BFC MEMBERS FREE
Opening Night of the 2023 BFC Short Film Festival will be held on Wednesday, October 11th at 7:00pm at the Barrymore Film Center. This special evening will feature all our winning films from 2022 and 2021 that were not able to be seen at the BFC due to COVID related delays. These are incredible films and many of our filmmakers will be in attendance for the evening.
2022 GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Kris Krainock, Director & Writer
A Roman Everyman discovers a violently ill intruder on his sofa after returning from the market. Begrudgingly, the Everyman must nurse this stranger back to health before he can unearth the ominous man's true purpose for being there.
2022 SHORTS CATEGORY WINNER
Greg Mitchell, Director & Writer
Suzanne Mitchell, Producer
Long suppressed footage of the human suffering caused by the US nuclear bombing of two Japanese cities in August of 1945.
2022 JURY PRIZE
Vagabond, Director & Producer
Shot during the early days of the pandemic lock down In NYC and incorporating the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, INTO THE AFTERMATH is as much a document of 2020 as it is a work of speculative science fiction - A global pandemic has shut down New York City and Black Lives Matter protesters are clashing with police in the streets, while Omar fruitlessly struggles to find a test kit for his wife, Carla who may be infected by a deadly virus transmitted by language. Unable to find a test kit Carla convinces Omar that she has the virus and is going to die but wants to do it on her own terms. Those terms include a fair amount of danger that they try and protect their daughter, Alexis from, but Alexis has her own ideas.
2022 STUDENT FILM WINNER
Michelle Tang, Director & Writer
A lonely nine year old boy wants to save his mom from his abusive father, but he feels powerless in the middle of all the fighting...that is until he steals his father's gun.
2022 CELL PHONE CINEMA WINNER
Scott Vinci, Director & Writer
Preview world-renowned puzzle master, Bob Stevens, masters class.
2022 AUDIENCE FAVORITE
Anthony Paulino, Director
Vijaykumar Mirchandani, Producer
Jorge Alvarez, Executive Producer
During the pandemic, the United States faced another outcry of the Black Lives Matter movement post some incidents that sparked a nationwide protest. Amidst the peaceful protests and march there were violent incidents, looting, ransacking and complete unrest. Many innocent people lost their lives, and the police were held accountable for their poor decisions. The entire country was seeking justice against racial discrimination which has always existed but now they felt "enough is enough". People took to the streets and so did Gerald, a young African American teenager who believed in supporting his people and raising his voice for justice. His father Jerome, an ex-cop does not see eye-to-eye on the methods being adopted by the people and is on the other side of the fence. The difference in ideology and principles of the father and son creates a divide between them making it difficult for the mother Trisha to maintain peace until hell breaks loose. This everyday family situation that can happen in any household is a reflection on racial injustice and the Black experience in America.
2021 GRAND PRIZE WINNER
2021 STUDENT FILM WINNER
SAMU GABOR, DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
An incredible and moving story that follows three members of the Grady family who took action for what they believe to be right. We get a glimpse into the history of Ellen Grady and her connection to the Plowshares movement, meeting her partner Peter De Mott and raising a family.
2021 SHORT FILM CATEGORY WINNER
JULIE KOEHNEN, DIRECTOR & WRITER
An ambitious, young Great Northwest Railroad executive comes face to face with his own moral decay in his blind pursuit of wealth and status among the social elite.
2021 JURY PRIZE WINNER
CHRIS MILEWSKI, DIRECTOR/WRITER
We meet Frederick, a rich heir to his father’s estate, sitting and laughing at a newspaper article in which a man was so poor he had to steal. Then his face falls as he sees the market has crashed. To show what an absolute cad he is, he finds a young lady taking flowers upon his estate. She asks his forgiveness for they are for a grave. He humiliates her and she runs away, to which he throws the flowers down with scorn.
As we see, however, the sands of time are unkind to Frederick, for following the collapse of the market, he finds himself soon afterwards homeless and almost penniless, but for two coins in his pocket. Looking for work, he’s cast away by an apple-eating boss who gives him the apple core to munch on.
Hearing church bells, his soul vacates his body and he follows them. Frederick meets a priest who takes his coins off him but tells him of the thousand steps he must descend over yonder because in the forest he may find what he seeks. The priest is a total money-grubbing dickhead who’d take the last nickel off a homeless man.
Doubtful he’s going to need the coins anyhow, he soon begins his descent down the thousand steps and to whatever awaits him below.