Bushwick Film Festival Plus

User Bio

The Bushwick Film Festival (BFF) team is a collective of working artists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs, whose aim it is to celebrate and promote the art and craft of filmmaking. We work hard and are honored to provide a unique festival platform for independent filmmakers to present their work to an ever-growing and enthusiastic audience, and at the same time to play a role in helping filmmakers to expose and market themselves to the industry at large.

The Festival started as a do-it-yourself endeavor in 2007 when Bushwick was just on the cusp of becoming the amazing and diverse artist community that it is today. Way back then, our fundraising parties and film screenings were held at friends’ lofts and backyards. We have since created an outlet for sixty-four different filmmakers. And thanks to our amazing P.R. firm, Big Picture Media, not only have we been written up by celebrated outlets like the New York Post, National Public Radio, ArtSlant, Whitehot Magazine, and Interview Magazine, but we also have a long list of proud sponsors including Pepsi, Sobe, Magic Hat, Smuttynose, and Uprinting.

The Films that make it to our festival will discover the benefits of the enterprise. For example, in 2010 we provided the BFF Best Documentary award to Beijing Punk, with an independent plan for cinematic development, which included press particulars, website design (beijingpunk.com), and a marketing plan to assist with distribution.
The festival also supports and nourishes the Bushwick community, uniting with local collectives and collaborating with neighborhood venues. The organic evolution of the venture has led to an expanded alliance between a variety of media outlets. We host a yearly art exhibition and summer show with musical performance by local New York City bands.

We don’t stop at Bushwick! We continue to reach out and support the international community. Each year, the festival donates a percentage of all proceeds to a non-profit organization that positively impacts the international community. This year we are donating to One Liberia, an organization in Liberia, the birthplace of the Founder and Director of the Bushwick Film Festival, Kweighbaye Kotee.