Boston Underground 2017: The Shorts. The Lovely, Bloody, Weird, Scary, and Funny Shorts
Okay. Our apologies to the Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) for our tardiness in getting to this announcement about the lineup of awesome short films playing at their 19th annual festival. But if you think about it, sending out a press release that close to Irish Competitive Drinking Day, it was a crapshoot if anyone in the ScreenAnarchy would be vertical at all this weekend.
Alas, I am the loser who had to shy away from competing this year. But I am also the winner because I get to share with your this year's excellent lineup of short films playing at the festival!
BUFF continues the fine tradition of supporting filmmakers who favor the short format and have always spread that love to not only local ('Merica!) and very local (Mass!) but to filmmakers around the World. The ScreenAnarchy family is also very proud of our own Izzy Lee (very local) who has two short films in this year's festival.
Below is the press release and the complete list of all short films playing at BUFF 19.
19th Annual Boston Underground Film Festival UnveilsSumptuous Selection of Shorts Screening March 22nd through the 26thTitles Include Computer Fighters, The Bridge Partner and Izzy Lee’s Latest, Rites of Vengeance!Cambridge, MA – The 19th annual Boston Underground Film Festival returns to Harvard Square to usher in New England’s direly-needed Spring season with five days of Bacchic cinematic offerings to the gods. BUFF delivers a cornucopia of bite-sized terror, laughs, animations, music videos and more with a variety platter of 60+ short films spread between six thematic programs and accompanying select feature films.Ashlea Wessel’s haunting INK provides a strong aperitif of pregsploitation horror to opening night feature film Prevenge, by Alice Lowe. Gabriel Olson’s stunner, The Bridge Partner, stars Beth Grant (Donnie Darko, No Country for Old Men) as a timid housewife jolted into a fight for her survival or sanity, a pitch perfect pairing with closing night feature film, Marianna Palka’s Bitch.BUFF is pleased as pie to be giving the big-screen treatment to Computer Fighters, the latest comedic jam from YouTube overlords Neil Cicierega, Kevin James, and Ryan Murphy. Lavishing love upon the local filmmaking community is our the all-New England mainstay shorts block, Homegrown Horror, featuring Anna Gravél’s harrowing Fractal, Stee McMorris’s gooey Strange Harvest, and Ben Swicker’s fantabulous The Dissolving Man.Speaking of local love, BUFF is also proud to be hosting two shorts in the lineup from horror maven Izzy Lee: For a Good Time Call can be found creeping around the Trigger Warning transgressive midnight shorts program, and her unholy latest, Rites of Vengeance precedes Skip Shea’s equally unholy feature debut, Trinity.Additional programs in this year’s lineup explore fantastic feats of animation (Shorts Block: Get the Balance Right), a collection of international shorts exploring the human condition (Shorts Block: Disordered States), a block dedicated to dementedly funny shorts, Don’t Look Back into the Sun, hosted by comedian Kevin Harrington, and a dazzling array of genre-bending music videos given the silver screen treatment, Sound + Vision.BOSTON UNDERGROUND SHORTS LINEUPShorts Block DISORDERED STATES:A TOWN CALLED THEOCRACYJehad Al-Kateeb, Syria/USA, 15 min.Boy and girl meet cute through the magic of municipal overreach.GUTSCarrie Drzik, USA, 4 min.The delightful tale about a plucky young heroine left to her own devices.MARGINAL CIRCUS EMBASSYOliver Kowalczyk, Spain, 10 min.We can't always hide our anxiety and loneliness with costumed pool parties.ISADOREBrooke Paxton, Australia, 14 min.A German Expressionist ode to pantomime and our desperate need to please another at our own expense.YULETIDEMarinah Janello, USA, 5 min.Krampus can spy you. But that doesn't mean you can spy on Krampus.WALLGiannis Vlahopolous, Greece, 14 min.Those who control the money may also be controlling your outrage.YOU CAN’T ESCAPEGoirick Das, USA, 3 min.Ding dong ditching—or the endless cycle of running from our fears and ourselves.NO WAVEStephane Lapointe, Canada, 12 min.After he hears a man scream within the calming sea of a relaxation radio station, sleep deprivation is the least of Henry’s problems.BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSIONTim Woodall, UK, 15 min.The brief hijacking of a TV signal leads a lonely, grief-wracked video archivist onto an obsessive quest for meaning.Comedy Shorts Block DON’T LOOK BACK INTO THE SUN:DEATH METALChris McInroy, USA, 5 min.A metalhead gets passed down a satanic guitar that riffs to shreds.CALLING IN DEMONSPorcelain Dalya, USA, 8 min.Instead of calling out of work sick, Daphne finds that she has demons in her home.EULOGILIAAlex Grossman, USA, 11 min.After her bizarre addiction to eulogize is discovered, a troubled young woman fights to prove her sanity while attempting to survive group therapy.EARWORMTara Price, USA, 5 min.A lonely man does battle with a relentless piece of music.IDIOMS ORIGINS ANOTHER TALEJim McDonough, USA, 6 min.According to the legend, each and every idiom came to be after happening in real life. These stories have never been told. Until nowCOMPUTER FIGHTERSKevin James & Neil Cicierega & Ryan Murphy, USA, 22 min.When the local rich kid begins to hog a new groundbreaking video game at the arcade, it's up to Ryan, Neil, and Kevin to stop him.PET MONKEYEric Maira, USA, 8 min.A date night turns ugly when a persistent boyfriend offers to buy his girlfriend a monkey.STAYCATIONZachary Fleming, USA, 12 min.Rob just wants some quality alone time. So does the apartment he rented.4DLaurence Rosier Stanies, Australia, 7 min.if the fourth dimension is time, what would a real 4D printer look like? A time machine? A black hole?HAPPY ANNIVERSARYMark Kuczewski, UK, 6 min.One man's quest to rekindle his love with his zombie bride.TAMPOONJeanne Jo, USA, 7 min.When Miranda makes bad decisions about her love life, a possessed tampon enters to take care of business.CHICKEN TUESDAYSBrandon Daley, USA, 10 min.Will Gillman sets out to impress his date by bringing her to a chicken photography competition at a local bar. From the director of last year’s Savasana.Animated Shorts Block GET THE BALANCE RIGHT:THE PAST INSIDE THE PRESENTJames Siewert, USA, 12 min.A couple replays the same encounter day after day.ADAMVeselin Efremov, Sweden, 6 min.A criminal wakes to find he has been stripped of his body and placed into a machine.MOLARLuke Liberty, USA, 2 min.Strange things are afoot in the dark of the forest.HOLD ME (CA CAW CA CAW)Renee Zhan, USA, 11 min.A bird and her boyfriend are seemingly happy until she wants more.PANIC ATTACK!Eileen O'Meara, USA, 3 min.Maybe you did leave the coffee on; maybe your house plants are gaslighting you.LILLY HITS THE ROADThe Bum Family, Canada, 5 min.An adventure of a 10 foot tall orange monster and her friend Fluffle.ROGER BALLEN’S THEATRE OF APPARITIONSEmma Calder & Ged Haney, UK, 5 min.The theatre of the subconscious; sex and death cavort for the audience’s amusement.THE GOLDEN CHAINAdebukola Bodunrin & Ezra Claytan Daniels, USA, 13 min.On a distant space station, a scientist becomes obsessed with the pocket universe she is monitoring.THE HISTORY OF MAGIC: ENSUEÑOJose Luis Gonzalez, USA, 5 min.In a small Texas town, a teenage girl’s imagination transforms her bike ride home.THE ITCHINGDianne Bellino, USA, 15 min.A wolf just wants to party with some bunnies, but there is something under her skin.OPOLISJohn F. Quirk, USA, 3 min.Lookout! Space alien Attack!Midnight Shorts Block TRIGGER WARNING:HELL FOLLOWSBrian Harrison, Japan/USA, 11 min.The soul of a sadistic killer posses the body of his identical twin, and is out for vengeance.STUDDED NIGHTMAREJean Claude Leblanc, Canada, 9 min.Can a man resist the pull of the suicide chair?FOR A GOOD TIME CALLIzzy Lee, USA, 12 min.Maybe you shouldn’t.MUTTBruce James, USA, 14 min.Faith will do some crazy thing to you, down in the buckle of the bible belt.MOUSECeline Held & Logan George, USA, 11 min.Two cokeheads come up with an uniquely opportunistic way to stick it to the man. Held and George are a filmmaking duo to keep an eye on.THE LOWER RACEGraham Roberts, USA, 10 min.In the near future, when our toxic earth is ruled by giant ants, one part-human warrior is all that stands against total Insecta domination.FANGS & CLAWS 2Francisco Lacerda, Portugal, 17 min.Get ready for the trashiest sequel of the year!PRINCESSJonty Williment-Knowles, USA, 5 min.A troubling love story, told through a broken lens.FUCKING FREAKSalamo Manetti-Lax, USA, 15 min.As an Alien walks the sun drenched landscape of Los Angeles, it encounters a slew of angry inhabitants mirroring various facets of LA society. A nice little message picture.New England Horror Shorts Block HOMEGROWN HORROR:LETTINGHannah Neurotica, Vermont, 3 min.A little girl’s nightmares manifest in her toy collection.LOOKERKyle Johannessen, Massachusetts, 10 min.A scorned woman has a special plans for her lecherous harassers.FRACTALAnna Gravél, Maine, 14 min.A woman’s return to her childhood home releases terrible memories.STRANGE HARVESTStee McMorris, Massachusetts, 6 min.A pair of strangers awaken to find themselves imprisoned in a bizarre alien goo.THE DISSOLVING MANBen Swicker, Massachusetts, 20 min.An aimless young adult finds his life literally disintegrating before his eyes.THE PRICE OF BONESBrandon Taylor, Massachusetts, 10 min.A pair of women go to disturbing lengths to achieve a socially-desired body type.THE CALL OF CHARLIENick Spooner, Rhode Island, 14 min.A Lovecraftian creature makes things awkward for guests at a dinner party.PEPPERCORN HEARTSChristine Louise Marshall, Maine, 13 min.A funeral holds more than sadness for the spurned mourners gathered there.Shorts Playing with BUFF Features:WALDEN PINKPeter Bolte, USA, 11 min.Walden sits on a park bench as an endless stream of religious proselytizers, process servers, and angry bartenders distract him from from finding peace and clarity to his repetitive and draining existence. From BUFF alum Peter Bolte (Dr. Sketchy’s) and starring David Yow of The Jesus Lizard.HOME EDUCATIONAndrea Niada, United Kingdom, 25 minA domineering mother and her inquisitive daughter engage in unusual acts of faith in an attempt to cajole an attic-bound pater familias back from the dead.THE BRIDGE PARTNERGabriel Olson, USA, 14 minA timid housewife is jolted into a fight for her survival or sanity by her new partner at a weekly bridge game when she thinks she hears a whispered threat.FROM THE DIZZINESS OF FREEDOM: THE PHILOSOPHY VESSELMelissa Ferrari, USA, 8 min.A visualization of the strategies people incorporate to find meaning in their lives inspired by the mythology and functions of mazes and labyrinths across history.THE QUANTIFIED SELFGleb Osatinski, USA, 16 minLozinski, Clare and their daughters Daniela1 and Daniela2 prepare for the girls’ first trip to a The Pillar, which gives meaning to their highly ordered lives. But The Pillar takes and gives and when it blesses the family with a new addition, it takes from them in ways they can’t anticipate.INKAshlea Wessel, Canada, 10 minA traumatized woman seeks penance and personal transformation through tattooing after surviving a devastating pregnancy. One night, drenched in booze and ink, her deepest fears threaten to consume her.THREE POINT DYNAMICSKeaton Smith, USA, 15 min.An alcoholic, theoretical physicist seeks to right the wrongs of his past by applying his unified theory to reality.BYEFURNOWMichael Elliott Dennis, USA, 17 min.A bereaved pet owner, on the suggestion of a stranger in a bar, resorts to a mobile app to help him find closure.AN ELDRITCH PLACEJulien Jauniaux, Belgium, 17 min.Terror grips a man keeping watch over an erratic researcher’s late night experiments.RITES OF VENGEANCEIzzy Lee, USA, 5mNuns’ justice comes, their will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.TROLL: A SOUTHERN TALEMarinah Janello, USA, 12 min.An eccentric artist navigates self-expression through his experiences living and growing up in the South.DISCONTINUITYLori Felker, USA, 15 minWhen Tabitha moves back “home” to the house she shared with her long-distance boyfriend Stephen, their reunion is interrupted by communication problems, neighbors, and a clowder of cats.BOSTON UNDERGROUND MUSIC VIDEOS“Turbo Killer”Carpenter BrutSeth Ickerman“Shooter”Clipping.Carlos Lopez Estrada“Being”MillingtonJosh Thomas & Darcy Prendergast“Father”RysyMartyna Iwa?ska“Ten Year Tenure”HalfsourAriana Ratner“Molly”PalehoundLara Jean Gallagher & Brian Kinkley“No Reason”Bonobo & Nick MurphyOscar Hudson“Bury the Body”Ruby Rose FoxRuby Rose Fox & Dave Brophy & Roger Metcalf“Happy”MitskiMaegan Houang“Good Earth”FawnAriana Anderson“Nothing”Tesla BoyRyan Patrick“Roller”QuiltAdi Putra“Ya Ya Ya”You Won'tJosh Arnoudse“Big Dead Heart”Eldridge RodriguezPat Breen & Cameron Keiber“Overcame the Sun”Cloudy BuseyJulian Clark & Adam Hersko & Matt Twohig“Dropped Bench Press”Skinny BonesEli Susser“Back Around, Devil”DessertAlex Lill“Black Man In A White World”Michael KiwanukaHiro Murai“Lite Spots”KaytranadaMartin C. Pariseau“Blood in Love”Ruby CubePierre Teulieres & Milo Gony“Closer”LemaitreEwan Jones Morris & Casey Raymond“I Wanna Prove To You”Lemon TwigsNick Roney
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