Brooklyn Film Festival 2016

The Brooklyn Film Festival 2016 is June 3-12, featuring more than 100 new independent films and documentaries, including many East Coast and world premieres. Several screenings include talks by directors, actors or others involved in the production.

Top premieres include Sean Garrity’s award-winning Borealis, set to open the festival, and FORBIDDEN Cuba,  a dramatic comedy that is the first US feature film shot in Cuba since 1959.

There are several BFF screening venues, including the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg.

Borealis is a charming, moving and often comedic family drama starring Jonas Chernick, Joey King, Emily Hampshire and Kevin Pollak, and has picked up several awards on the festival circuit, including best director for Garrity and a special jury prize for King at the Canadian Filmmakers’ Festival.

Art Jones’ FORBIDDEN Cuba is a world premiere. that follows an American businessman to Cuba, where his covert mission is to find an executive gone rogue while planting the seeds for future business expansion. This marks the first US feature film shot in Cuba since 1959.

The 5:30pm screening of FORBIDDEN Cuba on June 11th is at Windmill Studios, and will be followed by a panel discussion about the experience of making an American film in Cuba.

This year’s festival is comprised of 107 features and shorts from 31 countries spread over 6 continents including 20 world premieres, 18 US bows, and 30 East Coast debuts. 23 films are screening in NYC for the first time.

Except for opening night, tickets are $13 directly from Brooklyn Film Festival.  The website also features tailers of some films.

Here is the complete listing of films being screened at the Brooklyn Film Festival. The daily screening schedule, and links to buy tickets, is on the BFF website.  Except for special events, tickets are $15 or less.

Claire Carré’s wholly original low-fi sci-fi festival darling Embers gets a NY premiere. This Jason Ritter starrer has picked up awards at festivals in Boston, New Orleans, Oxford and Sarasota.

Love Is All You Need is the debut feature from Kim Rocco Shields, and takes a unique look at bullying, prejudice, and human rights by imagining a world where homosexuality is the norm and heterophobia is common. Where a town is rocked when the local star quarterback is outed for being a heterosexual and a young girl is bullied for having a crush on a boy at school.

“From Canada to Iran to The Philippines to Belgium to China and Cuba, the 2016 fest is one of our most diverse ever,” said BFF executive director Marco Ursino. “Brooklyn is one of the most diverse cities in the world and its reputation as a cultural HUB is increasing with each year. We’re pleased and honored to be able to bring the work of these exceptional global filmmakers to our audience.”

Other special events during the fest include the 12th annual KidsFilmFest 2016 on Saturday, June 4th at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP; the Filmmakers PARTY ON June 8th at the new Double RL store in Williamsburg; the BFF Exchange series of panels on June 11th at BRIC House (including sessions about the Fair Use doctrine, a doc pitch session and “Virtual Reality: A Practical Look”); “The Experiment Edition” party also on June 11th, and the June 12th Awards Ceremony at Windmill Studios NYC.

Main BFF venues are the Wythe Hotel and Windmill Studios NYC in Greenpoint. Satellite locations include Syndicated in Bushwick, Made in New York Media Center by IFP in Dumbo, and BRIC House in Fort Greene.

The complete Feature lineup, in alphabetical order,  is as follows:

Narrative Features:

• BAD VEGAN AND THE TELEPORTATION MACHINE, Dir: Antón Goenechea, USA, 89 min, WORLD PREMIERE
• BOREALIS, Dir: Sean Garrity, Canada, 95 min, US PREMIERE
• CREEDMORIA, Dir: Alicia Slimmer, USA, 90 min, EAST COAST PREMIERE
• CROOKED & NARROW, Dir: Neal Dhand, USA, 89 min, WORLD PREMIERE
• DELINQUENT, Dir: Kieran Valla, USA, 96 min,  WORLD PREMIERE
• EMBERS, Dir: Claire Carre, USA, 85 min, NY PREMIERE
• FORBIDDEN CUBA, Dir: Art Jones, USA, 80 min, WORLD PREMIERE
• HELMSMAN, Dir: Majid Esmaeili Parsa, Iran, 86 min, US PREMIERE
• LAPACHHAPI (Hide N Seek),Dir: Vishal Furia, India, 110 min, WORLD PREMIERE
• LIFE OF SIGNIFICANT SOIL, Dir: Michael Irish, USA, 71 min,  WORLD PREMIERE
• LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED?, Dir: Kim Rocco Shields, USA, 123 min, NY PREMIERE
• REMITTANCE, Dir: Patrick Daly & Joel Fendelman, USA, 90 min, NY PREMIERE

Documentary Features:

• CHINA’S 3DREAMS, Dir: Nick Torrens, Australia, 85 min, , US PREMIERE
• CITY OF TREES, Dir: Brandon Kramer, USA, 76 min, BROOKLYN PREMIERE
• DEPROGRAMMED, Dir: Mia Donovan, Canada, 86 min,  EAST COAST PREMIERE
• FARMER/VETERAN, Dir: Alix Blair & Jeremy Lange, USA 82 min,  EAST COAST PREMIERE
• HOW SWEET THE SOUND — THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, Dir: Leslie McCleave, USA, 89 min, EAST COAST PREMIERE
• THE IF PROJECT, Dir: Kathlyn Horan, USA, 90 min, EAST COAST PREMIERE
• THE REBOUND, Dir: Shaina Allen, USA, 65 min, NY PREMIERE
• SUSTAINABLE, Dir: Matt Wechsler, USA, 95 min, , EAST COAST PREMIERE
• SWEET DILLARD, Dir: Jim Virga, USA, 55 min, NY PREMIERE