Boston Underground Film Fest a collaborative…
Boston Underground Film Fest a collaborative virtual feast
OCT. 05, 2020 – Sarah Paulson, right, and Kiera Allen in a scene from "Run," the opening film at the Boston Underground Film Festival. Photo Lionsgate Films
By Stephen Schaefer |
This year's Boston Underground Film Festival — no surprise — will be a virtual event when it streams under the guise of Nightstream from Thursday through Sunday.
What's also new is it is being held as a collaborative virtual festival in conjunction with these other horror entities: Brooklyn Horror, North Bend, Overlook and Popcorn Frights.
"Originally, we were going to have the festival in March." BUFF artistic director Kevin Monahan explained. "That didn't happen. So for a while as we watched a lot of films we were decided that we were going to do our own little thing.
"Then it came together as Nightstream, an amalgamation of different festivals. Because of the pandemic we're seeing a massive consolidation of industries.
"You know, together we're stronger and we can release something on a nationwide program. This is something that none of these festivals have ever done. It's all," he said laughing, "very nerve-wracking and exciting!"
"We are looking at technological solutions for getting people together virtually, which is going to be challenging," added director of programming Nicole McControversy. "The intention is that in this form people are connecting and we're looking for ways to achieve that."
The Boston Underground Film Festival has evolved over the last 15 or so years. Its roots were in an art gallery that screened a loop for one day before it became a traditional film festival with screenings and panels. This year alone there are, McControversy said, "25 or 27 panels — and there may be more."
"It evolved into a real festival and when Nicole and I came," Monahan said, "it became more accessible, which was what the audience wanted. We are still showing films that don't get a fair shake in Boston — and that's due to a lack of resources. Cinemas can only show so many films."
BUFF is happy that even as events have drastically changed with the pandemic, "We've got our four (originally slated) features," McControversy said.
"They are 'Dinner in America,' which was going to be our opening night film in March, and 'Jumbo,' which was to be our closing film. They were both in Sundance.
"There's 'Lucky,' which was to come to us directly from its world premiere at SXSW (a festival that happened virtually), and then we were going to world premiere a New England filmmaker — Nicholas Santos, who is an alumni — with 'It Cuts Deep.'"
The opening film is "Run" starring Sarah Paulson ("Ratched"). For a link to the complete schedule, go to nightstream.org.
Stephen Schaefer
Film critic and entertainment reporter Stephen Schaefer writes regularly for The Boston Herald with interviews, features, reviews and "Hollywood & Mine," a weekly BostonHerald.com/entertainment/movies column. He frequently speaks with film clubs about upcoming releases and often covers film festivals in Berlin, Venice, New York and Toronto.
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