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2009 Boston Underground Film Festival: Official Lineup

By Mike Everleth ⋅ February 25, 2009

Bunny as part of the Boston skyline

Here’s an exciting Underground Film Journal first: The good folks over at the Boston Underground Film Festival sneaked me a copy of the lineup for their 11th annual event, which runs March 19-26, before they even posted it on their site!  That’s right, this is the first place on the planet you’re going to see this info, folks. And, man, what a doozy of a festival this is gonna be — again!

I’ve never been to BUFF myself, but I’ve been shockingly impressed by their tremendous taste in films since I’ve been doing this lineup posting thingee. This year’s fest features a head-spinning mix of twisted horror flicks, outlandish documentaries and startling transgressive works. Plus, tons of great films that I can personally recommend. (And a ton more I’m secretly dying to see.)

I know it’s going to be a great festival when they’re showing two of my favorite movies of 2008 that are still blowing audience’s minds on the fest circuit. They are Craig Baldwin‘s dizzyingly dense history of weird California Mock Up on Mu and Brian Lonano‘s larger-than-life-in-a-short-timespan alien invasion flick Attackazoids!. Plus, there’s the wickedly entertaining Coney Island documentary Bally-Master by Gary Beeber and, reviewed just in time on the Underground Film Journal, the gob-smacking doc The Man Who Would Be Polka King by John Mikulak and Joshua von Brown. Plus, there’s the demented Excision by Richard Bates Jr.

This is a truly epic fest. Check it out if you don’t believe me:

March 19

7:30 p.m.: Bad Biology, dir. Frank Henenlotter. Two people desperate for extreme sexual experiences cross paths and explore the dark recesses of their desires together.
Screening with Far Out, dir. Phil Mucci.

March 20

5:30 p.m.: Golgotha, dir. Karla Jean Davis. An old sorceress is about to breathe her last breath in this homage to silent German Expressionist films.
Screening with Attackazoids!, dir. Brian Lonano. (Watch online)

5:30 p.m.: “Psychedelicinema”
Black and White Trypps Number Four, dir. Ben Russell
Boyant, dir. Akosua Adoma Owusu
Poltron y Perezoso, dir. DARIAN MOMANAEE, Heidi Zienty
Dig, dir. Robert Todd
The Illogic Of A Dream Had Taken Over Completely, dir. Ruby Quincunx
Infrastructure, dir. John McCarthy
Kitschen Sink, dir. Lauren Stambaugh
Let’s Get Married!, dir. Stephan Hillerbrand, Mary Magsamen, Kirk Lynn
Polar, dir. Scott Nyerges
Set Stories, dir. Ron Resendes
Spirit House, dir. Robert Todd
tour/TOWER, dir. Roger Beebe
Trinity of Three Dragons, dir. Orland Nutt
Trypps #5 (Dubai), dir. Ben Russell

5:45 p.m.: Registered Sex Offender, dir. Bob Byington. A fake documentary that follows the travails of a convicted sex offender who is released from prison and tries to fit back into normal society.
Screening with The Queue, dir. Jonathan Miles.

7:30 p.m.: “J. Cannibal’s Tapas of Terror”
Dead Bones
The Facts In The Case Of Mister Hollow, dir. Rodrigo Gudino
Guns & Butter, dir. Nate Chapman
Heart Of Karl, dir. Steven Kostanski (Read the review)
I, Zombie, dir. Danny Curtin
Popsicle, dir. Lucas Amann
Treevenge, dir. Jason Eisener (Watch online)

7:45 p.m.: I Think We’re Alone Now, dir. Sean Donnelly. A documentary about two people who are still obsessed with ’80s pop star Tiffany and continue to stalk her every move.
Screening with Andy, dir. Stacey Palmer, Jessie Beers-Altman; and Steak and Milk, dir. Michael Maxxis.

8:00 p.m.: “People Are Animals Too”
Bestilalia, dir. Samantha Sweeting
Dinner With Raphael, dir. Joey Boukadakis
Horsefingers, dir. Kirsten Kearse
Horsefingers 3: Starfucker, dir. Kirsten Kearse
Turf, dir. Joe Zito

9:30 p.m.: Deadgirl, dir. Marcel Sarmiento, Gadi Harel. Two teenage slackers find a girl they think is dead lying on a gurney in an abandoned building. But, maybe she is and maybe she isn’t.
Screening with The Scavengers, dir. Cory Bowles.

9:45 p.m.: Watch Out, dir. Steve Balderson. An obsessive narcissicst finally finds true love in the form of a blow up doll that shares his visage.
Screening with Rebel, dir. Nicole Brending.

10:00 p.m.: Isle of the Damned, Mark Colegrove. A private investigator is hired to find Marco Polo’s treasure in the jungles of Argentina, but the only way to find it is to battle a tribe of hungry cannibals.
Screening with Master Vengeance, dir. Adam Dow.

11:55 p.m.: “Midnight Transgressions”
Blood Shed, dir. Jason Shipley
Electric Fence, dir. Matt O’Mahoney
God’s Cocksuckers, dir. Rick Trembles
Hold Your Fire, dir. Wes Benscoter
Kagamiko, dir. Mathieu Arsenault
Loma Lynda: The Red Door, dir. Jason Bognacki
Mavela, dir. Manuel Arija de la Cuerda
Snip, dir. Julien Zenier (Watch online)
Stupid Junkie Faggot, dir. Drew Tobia

March 21

12:00 p.m.: Radical Jesters, dir. Tim Jackson. A documentary on the world of “culture jamming” that follows the hijinx of several groups of merry pranksters.
Screening with Creative Violation: The Rebel Art of the Street Stencil, dir. Andrew Stevenson; and Outside Agitator, dir. Morgan Miller; and Start From Zero: Profile of an Artist, dir. Fintan Cheng, Steven Fook.

12:30 p.m.: The Man Who Would Be Polka King, dir. John Mikulak, Joshua Brown. The true story of Jan Lewan, a Polish immigrant who tried to build a polka empire in rural Pennsylvania — by scamming his fans out of millions of dollars. (Read the review)
Screening with Greaseland, dir. peter boyd maclean.

2:45 p.m.: “Cinemental does BUFF”
Cowboy, dir. Till Kleinert
Diva, dir. Josephine Mackerras
Dolores Del Rio, dir. Octavio Hinojosa
Shadow Of A Fire, dir. MikaIl Ivan Roost
Sleep Lines, dir. Kathleen Mullen

3:00 p.m.: “I Have a Secret…”
Creep., dir. Paul von Stoetzel
Dream Of a Ridiculous Man, dir. Carey Burtt
Ect: The Story Of Two Women, dir. Laura Piraino
Exhibit A, dir. Erik Scanlon
Step Seven, dir. Christopher Luccy
Steven X And Barbara C, dir. Barbara DeGenevieve
The Things She Would Tell Me…, dir. Miryam Welbourne

5:00 p.m.: “BUFF Family Values”
Adam, dir. Phoenix Vaughn
Breed, dir. Antonio Trashorras
Doppelganger
Excision, dir. Richard Bates Jr. (Watch online)
The Gingerbread House, dir. Claudio Centimeri
Rite, dir. Alicia Conway
Sister Stuff, dir. Wendy Rapoza

5:30 p.m.: “Make Your Own Damn Music Video!”
5 Seashells, dir. Ethan Feldbau
88th Precinct, dir. Allen Cordell
Buck + Judy, dir. C. Spencer Yeh
C-Star, dir. Michael Pope
Exposition, dir. Stephanie Stender
Get Wise To Yourself, dir. Stephen Hal Fishman, Stephen Fishman
Frontload, dir. Andy McCarthy
Got My Number, dir. Ben Levin
Grey Shallows, dir. Zea Barker
Haunted By the Thought of You, dir. Terran Schackor
Her Morning Elegance, dir. Oren Lavie
Hunt, dir. Yohei Ito
Illuminant, dir. Tobias Stretch
Molten Light, dir. Chad VanGaalen
Negative Thinking, dir. Danny Baxter
O Scorpio, dir. Noah Blumenson-Cook
Sacrilege, dir. Theodore Cormey
Second Cousin, dir. Michael Pope
This is an Adventure, dir. James Bernardinelli
“What’s the Use of Wond’rin”

5:45 p.m.: “Paranoia (Does It Annoy Ya?)”
Corrections, dir. Bob Franklin
Dinner With Isabella, dir. Dana Turken
I Know Who Sent The Anthrax Letters, dir. Neil Ira Needleman
In Case Of An Emergency, dir. Josephine Green-Yang
In Outside, dir. Laurence Miller
Jukka, dir. Emmanuel Trousse
Monarch, dir. Shane Willis
The Procedure, dir. Sergio Pinheiro
Sound Machine, dir. Vera Freitag
Despotic Brume: Omen I, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen II, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen III, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen IV, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen V, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen VI, dir. Paul McCann

7:15 p.m.: Modern Love Is Automatic, dir. Zach Clark. A nurse whose heart isn’t in her job anymore moonlights as a dominatrix. (Read the review)
Screening with Doctor Reddy, dir. Diane Cheklich.

7:30 p.m.: The Last American Freak Show, dir. Richard Butchins. Go on the road with a real-life traveling freak show, which hosts such oddities as Low Rent the Clown, Lobster Girl, the Half Woman, Dame Demure, the Elephant Man and more.
Screening with Bally-Master, dir. Gary Beeber. (Read the review)

7:45 p.m.: Blood River, dir. Adam Mason. A couple’s car breaks down in the desert and the man they think is their salvation turns out to be their biggest nightmare.

9:30 p.m.: Plague Town, dir. David Gregory. Some Americans on vacation in Ireland get separated from their tour group and run afoul a community of murderous mutant freaks.
Screening with H5N1, dir. jean olivier.

9:45 p.m.: Morris County, dir. Matthew Garrett. Three tales of suburban disquiet: A teenage girl harbors a dark secret, a nuclear family disintegrates and an elderly couple discovers that love carries on even after death. (Read the review)
Screening with Bluff Point, dir. Scott W Lee.

10:00 p.m.: Hausu, dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi. A young Japanese girl brings along some of her friends to spend the summer at her grandmother’s house. What the kids don’t know: Grandma’s dead and the house is haunted.

11:55 p.m.: 9to5: Days in Porn, dir. Jens Hoffmann. This documentary chronicles the lives of several people who make a living in the adult movie business, including an agent, a couple that owns a film company and a teenager who dreams of breaking into the business.

March 22

12:00 p.m.: Lo, dir. Travis Betz. A guy working a dead end job summons a demon to help him locate the only woman who was ever nice to him and who has been kidnapped by unknown forces.
Screening with On Homeostasis, dir. Matt Boman.

12:30 p.m.: The Rock-afire Explosion, dir. Brett Whitcomb. The tender, touching and true story of the rescue of an anthropomorphic animatronic band from the garbage heap following the closure of the Showbiz Pizza Place back in the ’90s. (Read the review)
Screening with Davy Crockett in Outer Space, dir. Ru Kuwahata, Max Porter and David Cowles; and Out of Print, dir. Danny Plotnick.

2:30 p.m.: “Illustrated Oddities”
Birdy, dir. Agnieszka Woznicka
A Break In The Monotony, dir. Damien Slevin
City Wasp, dir. Tod Steven, Stephan Wicki
Cold Rush
Demons And Cathedrals, dir. Gina Napolitan
Fantaisie in Bubble Wrap
The Facts In The Case Of Mister Hollow, dir. Rodrigo Gudino
Karaoke Show, dir. Karle Tebbe
The Ballad of Mary Slade, dir. Robin Fuller
Viola:the Traveling Rooms Of A Little Giant
Yours Truly, dir. Osbert Parker
Zombie Gets A Date, dir. Leetal Platt
Bang Bang You’re Bread, dir. Mitch Wade

3:15 p.m.: “Ill Logic”
Cantata In C Major, dir. Ronnie Cramer
‘Charlie Rose’ By Samuel Beckett, dir. Andrew Filippone Jr. (Read the review)
The Dirty Duck, dir. J. Anthony Gonzales
Enter Zanetta, dir. Eric Clark
Excuse Me Miss My Orange
Hold Me Now, dir. Michael Robinson
Joe… Oh Joe!, dir. Joe Nanashe
Joe Joe Joe!, dir. Joe Nanashe
Joe’s Dead, dir. Joe Nanashe
Little Johnny Discovers, dir. Benjamin Wilson
Lost And Found, dir. Christine Comeau
Prison_beta, dir. Lucas Dimick
Self Control, dir. Latham Zearfoss
T-shirt Of Me, dir. Matt Meindl

5:45 p.m.: Mock Up on Mu, dir. Craig Baldwin. The legendary collage filmmaker is back with his latest feature, a surrealistic blend of spy, sci-fi, Western and horror genres. Fiction and non-fiction archival material blend together to tell the rich history of the militarization of space from the viewpoint of three diverse individuals: Jet Propulsion Laboratory founder Jack Parsons, artist Marjorie Cameron and author L. Ron Hubbard. (Read the review)
Screening with Death of the Reel, dir. Benjamin Meade. (Read the review)

6:00 p.m.: The Antidote, dir. Randy Cole. A teenager is a scientist’s only hope in reverting himself back to human form after a radical experiment turns him into a monster.
Screening with Dirt, dir. Brendan Dean; and Take Out, dir. Joe Douglass.

8:00 p.m.: Anywhere USA, dir. Chusy Haney-Jardine. A trio of stories in which a man gets beaten by his wife everyday at 2:00 p.m.; an eight-year-old accidentally eats a pot brownie; and a man eating a steak realizes he doesn’t know any black people.
Screening with Thumbnail, dir. William Hoffman.

March 23

5:30 p.m.: Golgotha, dir. Karla Jean Davis. An old sorceress is about to breathe her last breath in this homage to silent German Expressionist films.
Screening with Attackazoids!, dir. Brian Lonano. (Watch online)

5:45 p.m.: Radical Jesters, dir. Tim Jackson. A documentary on the world of “culture jamming” that follows the hijinx of several groups of merry pranksters.
Screening with Creative Violation: The Rebel Art of the Street Stencil, dir. Andrew Stevenson; and Outside Agitator, dir. Morgan Miller; and Start From Zero: Profile of an Artist, dir. Fintan Cheng, Steven Fook.

7:30 p.m.: “Paranoia (Does It Annoy Ya?)”
Corrections, dir. Bob Franklin
Dinner With Isabella, dir. Dana Turken
Despotic Brume: Omen I, dir. Paul McCann
I Know Who Sent The Anthrax Letters, dir. Neil Ira Needleman
In Case Of An Emergency, dir. Josephine Green-Yang
In Outside, dir. Laurence Miller
Jukka, dir. Emmanuel Trousse
Monarch, dir. Shane Willis
The Procedure, dir. Sergio Pinheiro
Sound Machine, dir. Vera Freitag
Despotic Brume: Omen II, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen III, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen IV, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen V, dir. Paul McCann
Despotic Brume: Omen VI, dir. Paul McCann

7:45 p.m.: Modern Love Is Automatic, dir. Zach Clark. A nurse whose heart isn’t in her job anymore moonlights as a dominatrix. (Read the review)
Screening with Doctor Reddy, dir. Diane Cheklich.

9:30 p.m.: Plague Town, dir. David Gregory. Some Americans on vacation in Ireland get separated from their tour group and run afoul a community of murderous mutant freaks.
Screening with H5N1, dir. jean olivier.

9:45 p.m.: Bad Biology, dir. Frank Henenlotter. Two people desperate for extreme sexual experiences cross paths and explore the dark recesses of their desires together.
Screening with Far Out, dir. Phil Mucci.

March 24

5:30 p.m.: Blood River, dir. Adam Mason. A couple’s car breaks down in the desert and the man they think is their salvation turns out to be their biggest nightmare.
Screening with Kagimoko.

5:45 p.m.: “BUFF Family Values”
Adam, dir. Phoenix Vaughn
Breed, dir. Antonio Trashorras
Doppelganger
Excision, dir. Richard Bates Jr. (Watch online)
The Gingerbread House, dir. Claudio Centimeri
Rite, dir. Alicia Conway
Sister Stuff, dir. Wendy Rapoza

7:30 p.m.: “Illustrated Oddities”
Birdy, dir. Agnieszka Woznicka
A Break In The Monotony, dir. Damien Slevin
City Wasp, dir. Tod Steven, Stephan Wicki
Cold Rush
Demons And Cathedrals, dir. Gina Napolitan
Fantaisie in Bubble Wrap
The Facts In The Case Of Mister Hollow, dir. Rodrigo Gudino
Karaoke Show, dir. Karle Tebbe
The Ballad of Mary Slade, dir. Robin Fuller
Viola:the Traveling Rooms Of A Little Giant
Yours Truly, dir. Osbert Parker
Zombie Gets A Date, dir. Leetal Platt
Bang Bang You’re Bread, dir. Mitch Wade

7:45 p.m.: The Rock-afire Explosion, dir. Brett Whitcomb. The tender, touching and true story of the rescue of an anthropomorphic animatronic band from the garbage heap following the closure of the Showbiz Pizza Place back in the ’90s. (Read the review)
Screening with Out of Print and Davy Crockett in Outer Space.

9:30 p.m.: Watch Out, dir. Steve Balderson. An obsessive narcissicst finally finds true love in the form of a blow up doll that shares his visage.
Screening with Rebel, dir. Nicole Brending.

9:45 p.m.: Morris County, dir. Matthew Garrett. Three tales of suburban disquiet: A teenage girl harbors a dark secret, a nuclear family disintegrates and an elderly couple discovers that love carries on even after death. (Read the review)
Screening with Bluff Point, dir. Scott W Lee.

March 25

5:30 p.m.: The Last American Freak Show, dir. Richard Butchins. Go on the road with a real-life traveling freak show, which hosts such oddities as Low Rent the Clown, Lobster Girl, the Half Woman, Dame Demure, the Elephant Man and more.
Screening with Bally-Master, dir. Gary Beeber. (Read the review)

5:45 p.m.: Mock Up on Mu, dir. Craig Baldwin. The legendary collage filmmaker is back with his latest feature, a surrealistic blend of spy, sci-fi, Western and horror genres. Fiction and non-fiction archival material blend together to tell the rich history of the militarization of space from the viewpoint of three diverse individuals: Jet Propulsion Laboratory founder Jack Parsons, artist Marjorie Cameron and author L. Ron Hubbard. (Read the review)
Screening with Death of the Reel, dir. Benjamin Meade. (Read the review)

7:30 p.m.: “People are Animals Too”
Bestilalia, dir. Samantha Sweeting
Dinner With Raphael, dir. Joey Boukadakis
Horsefingers, dir. Kirsten Kearse
Horsefingers 3: Starfucker, dir. Kirsten Kearse
Turf, dir. Joe Zito

7:45 p.m.: I Think We’re Alone Now, dir. Sean Donnelly. A documentary about two people who are still obsessed with ’80s pop star Tiffany and continue to stalk her every move.
Screening with Andy, dirs. Stacey Palmer, Jessie Beers-Altman; and Steak and Milk, dir. Michael Maxxis.

9:30 p.m.: “Ill Logic”
Cantata In C Major, dir. Ronnie Cramer
‘Charlie Rose’ By Samuel Beckett, dir. Andrew Filippone Jr.
The Dirty Duck, dir. J. Anthony Gonzales
Enter Zanetta, dir. Eric Clark
Excuse Me Miss My Orange
Hold Me Now, dir. Michael Robinson
Joe… Oh Joe!, dir. Joe Nanashe
Joe Joe Joe!, dir. Joe Nanashe
Joe’s Dead, dir. Joe Nanashe
Little Johnny Discovers, dir. Benjamin Wilson
Lost And Found, dir. Christine Comeau
Prison_beta, dir. Lucas Dimick
Self Control, dir. Latham Zearfoss
T-shirt Of Me, dir. Matt Meindl

9:45 p.m.: “Midnight Transgressions”
Blood Shed, dir. Jason Shipley
Electric Fence, dir. Matt O’Mahoney
God’s Cocksuckers, dir. rick trembles 2005
Hold Your Fire, dir. Wes Benscoter
Kagamiko, dir. Mathieu Arsenault
Loma Lynda: The Red Door, dir. Jason Bognacki
Mavela, dir. Manuel Arija de la Cuerda
Snip, dir. Julien Zenier (Watch online)
Stupid Junkie Faggot, dir. Drew Tobia

March 26

5:30 p.m.: Registered Sex Offender, dir. Bob Byington. A fake documentary that follows the travails of a convicted sex offender who is released from prison and tries to fit back into normal society.
Screening with The Queue, dir. Jonathan Miles.

5:45 p.m.: Isle of the Damned, Mark Colegrove. A private investigator is hired to find Marco Polo’s treasure in the jungles of Argentina, but the only way to find it is to battle a tribe of hungry cannibals.
Screening with Master Vengeance, dir. Adam Dow.

7:30 p.m.: Lo, dir. Travis Betz. A guy working a dead end job summons a demon to help him locate the only woman who was ever nice to him and who has been kidnapped by unknown forces.
Screening with On Homeostasis, dir. Matt Boman.

7:45 p.m.: Hausu, dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi. A young Japanese girl brings along some of her friends to spend the summer at her grandmother’s house. What the kids don’t know: Grandma’s dead and the house is haunted.

9:30 p.m.: Deadgirl, dir. Marcel Sarmiento, Gadi Harel. Two teenage slackers find a girl they think is dead lying on a gurney in an abandoned building. But, maybe she is and maybe she isn’t.
Screening with The Scavengers, dir. Cory Bowles.

9:45 p.m.: Anywhere USA, dir. Chusy Haney-Jardine. A trio of stories in which a man gets beaten by his wife everyday at 2:00 p.m.; an eight-year-old accidentally eats a pot brownie; and a man eating a steak realizes he doesn’t know any black people.
Screening with Thumbnail, dir. William Hoffman.

For more info, please visit the official BUFF site.


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