The 2017 Boston Underground Film Festival (aka BUFF) has announced its slate of shorts for this year, and it looks like there is just about something for all tastes. They have over 60 shorts lined up in 6 different themed blocks. They also have selected shorts playing in front of thematically linked features, which is a cool trend we have started seeing at some other festivals. The festival runs March 22 – March 26, 2017, so you may want to grab your tickets soon if you are planning on going. The venue is the historic Brattle Theatre at Harvard Square, so head on over and catch some cool looking shorts.
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.
INK
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.
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 LINEUP
Shorts Block DISORDERED STATES:
A TOWN CALLED THEOCRACY Jehad Al-Kateeb, Syria/USA, 15 min. Boy and girl meet cute through the magic of municipal overreach.
Guts
GUTS Carrie Drzik, USA, 4 min. The delightful tale about a plucky young heroine left to her own devices.
MARGINAL CIRCUS EMBASSY Oliver Kowalczyk, Spain, 10 min. We can’t always hide our anxiety and loneliness with costumed pool parties.
ISADORE Brooke Paxton, Australia, 14 min. A German Expressionist ode to pantomime and our desperate need to please another at our own expense.
YULETIDE Marinah Janello, USA, 5 min. Krampus can spy you. But that doesn’t mean you can spy on Krampus.WALL Giannis Vlahopolous, Greece, 14 min. Those who control the money may also be controlling your outrage.
YOU CAN’T ESCAPE Goirick Das, USA, 3 min. Ding dong ditching–or the endless cycle of running from our fears and ourselves.
No Wave
NO WAVE Stephane 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 INTRUSION Tim 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 METAL Chris McInroy, USA, 5 min. A metalhead gets passed down a satanic guitar that riffs to shreds.
CALLING IN DEMONS Porcelain Dalya, USA, 8 min. Instead of calling out of work sick, Daphne finds that she has demons in her home.
EULOGILIA Alex 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.
Earworm
EARWORM Tara Price, USA, 5 min. A lonely man does battle with a relentless piece of music.IDIOMS ORIGINS ANOTHER TALE Jim 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 nowC
OMPUTER FIGHTERS Kevin 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 MONKEY Eric Maira, USA, 8 min. A date night turns ugly when a persistent boyfriend offers to buy his girlfriend a monkey.
STAYCATION Zachary Fleming, USA, 12 min. Rob just wants some quality alone time. So does the apartment he rented.
4D Laurence 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 Anniversary
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Mark Kuczewski, UK, 6 min. One man’s quest to rekindle his love with his zombie bride.TAMPOON Jeanne Jo, USA, 7 min. When Miranda makes bad decisions about her love life, a possessed tampon enters to take care of business.
CHICKEN TUESDAYS Brandon 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 PRESENT James Siewert, USA, 12 min. A couple replays the same encounter day after day.
ADAM Veselin Efremov, Sweden, 6 min. A criminal wakes to find he has been stripped of his body and placed into a machine.
MOLAR Luke Liberty, USA, 2 min. Strange things are afoot in the dark of the forest.
Hold Me (Ca Caw Ca Caw)
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 ROAD The Bum Family, Canada, 5 min. An adventure of a 10 foot tall orange monster and her friend Fluffle.
ROGER BALLEN’S THEATRE OF APPARITIONS Emma Calder & Ged Haney, UK, 5 min. The theatre of the subconscious; sex and death cavort for the audience’s amusement.
The Golden Chain
THE GOLDEN CHAIN Adebukola 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: ENSUEÑO Jose Luis Gonzalez, USA, 5 min. In a small Texas town, a teenage girl’s imagination transforms her bike ride home.
THE ITCHING Dianne Bellino, USA, 15 min. A wolf just wants to party with some bunnies, but there is something under her skin.
OPOLIS John F. Quirk, USA, 3 min. Lookout! Space alien Attack!
Midnight Shorts Block TRIGGER WARNING:
HELL FOLLOWS Brian Harrison, Japan/USA, 11 min. The soul of a sadistic killer posses the body of his identical twin, and is out for vengeance.
STUDDED NIGHTMARE Jean Claude Leblanc, Canada, 9 min. Can a man resist the pull of the suicide chair?
For A Good Time Call
FOR A GOOD TIME CALL Izzy Lee, USA, 12 min. Maybe you shouldn’t.
MUTT Bruce James, USA, 14 min. Faith will do some crazy thing to you, down in the buckle of the bible belt.
MOUSE Celine 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 RACE Graham 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 2
FANGS & CLAWS 2 Francisco Lacerda, Portugal, 17 min. Get ready for the trashiest sequel of the year!
PRINCESS Jonty Williment-Knowles, USA, 5 min. A troubling love story, told through a broken lens.
FUCKING FREAK Salamo 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:
LETTING Hannah Neurotica, Vermont, 3 min. A little girl’s nightmares manifest in her toy collection.
LOOKER Kyle Johannessen, Massachusetts, 10 min. A scorned woman has a special plans for her lecherous harassers.
STRANGE HARVEST Stee McMorris, Massachusetts, 6 min. A pair of strangers awaken to find themselves imprisoned in a bizarre alien goo.
The Dissolving Man
THE DISSOLVING MAN Ben Swicker, Massachusetts, 20 min. An aimless young adult finds his life literally disintegrating before his eyes.
THE PRICE OF BONES Brandon Taylor, Massachusetts, 10 min. A pair of women go to disturbing lengths to achieve a socially-desired body type.
THE CALL OF CHARLIE Nick Spooner, Rhode Island, 14 min. A Lovecraftian creature makes things awkward for guests at a dinner party.
PEPPERCORN HEARTS Christine Louise Marshall, Maine, 13 min. A funeral holds more than sadness for the spurned mourners gathered there.
Shorts Playing with BUFF Features:
WALDEN PINK Peter 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 EDUCATION Andrea Niada, United Kingdom, 25 min A 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 PARTNER Gabriel Olson, USA, 14 min A 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 Vessel
FROM THE DIZZINESS OF FREEDOM: THE PHILOSOPHY VESSEL Melissa 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 SELF Gleb Osatinski, USA, 16 min Lozinski, 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.
INK Ashlea Wessel, Canada, 10 min A 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 DYNAMICS Keaton Smith, USA, 15 min. An alcoholic, theoretical physicist seeks to right the wrongs of his past by applying his unified theory to reality.
Byefurnow
BYEFURNOW Michael 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 PLACE Julien Jauniaux, Belgium, 17 min. Terror grips a man keeping watch over an erratic researcher’s late night experiments.
RITES OF VENGEANCE Izzy Lee, USA, 5m Nuns’ justice comes, their will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
TROLL: A SOUTHERN TALE Marinah Janello, USA, 12 min. An eccentric artist navigates self-expression through his experiences living and growing up in the South.
Discontinuity
DISCONTINUITY Lori Felker, USA, 15 min When 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 Brut Seth Ickerman
“Shooter” Clipping. Carlos Lopez Estrada
“Being” Millington Josh Thomas & Darcy Prendergast
“Father” Rysy Martyna IwaÅ„ska
“Ten Year Tenure” Halfsour Ariana Ratner
“Molly” Palehound Lara Jean Gallagher & Brian Kinkley
“No Reason” Bonobo & Nick Murphy Oscar Hudson
“Bury the Body” Ruby Rose Fox Ruby Rose Fox & Dave Brophy & Roger Metcalf
“Happy” Mitski Maegan Houang
“Good Earth” Fawn Ariana Anderson
“Nothing” Tesla Boy Ryan Patrick
“Roller” Quilt Adi Putra
“Ya Ya Ya” You Won’t Josh Arnoudse
“Big Dead Heart” Eldridge Rodriguez Pat Breen & Cameron Keiber
“Overcame the Sun” Cloudy Busey Julian Clark & Adam Hersko & Matt Twohig
“Dropped Bench Press” Skinny Bones Eli Susser
“Back Around, Devil” Dessert Alex Lill
“Black Man In A White World” Michael Kiwanuka Hiro Murai
“Lite Spots” Kaytranada Martin C. Pariseau
“Blood in Love” Ruby Cube Pierre Teulieres & Milo Gony
“Closer” Lemaitre Ewan Jones Morris & Casey Raymond
“I Wanna Prove To You” Lemon Twigs Nick Roney
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Paul Cardullo is a North Carolina indy filmmaker and horror fan. His tastes range from art-house horror to low-budget schlock to indie gems to Slovenia killer hillbilly flicks. When not watching films, he helps make them. From actor to boom operator to doughnut wrangler, he makes himself useful wherever he can. Paul believes it is sometimes necessary to suffer for one’s art. He has endured being covered in [censored], having [censored] thrown at him, and spending over a year with muttonchops and a 70’s-style mustache. When not being abused for the sake of his craft, Paul works on computers and watches as many obscure (and not so obscure) movies as he can fit in.
