, 5:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
SAVE THE QUEEN, directed by Simon O’Keefe (USA)
The journey of Memphis-based drag queen Bella DuBalle, whose life embodies resilience and the courage to be authentic in the face of adversity.
Friday October 9, 6:45PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
THANK YOU FOR THINKING OF ME, directed by M. Akram Shibly (USA)
United by a traumatic event at a Buffalo BLM protest, a mother faces imprisonment and a community organizer challenges the criminal justice system.
Wednesday October 14, 6:00PM North Park Theatre
THE GYMNASTS OF FISHERMAN COLONY, directed by Habiba Nosheen (Pakistan/Canada)
This emotionally powerful and lyrical coming-of-age journey follows a group of undocumented Pakistani teenage girls through tense competitions and challenging poverty as they train for the National Women’s Gymnastics Competition and a chance to forge a new place in society.
Tuesday October 13, 3:30PM North Park Theatre
THE LONG HOPE, directed by Elspeth Victoria Fitzgerald (Onödowa’ga:’ (Cattaraugus Seneca Nation) / Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk Nation Lands)/ USA)
Told through the voices of Seneca and Mohawk activists, The Long Hope explores the slave-era origins of US legal theory and policy toward Native Peoples and the struggle of the Seneca and Mohawk Nations to retain their sovereignty in the face of continued aggression by federal and state governments.
Monday October 12, 12:30PM Buffalo Toronto Public Media
TIME WARP, directed by Allison Berg (USA)
50 years after “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” electrified audiences, a drag theater company in the once-booming mining town of Rock Springs, Wyoming, stages a shadow cast of the cult classic. Led by the charismatic 25-year-old performer Kenny Starling, the determined troupe spotlights the ongoing fight for queer visibility and acceptance in their community.
Saturday October 10, 8:45PM Scene One Market Arcade
TO KILL A NAZI, directed by Boaz Dvir (USA/France)
The thrilling story of a Holocaust survivor who set out to kill his father’s Gestapo executioner and ended up playing a pivotal role in history’s most audacious hostage rescue.
Thursday October 15, 12:00PM North Park Theatre
WORKERS OF ART, directed by Marc Levin (USA)
What happens when artists are treated as essential workers? A New York statewide experiment in the wake of the COVID pandemic shows how supporting creative labor can heal, empower, and transform entire communities.
Sunday October 11, 4:30PM Scene One Market Arcade
NARRATIVE FEATURES
ANNA BY THE WINDOW, directed by James Hyland + Myles Flusser (USA)
Following the adventures of an aimless teenager over the course of 24 hours as he skips his girlfriend’s graduation party, avoids his father and puts off reuniting with his estranged, tech startup brother to instead roam the streets of NYC.
Friday October 9, 9:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
A SAFE DISTANCE, directed by Gloria Mercer (Canada)
After learning her rescuers are fugitives wanted for a string of violent bank robberies, Alex must navigate the blurred lines between desire, loyalty, and survival.
Saturday October 10, 8:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
BORN TO LOSE, directed by Joseph Zentil (USA)
In this gritty American drama set against the backdrop of the Rust Belt, Andy Logan inherits nothing from his father but debts and bad habits. As he races to restore a vintage motorcycle to save himself, he must confront family secrets and forge his own identity.
Sunday October 11, 9:45PM North Park Theatre
DRAMA KINGS, directed by Adi + Mak Omanovic (Sweeden)
A being rejected by a powerful producer, two out of work actors discover that she has stolen their idea. In an act of desperation they make a plan, apparently their last chance at success, to ransom her daughter. Will reality and fiction merge?
Wednesday October 14, 8:15PM North Park Theatre
HEARTBREAK FALLS PART 2, directed by John Michael Nolan (USA)
The consummation of a business agreement triggers a tragic series of events in this locally filmed, contemplative thriller.
Saturday October 10, 9:30PM North Park Theatre
HUMAN RESOURCE, directed by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (Thailand)
Working in HR, Fren closely observes people’s lives through interviews with numerous young new hires at her unjust company. No one knows she’s one month pregnant and quietly grappling with whether to bring a child into this difficult world.
Friday October 10, 12:30PM North Park Theatre
JOSEPHINE, directed by Beth de Araújo (USA)
After eight-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a brutal assault in Golden Gate Park, she begins acting out violently to protect herself. This emotional trauma leads to conflicts between her parents as they search for justice, and a way to feel safe again.
Friday October 10, 9:00PM Scene One Market Arcade
LINE OF CONTROL, directed by Travis Hodgkins (USA / Georgia)
Adapted from Mirza Waheed’s beloved novel The Collaborator, Line of Control unfolds in 1993 Kashmir, where the teenage son of a village headman watches his closest friends disappear, believed to have crossed into Pakistan to join the insurgency. He stays behind, searching for news of them while holding on to his relationship with Asma.
Saturday October 10, 3:30PM North Park Theatre
LUNAR SWAY, directed by Nick Butler (USA)
Cliff is a young man looking for love in all the wrong places in a small desert town. When his birth mother, Marg, arrives unexpectedly they start to connect. But her secrets soon catch up with them.
Sunday October 11, 6:15PM Scene One Market Arcade
OUR EFFED UP WORLD, directed by Alice Maio Mackay (Australia)
Sheri thought her biggest problem in life was dealing with the recent loss of her beloved grandma. But when a mysterious entity crash lands in the woods, only she and her group of friends are what stands in the way of an insatiable, intergalactic hunger.
Monday October 12, 9:45PM North Park Theatre
PARTY USA, directed by Jared Sprouse (USA)
When Taylor can’t get her party store shift covered after her dad dies, she makes a deadly mistake that sparks a downward spiral of red, white and blue-collared chaos.
Saturday October 10, 12:00PM Scene One Market Arcade
POSSIBLE LOVE, directed by Lee Chang-dong (South Korea)
Two married couples become unexpectedly and complicatedly connected while making a documentary, exploring hidden desires, class, and the tests of relationships
Friday October 9, 3:30PM North Park Theatre
SENDER, directed by Russell Goldman (USA)
After receiving a series of packages containing unnervingly personal items, a woman tumbles down a paranoid rabbit hole to find her mysterious sender.
Thursday October 15, 9:30PM North Park Theatre
STILL OHIO, directed by Kaylin Allshouse (USA)
Desperate to salvage her relationship, a college student embarks on a cross-country carpool only to find herself trapped in a haunting time loop where each stop at a lonely Ohio gas station grows more terrifying than the last.
Sunday October 11, 8:30PM Scene One Market Arcade
TAKE ME HOME, directed Liz Sargent (USA)
Anna, a middle-aged Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability, cares for her aging parents in a fragile balance of meeting one another’s needs.
Friday October 9, 2:45PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
THIRTEEN IN GAZA, directed by Hosam Abu Dan (Palestine)
Raghad (Mary Ziyara), a 13-year-old girl, has lost her home and most of her family in a bombing in the Gaza Strip. She now lives with her father (Firas Al-Masri) in a displacement camp, where she’s entering puberty in a crowded environment devoid of safety, privacy, and care.
Monday October 12, 7:30PM North Park Theatre
VARIATIONS ON VIOLENCE, directed by Zach Nichols (USA)
Consumed by the distant violence he witnesses daily, a military drone pilot drifts toward self-destruction, leaving his sister to face the intimate cost of war fought far away.
Friday October 9, 12:00PM Scene One Market Arcade
____________________________________
BIFF SHORT PROGRAMS
SHORT FILMS PLAYING WITH FEATURE FILMS
BUFFALO CORRIDORS: JEFFERSON AVENUE, directed by Ari Hock
DADDY OF ‘EM ALL, directed by Traci Hercher
DIRTY MYRTLE, directed by Matthew L. Young
FINAL PRESS, directed by John Haley
GETTING ALMOST NAKED, directed by Austin Bunn
NICE GUY, directed by Joseph Deschamps
PRIMETIME MR. PRESIDENT, directed by Saif Alsaegh
BIFF SHORTS: ASKEW’D
Dark comedies, satires, and more!
Monday October 12, 7:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Features the short films:
SPIRITUAL NOT RELIGIOUS, directed by James Werick
DELI MEAT, directed by BRICK
ONE PRICK, directed by Konstantin von Schröder
A DISH BEST SERVED HOT, directed by Josh Kay
GENO’S A GENIE, directed by Boris R. Zilberman
BIFF SHORTS: CHAPTERS
Life’s phases, transitions, and milestones.
Thursday October 15, 4:30PM North Park Theatre
Features the short films:
BALL LIGHTNING, directed by Catriona Trina Baker
ON HOMESTEADING, directed by Nathan Keowen
THE BOOKSTORE THAT NEVER SLEEPS, directed by Justin Zoras
EVERLASTING, directed byCaleb Kaufman
BIFF SHORTS: DANGER ZONE
NSFW / WTF / LMFAO Movies!
Friday October 9, 9:45PM North Park Theatre
Features the short films:
THE BUSINESS, directed by Joel Resnikoff
SWITCHED OFF, directed by Sandeep Francis
WHAT WE CARRY, directed by Karl-Mary Akre
HOLLOW WREN, directed by Robin Skye Farr
GOODNIGHT ME, directed by Matthew Lorentz
IUD, directed by Camila Schincaglia
TOWNIES (OR MY LITTLE TOWN), directed by Callum Adams
BIFF SHORTS: DOING NONE OF THE THINGS
Slackers, burnouts, and drama queens make unintentional self-discoveries.
Sunday October 11, 8:30PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Featuring the short films:
INVISIBLE DIVIDE, directed by Linan Xian
CREDIT QUEEN, directed by Holly Moore
PRINCESS SPARKLES, directed by Marlena Lerner
WAKING UP FROM A NAP ON A LONG DAY OF DOING NOTHING, directed by Thom Hilton
I’M AUTISTIC AND ALSO THAT B!TCH, directed by Izzy Rabey
BIFF SHORTS: EPISOTIC COMEDY
Big laughs, short episodes!
Saturday October 10, 6:45PM Scene One Market Arcade
Featuring the episodic short works:
THE REAL LADIES OF CHEEKTOWAGA – CHEEKTOWAGA GOES OFF THE DEEP END, directed by Rachel Jennetti
MILE ZEROS: UN-ANCHORED, directed by Amber Nolan
MATCHED, directed by Elvira Ibragimova
THE HUMAN, WILL (Episodes 1 & 2), directed by Edward Bursch
BIFF SHORTS: IN COMMUNITY
Films made by and about local and global communities.
Saturday October 10, 2:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Featuring the short films:
ROOM TO SWIM, directed by Francesca Kustra
#UKRAINIANAMERICAN, directed by Lukia Costello
KOTA HUJAN (RAINY CITY), directed by Olivia Ong Evans
PRESS RECORD: FILMING THE LIGHT BETWEEN US, directed by Diane Almeter Jones
BARRIGA LLENA, CORAZÓN CONTENT, directed by Jordana Rubenstein-Edberg + Marshall Hanig
LOVELY DAY, directed by Godfrey Jordan
BIFF SHORTS: JUSTICE IN VIEW
Evocative shorts exploring social and intersectional justice issues. Stories about changemakers, risk takers, dreamers and healers.
Sunday October 11, 12:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Featuring the short films:
SOMEBODY TO LEAN ON, directed by Gabrielle Burton + Ursula Burton
JUAN & ITO GO VIRAL!, directed by Jonny Diaz
IN EXCHANGE FOR FLESH, directed by Sandro Ramani + Corey Devon Arthur
HEARTBREAK ON BAILEY, directed by Alexander AlexSpeaks Montilla
NOTES ON COURTWATCH, directed by Kate Levy
TERRESTRIAL SEA, directed by Cathy Lee Crane
REBELLION BECOMES DUTY, directed by Rui Da Casta
BORDER CROSSING 2025, directed by January Marie Rogers
BIFF SHORTS: LOST TREASURES
Stories of love, loss, longing, and letting go.
Wednesday October 14, 3:30PM North Park Theatre
Features the short films:
THE MISSING PIECE, directed by Alma Jodorowsky
MIAZEL, directed by George Dogaru
A SEPARATION, directed by Alexandre Ayoub
OLD MAN AT THE BAR, directed by Alexander Jeffery
A LIGHT INTO A VOID, directed by Lin Chen
CLOSE, directed by Robert Ripley
BIFF SHORTS: OCCUPATIONS
Narrative and non-fiction meditations on labor; and dispatches from miners, the creative class, and frontline workers.
Monday October 12, 12:00PM North Park Theatre
Featuring the short films:
WE’RE ALL BLACK DOWN HERE, directed by James William Mellors
ASHES TO THE EYES, directed by Teresa Castillo
NIGHT SHIFT, directed by Megumi Lim
A KING’S CURTAIN, directed by Grant M Johnson
SUBJECT OF DESIRE, directed by Benett Holgerson
BIFF SHORTS: NEXT GEN
Thoughtful and fun, teens and youth made shorts. Curated in partnership with Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center and their students.
Sunday October 11, 12:00PM Scene One Market Arcade 8
Featuring the short films:
SPECTRUM, directed by Michael Singh
IT STARTS AT 3, directed by Liv G. + Jarek R. + Nicole U.
FOR THOSE THAT PLAY RISK, directed by Alejandro + Celia Rosen-Velasquez
THE SUPPORT GROUP, directed by Squeaky Wheel’s Youth Film Lab
DISCOVERY, directed by Max Jonczyk + Elli Konstantinidis-Perkins + Zoe Guida + William Baran + Mady Kimmel
BIRDS FLY, directed by Charley Bukata
THE AMERICAN PLUMBER, directed by Marcializ Osorio
DRAIN: THE DATA CENTER DILEMMA, directed by Callie Deng
VOLTAGE, directed by Isaiah Firestone + Rosary Javier
HOW WE ENDED UP HERE, directed by Ruby Harrison
SKIN, directed by Alana Costner
BAGUETELLA, directed by Isaiah Firestone
BROWSING FOR A NEW SOLUTION, directed by Brendan Buist-Sohn
WHO ARE YOU?, directed by Lillyan Goines
BIFF SHORTS: NIGHT FEVER
The night belongs to lovers and loners.
Saturday October 10, 6:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Featuring the short films:
BENEATH THE NIGHT, directed by Maximilian Karakatsanis
SECONDES NON DITES (UNSAID SECONDS), directed by Carli Platt
NEVER AGAIN, directed by Leigh LeFevre + Bill Murray III
CEMENT, directed by Alek Abate
PACIFIC ISLANDS, directed by Adas Burkšaitis
BIFF SHORTS: POP ROMANCE
Stories about love, heartbreak, relationships, pop music, and pop culture.
Saturday October 10, 4:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Features the short films:
BOYSICK, directed by Maël Caradec
MY HYPERPOP ERA, directed by Finley King
WRITING FOR TIMOTHÉE, directed by Dana Nachman
ANATOMY OF A F*CKBOY, directed by Fatimah Asghar
BIFF SHORTS: PORTRAITS
The iconic and the intimate!
Friday October 9, 4:45PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Features the short films:
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING, directed by Gene Gallerano + Bob Ray
DON’T GO BACK TO SLEEP, directed by Alicia Hawkins
CINDY SHERMAN: PICTURE THIS, directed by Sophie Chahinian
BIFF SHORTS: SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS
Fun, family friendly cartoons from WNY’s leading animation programs and global creators.
Saturday October 10, 11:00AM North Park Theatre
Featuring the short films:
BEAR AND FERRET, directed by Lauren Abromavage, Kristin Thaeler + Emily Purdum
I FLEW BEYOND AN END, directed by Indigo Cisneros
THE HERO’S JOURNEY – WITH KITTS AND MERP, directed by Annamarie Jean Pope
ROCKETS, directed by Sam Redden
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?, directed by Lily Beyer
TERENCE AND PENNY IN: THE REMOTE, directed by Jeremy Lopez-Reices
VIRIDESCENCE, directed by Anja M. Zielinski-Runfola
THIEFISH, directed by Madhava Das Kinnicutt + Evelyn Grace Dale
HANDLE WITH CARE, directed by Eli Jeffery
THE NEXT DOOR, directed by Elijah Henry
GLOWBERRY, directed by Jessica Fisher
BERRY BEAR & HER BUDDIES, directed by Greg Robbins
ELEMENTAL ENCHANTMENT, directed by Grace Elizabeth Gominiak
APPLE AND THE WORLD EATER, directed by Sarah Chen
BIFF SHORTS: SECRETS
Interior lives and exterior spaces.
Thursday October 15, 2:30PM North Park Theatre
Features the short films:
HABIBI, directed by Alexey Evstigneev
BURY ME HOME, directed by Adel Kamal
THE RUG, directed by Camil Ghajary
CAPTAIN LIMA, directed by Filipe Carvalho
KILORAN BAY, directed by Michael Bruce
BIFF SHORTS: STUDENTS (SATURDAY SHOWCASE)
The next generation of storytellers, now! Short films from leading animation and live action programs in Western New York and beyond
Saturday October 10, 1:00PM North Park Theatre
Featuring the short films:
A GRADUATION STORY, directed by Linh Tran
UNKNOWING LAMENT, directed by Natalie Bucki
ASYMPTOTE, directed by Aybuke Yilmazer
FLORA FAUNA, directed by Anna Fontaine
MAZIE – HEAD IN THE CLOUDS, directed by Mia Weller
SYNTERESIS, directed by Stefen Lempert
SILENCE AFTER SIX, directed by Essence Nicole Brown
ME, STEVE & THE MONSTER UNDER MY BED, directed by Sam Tocke
DIALECTIC, directed by Emily Sugar
BABY BRAIN, directed by Mary Clementine Sperry
AUREILA FIGHTS THE SUN, directed by Trinity-Harris Brewer
986, directed by Abigail Wisz
CUTTING TIES, directed by Brian Biglin
TRACKS, directed by Julia Rosalina Han
BIFF SHORTS: STUDENTS (MONDAY SHOWCASE)
Monday October 12, 9:00PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Features the short films:
THE D WORD, directed by Mya Van Dyk
FREE FALL, directed by Katie Schneider
THE GIRL, THE HARE, AND THE SUN, directed by Rosemary Runk + Ali Guzman
PROFESSIONALS, directed by Wayne Bianchi
IZZARD, directed by Kevin Emmanuel Thompson
F*!CK YOUR POLICY, directed by TK James
TRUANT, directed by Robyn Wholey
PARROT, directed by Shane Matthew Collins
INSOMNICAT, directed by Braydon Fox
ROB AND BOB ROB A TRAIN, directed by Tyler B Dennis + Dexter Z Hartsfield
TESORO, directed by Samuel Correa
NATURAL ORDER, directed by Namsang LImbu
BIFF SHORTS: SUNDAY BREAKFAST
Family friendly films to nourish your soul, develop your palate, and start your day right!
Sunday October 11, 11:00AM North Park Theatre
Featuring the short films:
HAIKU, directed by Christine Banna
ANYONE LIVED IN A PRETTY HOW TOWN, directed by Daniel Kreizberg
LEAF PEEPER, directed by Vito A. Rowlands
RUSTBELT BUTTERFLY, directed by Amanda Besl
ANANSE AND THE DIVINE JOURNEY, directed by Bathschèba Duronvil
COALESCE, directed by Danielle Dukofsky
SOLASTALGIA, directed by Jon-Evan Quoquochi
WISDOM IN THE WOOD: INDIGENOUS SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND THE MAKING OF A LACROSSE STICK, directed by Rodney C Haring, PhD + Paul Hage
TRAIL TALE, directed by Matt O’Shea
BIFF SHORTS: WILD CHILD
Coming-of-age stories and tales of rebellious teens.
Wednesday October 14, 11:00AM North Park Theatre
Features the short films:
SOMETHING WILD, directed by Zsuzsanna Konrad
A STABLE FOR HORSES, directed by Davie Paterson
SHE HAS NO NAME, directed by Cagla Karslioglu
I OWE YOU A TOUCH, directed by Marwan Elshafie
GALLINA, directed by Fernando Reinaldos
LEAF, directed by Horatiu Carpiuc
BIFF SHORTS: WNY STORIES
From the humorous to the heartbreaking, and everything in between – unique stories from around the block and the region.
Sunday October 11, 7:00PM North Park Theatre
Featuring the short films:
LAKELAND, directed by Meghan Marin
VISITOR, directed by Lily Ekimian Ragheb + Ahmed T. Ragheb
BASEDBALL, directed by Ryan Elizabeth Brady
0-1: ALIEN OF EXTRAORDINARY TALENT, directed by Colin Taylor + Louie Visone
CROSS CHECKED, directed by Harleigh Eason
Filmed in Western New York
Director Harleigh Eason, Executive Producer Haleigh Phillips, Director of Photography Diego Ruiz de Velasco in attendance.
A troubled teen fights for her future on a new high school hockey team after her father’s death uproots her to a rust belt town, igniting a fierce rivalry with the team’s poised and ambitious captain.
ONE MORNING IN BUFFALO, directed by Thomas Allen Harris
BIFF X0: BODIES! BODIES?! BODIES.
Films focused on the human-form and its many articulations.
Friday October 9, 4:30PM Scene One Market Arcade
Features the short films:
GOLD, directed by Crystal Z Campbell
BODY (JISM), directed by Husain Qaizar + Saad Zuberi
EXPLANT / IMPLANT, directed by Josh Weissbach
CHRONOSAGNOSIA, directed by Noah W. Weber
VOICE SHIFT, directed by Roberto Duque
ΩMEGA ONE: OF DIRECT(((IVE)))S, ONCE REMOVED, directed by Benjamin Rosenthal
SCULPT, directed by Jill Smith
BIFF X0: IMPRINTS
Films about ecological relationships and exchanges, and our connections to our land and each other.
Saturday October 10, 2:15PM Scene One Market Arcade
Features the short films:
THE FLESH OF THE MOUNTAIN, directed by Adam Piron
WOMEN OF WAMPUM, directed by Kelsey Leonard + Alejandro Miranda
TUKTUIT : CARIBOU, directed by Lindsay Aksarniq McIntyre
THE BURNING OF MY COLDSPRING HOME, directed by Caleb G. Abrams
BIFF X0: KINGDOM ANIMALIA
Lobsters’, bears’, lions’, dogs’, ducks’, goats’, humans’, caribous’, and ants’-eye-views from the avant-garde!
Sunday October 11, 4:30PM Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center
Features the short films:
LOBSTEROPOLIS, directed by James DeLisio
SEMILLA ESTELAR / INTERSTELLAR SEED, directed by Artemis
ONE DUCK DOWN, directed by Lindsay Aksarniq McIntyre
GUARDIANS OF ANATOLIA, directed by Elif Koyutürk Hazen
LEO SACER, directed by Emilie Upczak + Eric Coombs Esmail
BEARS IN HOT TUBS, directed by Claire Musser + Maddie Bear
BIFF X0: POEMS, SONGS, SPACES, PLACES
Lyrical, place + space-based experimental film.
Sunday October 11, 1:00PM North Park Theatre
Features the short films:
GRAZING ON IMAGES, directed by Mark Street
THE ACCUMULATION OF MEANING OVER TIME, directed by Kyla Kegler
SRS (SILK ROAD SONGBOOK), directed by Millie Chen + Arzu Ozkal
NOLI ME TANGERE, directed by Mahda Purmehdi
ENERGY IS ENTITY, directed by Elia Vargas
OSCILLATIONS, directed by David Colagiovanni + Mark Franz
SQUEEZED BETWEEN DIMENSIONS, directed by Barbara Lattanzi
ABOUT THE BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Buffalo International Film Festival (est. 2006) champions regional, national, and international films that push the limits of independent cinema – presenting quality films from around the world to WNY residents and visitors. BIFF is committed to amplifying diverse voices and exhibiting cutting-edge programming in narrative, documentary and experimental film. A proud supporter of local filmmaking and the arts; BIFF also offers workshops, seminars, industry panel discussions, fiscal sponsorship and professional development opportunities, as well as an Offscreen series of art, music and performance.
For more info, including a growing list of guests in attendance, please visit buffalofilm.org