BIFF Shorts: Memory + The Archive

Recorded accounts, artifacts, memory and its lining. Experimental works and cinematic poems in pixels and on celluloid.

Total runtime is 81 minutes.

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“Zwillinge”

Luisa Greenfield (Dir), 11 minutes, Germany / USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Luisa Greenfield in attendance.

A well-known new music composer sends encouraging words to radical young filmmakers and writes a piece based on the zodiac for wind-up music box. Filmed on 16mm with direct sound, Zwillinge draws on rituals of memorial and repetition to reflect on the degradation of institutions through political influence.

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“Haikus for Mekas, an Ode to Film Preservation”

Inés Toharia (Dir), 7 minutes, Spain, World Premiere

Jonas Mekas (1922-2019), poet and filmmaker of Lithuanian origin, remembers the past and ponders on the value of rescuing, preserving and disseminating films. In this way, yesterday and today are brought together via moving images, highlighting the value of film as art and as a medium to learn about ourselves and others.

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"lo que queda / what remains"

Germán López Tirado (Dir), 23 minutes, Mexico / USA, East Coast Premiere

Director Germán López Tirado in attendance.

In English and Spanish w/ English subtitles.

A short documentary about the memory of a mother lost too soon. through a blend of interviews, the filmmaker’s family archive, and both 16mm and digital footage, the film is a cinematic meditation on what’s left behind.

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"Atoms Or Dreams"

Mark Longolucco (Dir), 14 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Mark Longolucco in attendance.

Two video paintings of WNY as a practice of slowing down. Small movements across long periods of time to illuminate interconnectivity and the idea that no one thing is ever just one thing.

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"Serotonin Syndrome"

Sam Krakowski (Dir), 9 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Sam Krakowski in attendance.

"Serotonin Syndrome" is a project that examines mental health and how medications impact our well-being. Krakowski uses MRI scans of his brain as a basis for this short animation, creating abstract visuals from his neural impulses using 3D animation software, as well as a personal timeline of his mental health struggles and highlighting the intense experiences.

By combining scientific imaging with childhood home movies, this short film shares the artist's mental health journey and raises awareness about neurological and psychological conditions like Serotonin Syndrome. The blend of technology, art, and personal story provides a unique perspective on the connection between brain chemistry and emotional health.

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"Ant Girl"

Amanda Besl (Dir), 3 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Amanda Besl in attendance.

This is the story of Ant Girl, a child with a very unsuccessful ant farm.

It’s the 1970’s and an insect loving six-year-old gets her very own Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm but has some decisions to make when she’s not allowed to send away for the ants. She populates her farm with ants she’s captured herself, but unlike Sea Monkeys, the inhabitants are lost, without direction and just want to live out their own lives. In her final act as their queen, Ant Girl releases her captives, ultimately failing as an ant farmer but gaining insight through an act of compassion.

This experimental film is autobiographical and suggests both nostalgia and a child’s approach to storytelling with ephemeral 70’s childhood artifacts and stop motion animation. Like the ants, viewers are caught inside a time capsule but released to go live out their own lives, unscathed, at the end of this gentle game.

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"The Deer and the Salt"

Vashti Anderson (Dir), 5 minutes, USA, Buffalo Premiere

Director Vashti Anderson in attendance.

A boy discovers a deer skeleton during one of his walks in the woods. He takes salt crystals he found at the Dead Sea and leaves them so the deer’s descendants can survive the winter.

A cinematic poem about wonder, "The Deer and the Salt" explores life, death, memory and the interconnectedness of nature, through the eyes of an eight year old child.

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“Things We Cherish”

Joel Mulindwa (Dir), 8 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Joel Mulindwa in attendance.

Drawing from archival presence and personal longing, Things We Cherish explores the complexities of cultural memory, diasporic identity, and the quiet reconciliation that can happen when the past is not merely observed but listened to.

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