BIFF X0: BODIES! BODIES?! BODIES.

Films focused on the human-form and its many articulations. Human bodies are physical instruments that move us through the environments we inhabit – they generate, amplify, and modulate meaning. Total runtime is 76 minutes.

The BIFF X0 series focuses on cinematic poetry in pixels and on celluloid; and works that experiment with the form, function and structure of film, analog media, digital video, and film and media ecosystems.

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GOLD

Crystal Z Campbell (Dir), 3 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Crystal Z Campbell in attendance.

What are we running for? Filmed during the 1936 Olympics with cameras directed by Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl, US multi-gold medalist Jesse Owens is captured at peak athletic aplomb. Owens' presence and legacy are glazed by historical maladies that destabilize the frame. Appropriated footage stutters with vignettes of victories embodied and earned, yet call the concept of a win and the representation of a nation, in question. What are we running from?

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BODY (JISM)

Husain Qaizar + Saad Zuberi (Dir), 13 minutes, Pakistan, East Coast Premiere

Co-Directors Husain Qaizar + Saad Zuberi in attendance.

In Urdu w/ English subtitles.

In Pakistan, a group of aspiring male models step before the camera and quietly push against the boundaries of gender, masculinity, and taboo. As they pursue visibility in an industry that both celebrates and stigmatizes them, their photo shoots become acts of negotiation with a society that would rather keep them unseen. The film opens a rare window into a hidden world where performance, ambition, and survival collide.

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EXPLANT / IMPLANT

Josh Weissbach (Dir), 3 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Josh Weissbach in attendance.

A lifetime of surgeries continues with an upgrade in battery life and a downgrade in scar tissue when the filmmaker has his original pacemaker replaced after sixteen years.

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CHRONOSAGNOSIA

Noah W. Weber (Dir), 3 minutes, USA, US Premiere

Director Noah. W Weber in attendance.

A person attempts to message an old friend before they succumb to a mysterious disease in which one slowly fades back into time.

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VOICE SHIFT

Roberto Duque (Dir), 25 minutes, UK, Western New York Premiere

What begins as a group of transgender women aligning their voices to reflect their gender identity unfolds into a powerful exploration of how voice shapes identity, survival and social perception.

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ΩMEGA ONE: OF DIRECT(((IVE)))S, ONCE REMOVED

Benjamin Rosenthal (Dir), 10 minutes, USA, US Premiere

Director Benjamin Rosenthal in attendance.

Ωmega Ωne: of direct(((ive)))s, once removed emerges from intersection of gay tourist “thirst traps” shot in Chapada Diamintina (Igatu, Bahia, Brazil), Grindr longings, and Star Trek Voyager to examine histories of colonialism and desire. Recasting the politically and historically charged landscape of Chapada Diamintina as a “set” for occidental self-exploration, the project leans into the double-bind, and problematic power dynamics of locating and engaging narratives of queerness in spaces in which one may not belong.

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SCUPLT

Jill Smith (Dir), 9 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Jill Smith in attendance.

A clay woman navigates her surreal fleshy home. From room to room, she continuously reshapes herself using her body and the tangible walls to fit through each cavernous door. The house begins to unexpectedly change.

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