Art of Brooklyn Film Festival (AoBFF)

[caption id="attachment_29631" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Just Another Girl on the IRT[/caption] The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival returns for its 8th annual edition with a slate of almost 60 films in all genres, including 9 features and 47 shorts; and a special 25th Anniversary screening of Leslie Harris’ ‘Just Another Girl on the IRT’ for young women and girls of color. The award-winning, artist-run festival screens at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, Pratt Institute in Clinton Hill, PS/IS 30 in Bay Ridge and the main lawn of Sunset Park and will run June 2-10. As the only festival in the world exclusively devoted to the Brooklyn indie film and media scene, AoBFF is unique in that it exists in the same community as both its filmmakers and our audiences. In addition to screening the top films to come out of this scene, the festival uses its platform to focus on the issues important to its communities. This year, which has been full of horror and triumph for women in film and media (and beyond) has shaped the 2018 AoBFF to an unprecedented degree.

#TimesUp Legal Defense Fund Co founder Robbie Kaplan delivers 2018 Art of Brooklyn Keynote.

AoBFF has long been committed to exposing gender inequity in filmmaking, but that’s only half the story. It’s never been more clear that the underrepresentation of women in film and media creates an atmosphere that makes sexual violence against them possible. The festival is proud to announce that Robbie Kaplan, the co-founder of the #TimesUp Legal Defense Fund, will attend this year to deliver the Keynote Speech.

25th Anniversary Screening of Leslie Harris’ Just Another Girl on the I.R.T

AoBFF was founded to celebrate Brooklyn Film and media, and presents the best new films to emerge from this scene every season… but also honors its history. The 2018 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival will open with a special 25th Anniversary Screening of Just Another Girl on the IRT. Presented with the Brooklyn Community Fund, who have bought out the theater for a group of young women of color, including aspiring filmmakers. Director Leslie Harris will be on hand to discuss the film and her career as a pioneering black woman director.

The Mob Within the Heart: A Conversation with Karen Palmer, creator of RIOT, an interactive film experience

Art of Brooklyn is also committed to presenting cutting edge films and filmmakers. So Canarsie, Brooklyn by-way-of-London-based artist (and recent TED Fellow) Karen Palmer will appear this year to discuss her work RIOT. Inspired by the unrest that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Karen Palmer’s work RIOT (prototype) is an emotionally responsive, live-action film, which uses A.I. and Machine Learning through facial recognition to navigate the viewer though a dangerous riot. While you watch the film, it watches you, reading your facial expressions and ordering the narrative based on the emotions it infers from them. Karen Palmer’s RIOT prototype has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art Peru, The Future of Storytelling Festival NY and The Festival of the Mind Sheffield. The project has been featured in global publications including The Guardian, NBC and The New York Times. The final RIOT project will be exhibited at the V&A Museum.

Trauma is a Time Machine, a #MeToo film

This World Premiere feature drama follows a young woman named Helen who runs away from an abusive home and spends her life holding onto the secrets and pain of her past until she must face them when she is raped by her boyfriend. The film follows Helen on her journey as she tries to distract herself with denial, anger, before trying to understand what happened to her by taking on of her perpetrator. Angelica Zollo, the writer/director/producer lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

Award-winning filmmaker Victoria Negri (Gold Star) is Guest Festival Director for #AoBFF18

Every year, AoBFF surrenders the curation of the festival to a different filmmaker every year, by design. It ensures the festival doesn’t always represent the same POV and is a big reason why AoBFF is one of the most exciting festivals in New York City. This year award-winning filmmaker Victoria Negri, whose film Gold Star featured Oscar-nominated Robert Vaughn in his final performance, has taken the reins. Her curation will set the tone for Brooklyn’s flagship indie film event for this season.

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