__BIFF Panels: Distribution__

__Monday, October 12 @ 1-2pm__ – live panel streamed to social + website

This panel celebrates the behind-the-scenes talent that distributes, markets and sells films before, after and during their festival run.  It provides a holistic look at the ecosystem of distribution from initial release to festival markets and beyond.

__Panelists:__ Bryan Glick, Rebekah Louisa Smith, Nick Ogiony

__Moderator:__ John J. Fink

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__About the Panelists:__

__Bryan Glick__ is just your typical non-binary gay agnostic Jew. They is a film sales and collaborative distributor focusing on prestige films for underserved communities via their company GQue Films. They are also leading documentary acquisitions for the newly re-launched Alameda Entertainment. Their current lineup includes award winning films from this year's Rotterdam (*Drama Girl*), Tribeca (*[The Last Out](https://www.buffalofilm.org/lineup/events/the-last-out/)*) and Hot Docs Film Festivals (*Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story*). Previously they spent 5 1/2 years as The Director of Acquisitions and Theatrical Releasing for The Film Collaborative where they  grew their theatrical slate from 2 films a year to 15. 

They have released more spirit award nominated films in the last decade than any other distributor including *(T)error*, *Manos Sucias*, and the Oscar shortlisted *Hooligan Sparrow*. They have spoken about creative approaches to distribution at festivals/markets around the world such as  Sundance, SXSW, Outfest, Hot Docs, Bogota Audiovisual Market, and Doc Edge NZ. 

__Nick Ogiony__ is an Agent in the Film Finance and Sales Group at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Ogiony is based in the Los Angeles office and represents many of the world’s leading producers and directors, and specializes in packaging and arranging financing for motion picture projects. 

Since joining CAA in 2009, Ogiony has packaged and arranged financing and distribution for such films as *What We Do in the Shadows*, *Search*, *Gaga: Five Foot Two*, *The Guest*, *Imperial Dreams*, *Insidious*, *Kodachrome*, *The Wife*, *First Reformed*, *Studio Ghibli*, and *Boss Level*, among others.

Prior to CAA, Ogiony was at William Morris Agency (WMA) Independent Department.  He began his career in entertainment at HBO Films.

Ogiony graduated from Boston University with a degree in Film. 

__Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith__ (aka Rebekah Film Dr) was born in Worcestershire, United Kingdom. From humble beginnings working as a Personal Assistant at lots of corporate companies, she worked her way up to become an award-winning consultant and media personality who now has over 10 years of film festival strategy consulting experience. After choosing not to pursue a career in Academia, Rebekah began her film industry career in 2009, working as one of the producers of Wales’ most successful national horror film festival; the ‘Abertoir Horror Festival’.  
Rebekah & the hard-working team behind her company The Film Festival Doctor, are creators of success and are committed to nurturing filmmakers in order to help them secure film festival screenings, win awards and a positive recognition within the film industry. Currently her company has won over 800 awards for their clients and her team have supported over 848 creatives across the world enlightening and inspiring their journey towards achieving their goals and following their filmmaking dreams. 


Panel

BIFF Panels: Distribution

This panel celebrates the behind-the-scenes talent that distributes, markets and sells films before, after and during their festival run.

__How to Overthrow the US Government (Legally) Roundtable__

__Oct 12 @ 3:00pm-4:15pm__ – live discussion streamed to social + website

This roundtable includes director Caveh Zahedi and the emerging filmmakers from the experimental media production class taught with Jacques Servin that produced the film __[How To Overthrow The US Government (Legally)](https://www.buffalofilm.org/lineup/events/how-to-overthrow-the-us-government-legally-w-the-deepest-hole/)__. Discussion will focus on the film, its unique production and related topics.

__Roundtable Participants:__ Haley Bolen + Violet Cowdin + Santiago Mallon + Jess Mastro + Bennett Melley + Caveh Zahedi (Dir) 

__Moderators:__ John J. Fink + Anna Scime


Roundtable

BIFF Roundtables: How to Overthrow the US Government (Legally)

Discussion will focus on the film, its unique production and related topics.

__County Lines__, Henry Blake (Dir), 90 minutes, US Premiere, UK

An introverted 14-year-old (Conrad Khan) eases into a life of crime and all of the trouble that comes with it when he’s befriended by a drug trafficker (Harris Dickinson) in this gritty social thriller.

[Watch the filmmaker Q+A here!](https://vimeo.com/467140181)

Screening w/ Filmmaker Q&A

County Lines

An introverted 14-year-old eases into a life of crime when he’s befriended by a drug trafficker.

__Higher Love__
Hasan Oswald (Dir), 80 minutes, WNY Premiere, USA

Daryl, a father of eight and press operator, struggles to cope with his girlfriend Nani’s crippling crack and heroin addiction in this stunning, award-winning portrait of inner city Camden, New Jersey.

Festivals: Slamdance (Grand Jury Prize, Documentary)

[Watch the Virtual Red Carpet Interview here!](https://vimeo.com/468069748)


Higher Love

A father of eight struggles to cope with his girlfriend's Nani’s crippling crack and heroin addiction.

__Runaway__

Meg Knowles (Dir), 70 minutes, NY Premiere, USA

__WNY Centerpiece__

Buffalo-based filmmaker Meg Knowles retraces the steps of her sister, who in the summer of '73 ran away from an upscale New England summer camp, hitchhiking cross-country to California. Weaving a tale of teen angst gone off the rails, a mother’s patient desperation and a sister’s disbelief, Knowles’ warm, personal documentary begs the question: does retracing your steps heal old wounds or make new ones?

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__Runaway is available online, and will also be [screening at the Dark Alley Drive-in on Friday, October 9, 2020 from 7:30 - 9:30 PM](https://www.buffalofilm.org/lineup/events/runaway-drive-in/ "Runaway - Buy Drive-In Tickets").__

[Watch the filmmaker Q+A here!](https://vimeo.com/467169945)


Runaway

In the summer '73 Content Knowles runs away from an upscale New England summer camp, hitchhiking cross-country to California.

__Freeland__

Kate McLean & Mario Furloni (Dir), 80 minutes, NY Premiere, USA

An aging pot farmer (Krisha Fairchild) suddenly finds her world shattered as she races to bring in what could be her final harvest. Fighting against the threat of eviction, the legalization of the cannabis industry has rapidly destroyed her idyllic way of life.

Festivals: SXSW, Oxford Film Festival, Sidewalk Film Festival

[Watch a Clip](https://vimeo.com/450159834 "Watch a Clip from Freeland")

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Screening with:

__Hung Up__

Damon O’Steen (Dir), 13 minutes, NY Premiere, USA

Following a debilitating injury, a modern-day cowgirl (Melissa Jackson) risks paralysis to reclaim her former glory in this thrilling Texan drama.

[Watch the Virtual Red Carpet for *Freeland* here!](https://vimeo.com/468022003)


Freeland w/ Hung Up

An aging pot farmer suddenly finds her world shattered as she races to bring in what could be her final harvest.

__Toprak__

Sevgi Hirschhauser (Dir), 105 minutes, NY Premiere, Turkey

Orphaned teenager Burak (Burak Aydin) dreams of life beyond his remote, impoverished Turkish village.

Screening with:

__alterSchädel__

jonCates (Dir), 3 minutes, NY Premiere, USA

Out West on the wagon trail, The Cowgirl considers the journey ahead and the damages already done, in this evocative, deconstruction of western tropes. 

[Watch the filmmaker Q+A here!](https://vimeo.com/466926809)


Toprak w/ alterSchädel

An orphaned teenager dreams of life beyond his remote, impoverished Turkish village.

__Determined: The Story of Holocaust Survivor Avraham Perlmutter__

Keren Perlmutter (Dir), 88 minutes, NY Premiere, USA

Based on Avraham Perlmutter’s #1 best seller, Keren Perlmutter traces her father’s incredible life from Nazi-occupied Vienna to his daring escape to resettle in the United States.
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Screening with:

__Alina__

Rami Kodeih (Dir), 25 minutes, WNY Premiere, USA

As Nazis separate children from their parents in the Warsaw Ghetto, a group of women (Alia Shawkat, Rebeca Robles & Erika Soto) risk everything to smuggle their friend's three-month-old baby to safety. Inspired by true events. 


Screening

Determined: The Story of Holocaust Survivor Avraham Perlmutter w/ Alina

Keren Perlmutter traces her father’s incredible life from Nazi-occupied Vienna to his daring escape to the U.S.

__La Fameuse Invasion des Ours en Sicile (The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily)__

Lorenzo Mattotti (Dir), 82 minutes, NY Premiere, France

In French with English subtitles.

The story of Léonce the King of Bears, his lost son and brave clan, and their famous invasion of the land of men as told by traveling storytellers Troubadour Gedeone and his young apprentice Almerina to amuse the bear whose cave they stumble into to find shelter from a blizzard.  A beautifully animated adaptation of Dino Buzzati's classic children book.

Festivals: Cannes 


La Fameuse Invasion des Ours en Sicile

The story of Léonce the King of Bears, his lost son and brave clan, and their famous invasion of the land of men.

__Marcus__

J.R. Poli (Dir), 110 minutes, North East Premiere, USA

Marcus (Owen Miller), an unstable man with a history of mental illness sets out to reconnect with his pregnant daughter (Katana Malone). Adapted from Poli's award-winning short.

[Watch the Virtual Red Carpet Interview here!](https://vimeo.com/468041062)

Marcus

Marcus, an unstable man with a history of mental illness sets out to reconnect with his pregnant daughter.

__The Grand Unified Theory of Howard Bloom__

Charlie Hoxie (Dir), 66 minutes, WNY Premiere, USA

In his prime, Buffalo native Howard Bloom was running the largest PR firm in the music industry, with an epic client list that included Michael Jackson, Prince, Bob Marley, and Joan Jett, until a rare disease left him bedridden for years. Now 73 years old and disease free, Bloom believes he’s figured out what the universe wants from each of us – he just needs to get it all down in the time he has left.

Festivals: Doc NYC
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Screening with:

__Flag Country__

Pamela Falkenberg & Jack Cochran (Dir), 6 minutes, WNY Premiere, USA

Inspired by Dave Bonta’s poem Flag Country, BIFF alums Pamela Falkenberg and Jack Cochran return to the festival with a haunting meditation on patriotism and national identity in the American heartland. 

[Watch the filmmaker Q+A here!](https://vimeo.com/467131241)


The Grand Unified Theory of Howard Bloom w/ Flag Country

Howard Bloom believes he’s figured out what the universe wants from each of us – he just needs to get it all down in the time he has left.

__BIFF Shorts: Danger Zone__

OMG / WTF / NSFW / LMFAO movies.
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__Buffalo and Trout__

Presley Paras (Dir), 13 minutes, WNY Premiere, USA

Two female drugs addicts (Brooke Coleman and Carlye Tamaren) heist a white supremacist safe house but are faced with a decision – take the cash or save a young girl's life.
__________________

__Snake Dick__

David Mahmoudieh (Dir), 8 minutes, WNY Premiere, USA

Jill's got the snake. Julia's got the flute. Alone, they have nothing. But together, they have a secret weapon to fight the darkness.
__________________

__Platform__

Terrance McGlade & Hayden Currie (Dir), 5 minutes, US Premiere, Canada

A business man awaiting subway train is accosted by a stranger and is almost thrown onto tracks in this dizzying and dazzling action ballet. 
__________________

__Play__

Lee Ho-Seung (Dir), 20 minutes, WNY Premiere, Korea
Korean with English subtitles

A mysterious man challenges a beautiful young woman to a game she’s playing to win.
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__Amerita__

James Coleman & Vince Coleman (Dir), 22 minutes, World Premiere, USA

In this sci-fi thriller,the collapse of capitalism gives way to a new draconian ranking system.
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__Moneybag Head__

Patrick O’Brien (Dir), 16 minutes, NY Premiere, USA

A sad sack (Chris Grace), taunted daily by a homeless man (Henry Rollins) falls for a political cartoonist (Cathryn Mudon).

Festivals: Slamdance LA, Atlanta
__________________

__The Catch__

Sam Avery (Dir), 6 minutes, WNY Premiere, USA

There’s always a bigger fish in this comic thriller. 
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__Our Boy__

Kyle Sims (Dir), 14 minutes, WNY Premiere, USA

On the eve of a boy's adolescence, his community gathers to initiate a peculiar ceremony.

__________________

__Proxy__

Sophia Banks (Dir), 16 minutes, NY Premiere, USA

In the distant future, the wealthy hire trained proxies to project their emotions onto. Starring Emma Booth and Erica Christensen.

__________________

[Watch the filmmaker Q+A here!](https://vimeo.com/466957408)

[Watch the Virtual Red Carpet Inteview for Amerita here!](https://vimeo.com/468045637)

[Watch the Virtual Red Carpet Inteview for Moneybag Head here!](https://vimeo.com/468019387)


20

23

October 5-9

Buffalo, NY

Submissions

Oct 8-12 2020

Archive

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