As the Brooklyn Film Festival’s (BFF) 23rd edition: TURNING POINT, approaches, the festival unveiled the lineup of Narrative Shorts, Documentary Shorts, Animation and Experimental Films; along with its plans for its opening night program..

The 2020 festival opening strategy on May 29 will be driven mostly, and loosely, by our own planet’s time zones. As the various program blocks slowly populate the festival’s website, BFF will target different time zones. In other words, the group of programs that will appear at 6:00 a.m. on May 29 in Brooklyn, NY (EST) is meant to specifically serve the geographical area that includes New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and eastern China where by then it will be early evening. The second group of film programs will target the area that spans from India to Turkey. The third group will target the all of Europe and the fourth the Americas. All the programs that slowly populate our website will do so in a counter-clock fashion so that specific programs will virtually land on specific territories at the best possible viewing time: early evening.

As an additional prize for the 2020 filmmakers, a selection of winning BFF films (Best of Fest) will air on WNET’s Reel 13 as a summer showcase. This will be a 4-hour block dedicated to BFF and the projects BFF handles.

For the 8th straight year, BFF is working alongside TBWA\Chiat\Day NY, which delved into the shortlisted films and extracted some of their most moving moments and reframed them as series of ‘refresher courses,’ reteaching some of life’s most basic interactions such as How to Be a Sports Fan, How to Hug, How to Have Dinner Parties, How to Do The Beach, Grooming Ritual, Singing in Public, The In-Person Meeting: or the Art of Being Aligned and The Restaurant & You. The series aims to promote the incredible talent of the Brooklyn Film Festival, the inherent humanity in independent film, and shows a great idea can be scaled without spending a lot of money on bespoke production. Chatting Without Your Phone is the first in the Relearn How to be Human creative series. Using footage from Brooklyn Film Festival 2020 submission “Blocks” by Director Bridget Moloney, the creative aims to show people how to behave as normal humans in a normal society once social distancing is a mere memory. The films will run across a combination of TV and online media placements. Ricard Valero, Executive Creative Director TBWA\Chiat\Day New York notes “Independent film offers a raw, uncut, and honest look at what it means to be human. After months of sheltering in place, TBWA\Chiat\Day NY’s latest creative for Brooklyn Film Festival is helping us remember how to stay human.”

As previously announced, all Brooklyn Film Festival films will play for free via BFF’s website for the whole duration of the festival, but viewers must first open a free account and can begin to pre-register starting today on the BFF website. Audience voting will be limited to one vote per account. BFF will also organize parallel live events such as filmmaker introductions and Q&A sessions on the BFF website, Facebook and other social media.

BFF Executive Director Marco Ursino said of the 23rd edition: TURNING POINT, “Just a few months ago, nobody, not even the most daring sci-fi screenwriter, could have predicted the current situation and/or the extent of the COVID-19 takeover. Besides the fact that we are all still dealing with the basics and a resolutive approach feels still far away, one thing seems certain: we won’t be able to go back to the pre-virus thinking and lifestyle anytime soon. The fear of the ‘invisible danger’ that threatens our life is radically modifying our own life routine and the way we deal with our neighbors. It is a ‘Turning Point’ in history. It is a moment that will ultimately reveal who we are as human beings. The Brooklyn Film Festival, with its 2020 event, plans to highlight and dissect people’s character and problem solving attitude as it shifts from one time zone to the next. The international role BFF has always played on the world’s stage, will now come truly handy while with our film lineup we travel from one corner of the planet to another. ‘Turning Point’ is about refreshing our own point of view. It’s about rethinking our old assumptions and learning from the people who share our screen whether they live in a different continent or across the street. ‘Turning Point’ is about reinventing our planet and our life.”

The lineup for the Narrative Shorts, Documentary Shorts, Animation, Experimental Films and kidsfilmfest is as follows.

SHORT NARRATIVES

“Alive” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Jimmy Olsson, Sweden, 23 min.

“Anna and the Inexpressible Feeling of Being Lost” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Philip Gibson, New Zealand, 9 min.

“Antelope” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Diego Murillo, Venezuela/USA, 14 min.

“Best Seller” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Nora Kirkpatrick, USA, 14 min.

“Blocks” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Bridget Moloney-Sinclair, USA, 11 min.

“Boys & Toys” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Kevin P. Alexander, USA, 12 min.

“Broken Bird” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Rachel Harrison-Gordon, USA, 10 min.

“Coucou” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Daiva Zalnieriunas, Canada, 12 min.

“Deseo” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Chloe Wallace, USA, 12 min.

“Ex Disposer” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Daniel Ferrer, USA, 18 min.

“FITNESS! Or a story about SWEAT” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Kana Hatakeyama, USA, 12 min.

“Freed” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Josza Anjembe, France, 20 min.

“Hammurabi” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Patrick Kennelly, USA, 10 min.

“Handheld” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Pisie Hochheim/ Tony Oswald, USA, 12 min.

“Header” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Mark Kuhlmann, Germany, 13 min.

“I’ll End Up in Jail” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Alexandre Dostie, Canada, 21 min.

“IDOL” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Alex Wu, Australia, 19 min.

“Journal” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Alexander Bliss, USA, 8 min.

“Mr. Sam” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Zeus Kontoyannis, USA, 28 min.

“New Year’s Eve” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Hao Zheng, USA/China, 22 min.

“On the Side” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Alma Hemmo, Israel, 14 min.

“Peter has to go to the Doctor” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Courtney Ulrich, USA, 15 min.

“Phone Stack” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Cami Delavigne, USA, 6 min.

“Pond” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Tyler Macri, USA, 14 min.

“Saint Catherine of Bensonhurst”
Dir. Dominica B Eriksen, USA, 13 min.

“Single” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Ashley Eakin, USA, 14 min.

“Sticker” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Georgi M. Unkovski, Macedonia, 19 min.

“Stud Boob” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Shaina Feinberg, USA, 10 min.

“Summer in the City” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Mojo Lorwin, USA, 10 min.

“Sunday Dinner” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Kevin Mead, USA, 14 min.

“The Present” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Farah Nabulsi, Palestine, 24 min.

“The Taxidermist”
Dir. Natalie Johnson, USA, 8 min.

“They Salivate” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Ariane Boukerche, France, 20 min.

“Trying to Disappear Again”- WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Gus Gavino, USA, 19 min.

“Two Little Boys” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Farbod Khoshitnat, USA, 13 min.

“When I’m at Home” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Ivana Todorovic, Serbia, 16 min.

“Woman without a Child” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Eva Saiz López, Spain, 15 min.

SHORT DOCUMENTARIES

“Ai Baba: (Love Dad)” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Connie Huang, China/USA, 6 min

“Alejandro & Miguel” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Joie Estrella Horwitz, Mexico, 9 min.

“Banana’s Girl” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Shayna Connelly, USA, 7 min.

“Brother Move On” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Antshi Von Moos, India, 9 min.

“Eat When You’re Hungry” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Malcolm Rizzuto, USA, 20 min.

“Everybody’s Ok” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Drew English, USA, 15 min.

“I Want Everything” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Paul Szynol, USA, 15 min.

“Leeper” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Lorenzo de Guia, USA, 2 min.

“Lessons From Jeju” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Nicole Gormley, Korea/USA, 13 min.

“Lewiston” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Jacob Roberts/David Shayne, USA, 15 min.

“Lionheart” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Cam Tribe, Ghana, 16 min.

“Lions in the Corner” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Paul Hairston, USA, 9 min.

“Los Otros” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Monica Pendergrass, Mexico, 13 min.

“Recovery County” – N.Y. PREMIERE

Dir. Cody Ball, USA, 19 min.

“Rhythm’s Gonna Get Ya” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Lindsey Phillips, USA, 9 min.

“Rocky” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Annika Ivarsson, Sweden/USA, 9 min.

“Rooftop Refuge” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Andrew Leibman, USA, 5 min.

“Stan”
Dir. JP Olsen/Kristen Nutile, USA, 9 min.

“Sundays at the Triple Nickel” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Jessica Colquhoun, USA, 11 min.

“Take Me to Prom” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Andrew Moir, USA, 21 min.

“Terrell Homes” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Issac Green Diebboll, USA, 15 min.

“The Marker” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Will Francome/Katie Green, USA, 12 min.

“They” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Louisa Rechenbach, USA, 12 min.

ANIMATION

“Grab My Hand: A letter to my Dad”
Dir. Camrus Johnson, USA, 5 min.

“King of the House” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Zige Zhang, USA, 11 min.

“Lursaguak: Scenes from Life”- U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Izibene Oñederra, Spain, 12 min.

“Luz” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. John Banana, France, 8 min.

“Malakout” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Farnoosh Abedi, Iran, 10 min.

“Metro” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Natalia Krawczuk Poland, 11 min.

“Metro6” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Geoff Hecht, USA, 8 min.

“Miles” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Griffin Bajor, USA, 5 min.

“Per Aspera Ad Astra” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Franck Dion, France, 11 min.

“Pitch Black Panacea” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Tom Hardiman, UK, 7 min.

“Portrait of Suzanne” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Izabela Plucinska, Poland, 15 min.

“Prickley Jam” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. James Cunningham, New Zealand, 6 min.

“Shameless & More”- WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Fausto Montanari, Italy, 2 min.

“Smiles” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Steven Bednar, USA, 11 min.

“Stuffed” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Brad Pattullo, USA, 3 min.

“Temps de Glace (Ice Time)” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Rachel Samson, Canada, 3 min.

“The Bird” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Takehiko Yasui, USA, 5 min.

“The Coin” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Siqi Song, USA, 7 min.

“The Masque of the Blackness” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Epoh Beech, UK, 13 min.

“The Peak” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Satoshi Takahashi, Japan, 5 min.

“The Sneeze of Love” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Kintan Chauhan, USA, 1 min.

“Wade” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Upamanyu Bhattacharyya, India, 11 min.

“Watchmaker at Times End” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Shaheen Sheriff, India, 5 min.

“Wherefore Art Thou, Theo?” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Teddy Schaffer, USA, 5 min.

“Why Z?” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Asher Horowitz, USA, 4 min.

“Wuen” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Nicolas Lesaffre, Hong Kong, 10 min.

EXPERIMENTAL

“Decorum” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Lorenzo Monti, Australia, 10 min.

“Dreamers” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Maria Juranic, USA, 9 min.

“Elysium” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Kathrin Schweizer, Switzerland, 15 min.

“Evolver” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. David Vigh, Hungary, 3 min.

“Hey Girl” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Haley Geffen, USA, 9 min.

“Inhuman Love” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Adam Hayes, USA, 6 min.

“In Dreams, In Reverse”- U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. William Suen, Australia, 4 min.

“New Ways” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Jonas Hegi, UK, 9 min.

“Open Your Eyes”
Dir. Julia Jansch, USA, 3 min.

“Others” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Grace Rex, USA, 13 min.

“Sangre” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Victoria Batista, USA, 9 min.

“STuK” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Nadira Murray, UK, 8 min.

“Suite After the Furies”- U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Stefano Lentini, Italy, 4 min.

“Sweeter than Life” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Caroline Schwarz, Germany, 3 min.

“The Circadian Cycle”- WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Garry Stewart, Australia, 16 min.

“The Purple Video” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Halina Stewart, Germany, 4 min.

“Tingle Monsters” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Alexandra Serio, USA, 10 min.

“Tower of Glass” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Manuel Nogueira, Brazil, 8 min.

“When Grapes Grow on a Willow Tree” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Lu Meng, UK, 9 min.

“Wong Ping’s Fables 2” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Wong Ping, Hong Kong, 13 min.

kidsfilmfest

“Code Ruth”
Dir. Caroline Voagen Nelson, USA, 4 min.

“Cramming” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Dan Perlman, USA, 15 min.

“Curls” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Sharon Contillo, USA, 11 min.

“Daisy” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Tom Weston, USA, 10 min.

“GO GO!” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Patradol Kitcharoen, USA, 5 min.

“Hugo & Holger” – U.S. PREMIERE
Dir. Teddy Halkier Kristiansen, Denmark, 14 min.

“Little Thinks” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Step Chueng, Hong Kong, 5 min.

“Mimi Meets Books” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Yih-Fen Chou, Taiwan, 6 min.

“Olympian” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Cleo Handler, USA, 6 min.

“Om Nom Nom”
Dir. Minato Matsuda, Japan, 3 min.

“Space Bears_S2E1_The Rainbow Space Gem” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Mike Schleif, USA, 15 min.

“The Amazing Adventures of Awesome” – N.Y. PREMIERE
Dir. Allison Brownmoore, UK, 6 min.

“The Butterfly Affect”
Dir. Stephanie Blakely, Canada, 5 min.

“The Lunch Bunch” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Eric Swinderman, USA, 12 min.

“The Magical Forest and the Things” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Dave Russo, USA, 4 min.

“The Statue” – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Dir. Becca Wolff, USA, 11 min.

“Wear your Beautiful Life” – WORLD PREMIERE
Dir. Nicolas Lesaffre, Hong Kong, 4 min.