Brooklyn’s own aspiring and emerging filmmakers had their moments to shine at this past month’s The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, branching out from Boerum Hill to Bergen Beach and Fort Greene to Flatlands.
The inaugural film festival was explosively popular, attracting professional actors and community members alike in support of the mission of its parent nonprofit, Art of Brooklyn, which cultivates a forum through which young artists can express themselves through different art media within Brooklyn.
“I have always loved Brooklyn,” said film and television actor Eric Mabius, who served as a judge for the films. “These absolutely unique surroundings deserve to be celebrated with a festival possessing the Art of Brooklyn’s kind of vision: to be a major industry event that everyone gets excited about the things we already know.”
The film recipients of AoBFF’s awards were as follows: “So Much Left to Do” (Best Super Short), “The Shoemaker” (Best Short), “Hip Hop Hassid” (Best Short Documentary), Roadmap to Apartheid (Best Documentary), Man Vs. Ultraman (Vanguard Award), Bury Your Own (Best Feature), My Life as Abraham Lincoln (Audience Choice Award), and Award for the Best Director to Joel Johnstone for his film, The Pilgrim and the Private Eye.
“Brooklyn is long overdue for a film festival,” said film and commercial director Elliot Lester. “These guys are smart and well-connected, and I’m excited about this festival — it could be Brooklyn’s Tribeca.”
For more information on this past and the future’s film festivals, you can visit http://www.aobff.org or “The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival” page on Facebook.
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