BIFF SHORTS: SUNDAY BREAKFAST

Family friendly films to nourish your soul, develop your palate, and start your day right! Recommended for ages 8 and up. Total runtime is 72 minutes.

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HAIKU

Christine Banna (Dir), 4 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Christine Banna in attendance.

Inspired by a haiku by Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828), the film follows a young woman split between two simultaneous states of being, reflecting the fracture between the beauties of everyday life and the persistent presence of global violence and suffering.

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ANYONE LIVED IN A PRETTY HOW TOWN

Daniel Kreizberg (Dir), 9 minutes, Lithuania/ Monaco/ USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Daniel Kreizberg in attendance.

In a picturesque town, a man named “anyone" rejoices in the beauty of everyday life and celebrates the natural world. The people around him, however, are more focused on conforming to modern society, and ostracize anyone for being different.

Eponymous E.E. Cummings poem narrated by Jane Goodall.

Many thanks to Mailuki Films.

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LEAF PEEPER

Vito A. Rowlands (Dir), 3 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

A frantic frolic in Fall foliage. A stop-motion autumn adventure. A symphony in blaze orange.

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RUSTBELT BUTTERFLY

Amanda Besl (Dir), 9 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Amanda Besl and Cinematographer Kurt Treeby in attendance.

In this experimental narrative a woman is at the brink of a transformation that she never asked for, but like the native butterflies of Western New York, she evolves within the environment she has, finding community and also herself.

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ANANSE AND THE DIVINE JOURNEY

Bathschèba Duronvil (Dir), 10 minutes, USA, North American Premiere

Director Bathschèba Duronvil in attendance.

Long ago, when stars were still forming and the Earth was still young, a great tragedy of rain, wind, and fire descended upon the Earth. Ananse the trickster spider ventured out in search of the three Gods: The Sea Turtle, who controlled water; The Antelope, who controlled wind; and The Hog, who controlled fire, to tame their elements and bring peace back down to Earth.

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MIMIC

Glenn Jarvis Hanns (Dir), 11 minutes, Australia, North American Premiere

When a lyrebird's song carries echoes of his lost father, a young sound recordist is lured deep into the rainforest, chasing voices that blur the line between memory and madness. Seeing her son's slow demise his mother makes a stand to save him before he brings down the whole family.

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COALESCE

Danielle Dukofsky (Dir), 7 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Danielle Dukofsky in attendance.

A woman goes on a journey, discovering pieces throughout various abstract worlds that help her gain abilities, fostering a clearer sense of self and confidence. These abstract objects show her how to move forward through unclear and uncertain times. She perseveres, ultimately emerging stronger and with a renewed sense of clarity.

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SOLASTALGIA

Jon-Evan Quoquochi (Dir), 5 minutes, Canada, Western New York Premiere

A contemplative ode to nature and the deep scars humankind inflicts upon it. Dedicated to his children, this short film conveys the director’s vision of human nature in relation to the environment.

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WISDOM IN THE WOOD: INDIGENOUS SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND THE MAKING OF A LACROSSE STICK

Rodney C Haring, PhD + Paul Hage (Dir), 9 minutes, Onöndowa'ga:' (Seneca Nation – Cattaraugus + Allegany) / USA, World Premiere

Director Rodney C Haring + Paul Hage in attendance.

Long before laboratories, textbooks, and engineering schools, Indigenous Peoples were developing sophisticated systems of scientific inquiry through observation, experimentation, and lived experience. Wisdom in the Wood tells this story through one of North America's most iconic Indigenous technologies: the traditional wooden lacrosse stick. The documentary journeys from forest to workshop, from fire to steam, from tree to lacrosse stick.

Produced in partnership with the Buffalo Museum of Science, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center's Health Communications Resource, and the Department of Indigenous Cancer Health.

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TRAIL TALE

Matt O'Shea (Dir), 5 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Matt O'Shea in attendance.

Two childhood best friends fetch magic and memories in the forest while searching for an important site in their shared past.