4th Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival, Brainstorm Edition
May 1 - 6 (New York)

The 4TH annual Williamsburg, Brooklyn Film Festival will run May 1st through the May 6th, and will be held at the historical 1920's Commodore Theater. The Commodore is a 1000-seat theater located at 329 Broadway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In addition to the daily film programs, there are nightly sponsored events held in seven of Williamsburg's most prominent venues.

The WBFF exposes and promotes local and international filmmakers from around the world while feeding its Brooklyn audiences with the best the world has to offer. The WBFF is about unification, open to new ideas, formats, and languages and this year's WBFF program is as diverse as the festival's home, Brooklyn.

This year the WBFF has received 1,000 submissions from 50 countries. 80 films, representing 25 countries, have been selected to compete in the upcoming festival. Since its inception in 1997, the WBFF has grown exponentially each year. The rapid growth of the festival has not caused a diversion from its mission. "The WBFF is the liaison between the filmmakers and the audiences, films and distribution companies, media and sponsors. In all of the elements we have proven to be a natural bridge, "said festival director Marco Ursino. "The festival is founded on the simple basis of good taste, international curiosity, and respect for the natural progression of the independent film industry. We operate on a new platform where a new market is aligning itself to the art world".

WBFF At a Glance

Number of Films in Competition

Feature Length Narrative: 14
Documentaries: 10
Short Subjects: 36
Experimental Films: 20

SOME OF THE FEATURE LENGTH NARRATIVES

Crazy (Germany) by Hans-Christian Schmid
Flickering Lights (Denmark) by Anders Thomas Jensen
Here Am I (Canada) by Douglas Naimer
Pandora's Beauty (Canada) by Charles Biname
Paradise (Netherlands) by Treuniet Maarten
Sandstorm (India) by Jagmohan
Scarlet Diva (Italy) by Asia Argento
Passing Stones (US) by Roger Majkowski
Table One (US) by Michael Bregman
Toca Para Mi' (Argentina) by Rodrigo Furth
Yellow Card (Zimbabwe) by John Riber

Festival Information

History & Growth

The WBFF is the first international competitive film festival in Brooklyn and is staged at the historic Commodore Theater, a one-thousand seat theater from the mid-1920s which is located at 329 Broadway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Since 1998, the WBFF has grown exponentially each year in terms of program size, countries represented, audience, sponsorship, endorsements, venues explored, and media coverage.

This year, we have received 1,000 film submissions from 50 countries, and 80 films are included in our May program. The audience is anticipated to grow to six thousand people, an great opportunity for the local Polish, Jewish, Italian, and Latino communities to meet hundreds of Williamsburg resident artists. And it is also an opportunity for the international film makers who show their work at the Festival to meet the media, film producers, film distributors, and the five boroughs' film enthusiasts.

WBFF Showcases

For the past two years, the Festival winners have been broadcast on Channel Thirteen WNET. The WBFF's films have been showcased at the Anthology Film Archives and the Limelight Gallery. Currently, the WBFF is showcasing at the Pioneer Theater in Manhattan's East Village once a month. In December 2000, a package of the Festival's winners was showcased at the Havana Film Festival.

Award & Support

Through the resources of film sponsors such as Panavision, Technicolor, and Kodak, the WBFF awards the winners with prizes totaling $50,000 in film services. And through the resources of organizations such as International Film Seminar and Independent Feature Project, the WBFF has been able to introduce the Festival's filmmakers to the motion picture's corporate world.

The Company

WBFF, inc. is a not-for-profit organization currently operating under the umbrella of the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (BEDC.)