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Brooklyn Film Festival announces 18th annual festival lineup

Kicks Off May 29, Will Feature 108 Films from 26 Countries

May 18, 2015 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
“Manson Family Vacation,” the opening night film in the 18th Annual Brooklyn Film Festival, will show on May 29 at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg. Film still courtesy of the Brooklyn Film Festival
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The Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) has announced its full slate of films for the 2015 edition of this Brooklyn cultural mainstay.

For its 18th edition, the festival will open with the East Coast premiere of J. Davis’  “Manson Family Vacation,” starring Jay Duplass, Linas Phillips, Tobin Bell, Leonora Pitts, Adam Chernick and Davie-Blue, screening at the new BFF venue — the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg. The film is executive produced by Jay and Mark Duplass, and was acquired by Netflix at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival. 
 
This year’s festival is comprised of 108 features and shorts from 26 countries spread over five continents. Of these, 17 are world premieres and 30 are U.S. premieres, with Ryan Carmichael’s “But Not For Me” as the lone narrative feature world premiere. This New York City film stars Marcus Carl Franklin, Elena Urioste, Maria Vermeulen and Roger Guenveur Smith.  

In addition to “But Not For Me,” BFF films with a New York City connection include Matthew Yeager’s U.S. premiere “Valedictorian,” starring Brian Dell, Jennifer Prediger and Eleonore Hendricks; Onur Turkel’s “Abby Singer/Songwriter,” also starring Prediger, along with Turkel and Josephine Decker; Harvey Mitkas’ “Devil Town,” starring Lindsay Burdge, Alex Karpovsky, Lawrence Michael Levine, Jennifer Prediger, Sophia Takal, Brooke Bloom, Noah Gershman, Jen Kim, Alex Ross Perry and Caveh Zahedi; and Jack & Robert Schurman’s documentary “Wild Home,” among others. 
 
“The 2015 fest has a number of fantastic films from local filmmakers that shows the diverse creative visions of our city’s filmmakers,” Director of Programming Bryce J. Renninger said. “Work from across the country and the world round out the lineup, exploring and exemplifying this year’s theme of ‘Illuminate’ with their intelligence and ingenuity.” 
 
Expanding on the theme, BFF Executive Director Marco Ursino said “‘Illuminate’ is designed to showcase a new generation of filmmakers and their visions as part of the larger Brooklyn creative story. The festival hopes to spotlight storytelling without boundaries and welcome multi-layered stories, including the abstract and the inspirational, the intriguing and the ironic. The festival is simply looking for projects that reflect a creative, furious, explosive and uncontainable intelligence.” 
 
Other special events during the fest include the 11th annual KidsFilmFest 2015 on Saturday, May 30, at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP; the Filmmakers Party on June 3 at Billet & Bellows; the BFF Exchange series of panels and a pitch session on June 6; “The Illuminate Party,” also on June 6, and the June 7 Awards Ceremony. 
 
Main BFF venues are the Wythe Hotel and Windmill Studios in Greenpoint. Satellite locations include Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Made in New York Media Center By IFP in DUMBO and BRIC House in Fort Greene. 
 
Winners of the various festival awards as chosen by the fest juries and Board of Directors receive a total of $50,000 in prizes and film services from festival sponsors Panavision NY, Abelcine, Xeno Lights, Media Services, Film Friends, Mik Cribben Steady-Cam, Cinecall Soundtracks and Windmill Studios. 

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