Art of Brooklyn film festival coming to Bay Ridge

April 2, 2014 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Screen Shot 2014-04-03 at 10.06.02 AM.png

Share this:

Get out the popcorn! Bay Ridge is going to the movies.

The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, the only independent, international film festival built entirely around Brooklyn, is coming to Bay Ridge, Councilman Vincent Gentile announced on Tuesday.

Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst) said the festival will be presenting films over a period of two days, May 8 and 10, in Bay Ridge.

The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival (AoBFF) was founded in 2011 by Brooklyn-born artists.

“Everyone knows that Brooklyn is the cultural destination. And Bay Ridge has its own niche – known for its wonderful restaurants, miles of amazing waterfront and bucolic parkland, shopping and village-like atmosphere. It only makes sense that AoBFF makes a stop here in Bay Ridge,” Gentile said.

Films will be shown at PS/IS 30 at 415 Ovington Ave., on Thursday, May 8 and at BrooklynONE Theater at St. John’s Episcopal Church Hall at 461 99th St., on Saturday, May 10.

“We conceived AoBFF as a festival that speaks to Brooklyn as a whole, where many demographics overlap,” said Joseph Shahadi, executive director of the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival.

“We bring the new, artist-centric Brooklyn community together with ‘Classic Brooklyn’– long-time residents and immigrant communities — at a single event. As a long-time Bay Ridge resident myself, I’m happy to bring AoBFF to this diverse neighborhood that has so much interest in the arts,” Shahadi said.

Gentile said he will be on hand when the festival kicks off at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Sunday, May 4.

“Whether its Bay Ridge’s ethnic organizations, dance companies, festivals, art galleries, historical societies, museums, park organizations, opera companies, visual artists, performance venues or unique local businesses, I think we can all agree that southwest Brooklyn is the place to be,” Gentile said.

To learn more about the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, visit http://www.aobff.org