By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Continuing to draw the most unusual and original features from across the world, the Boston Underground Film Festival has another strong lineup of horror and other genre fare on tap for this year’s event. Read on for the details and the fest poster and trailer.
BUFF 2019 takes place March 20-24 at the Brattle Theatre and Harvard Film Archive in Cambridge, MA, featuring the gay-themed giallo homage KNIFE + HEART, TONE-DEAF, the latest from master of horrific dysfunction Richard Bates Jr., the Satanic Temple documentary HAIL SATAN? and more. Tickets are now on sale at www.brattlefilm.org and www.bostonunderground.org. The lineup of features is:
- ASSASSINAUT – U.S. Premiere (pictured)
Drew Bolduc | USA | 2018
ASSASSINAUT is a science-fiction adventure film about a young girl who braves the alien wilderness of a faraway planet to save the President of Earth from a murderous astronaut.
- CANARY – New England Premiere
Christiaan Olwagen | South Africa | 2018
A coming-of-age war musical about a small town boy who gets chosen to serve his compulsory two year military training in the South African Defence Force Choir and Concert group—known as the “Canaries”—during the height of the Apartheid regime.
- CLICKBAIT – Massachusetts Premiere
Sophia Cacciola & Michael J. Epstein | USA | 2018
A college student who will do just about anything for Internet fame is kidnapped by a fan, and her reluctant roommate is the only one who can save her in this horror satire of popularity culture. Hometown heroes Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein bring the first feature they’ve directed since relocating to Los Angeles for a homecoming encore.
- HAIL SATAN? – Sneak Preview
Penny Lane | USA | 2019
With unprecedented access, HAIL SATAN? traces the rise of The Satanic Temple: only six years old and already one of the most controversial religious movements in American history. The Temple and its enigmatic leader Lucien Greaves are calling for a Satanic revolution to save the nation’s soul. But are they for real?
- HAPPY FACE – East Coast Premiere
Alexandre Franchi | Canada | 2018
Desperate to become less shallow, a handsome teenage boy deforms his face with bandages and attends a support group for disfigured people.
- INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT: THE STORY OF WAX TRAX! RECORDS – Boston Premiere
Julia Nash | USA | 2018
Throughout the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, Wax Trax! founders Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher led a tribe of outsiders on a ride through the ’80s underground, accidentally changing music along the way. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT explores the life and legacy that pioneered an emerging underground scene—industrial dance music—and features interviews with the likes of Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl, Ian MacKaye, Jello Biafra, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Al Jourgensen, Franke Nardiello, Chris Connelly and more.
- KNIFE + HEART – New England Premiere
Yann Gonzalez | France/Mexico | 2019
Paris, summer 1979. Anne is a producer of gay porn at discount. When Lois, her editor and companion, leaves her, she attempts to reclaim her by turning a film more ambitious with the flamboyant Archibald.
- MARY JANE’S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE – 2K Restoration
Sarah Jacobson | USA | 1997
Jacobson’s only feature film, is a vibrant and vital antidote to every phony Hollywood teen picture, bringing lo-fi realness to the coming-of-age genre. Sure, the usual signposts are here—first job, first time, crushes, friendships, fitting in and figuring it out—but all are handled with utter honesty. Paired with her short film I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER, Jacobson’s punk-spirited DIY films combine B-movie aesthetics and riot grrrl feminism in brand new 2K preservations, presented by the American Genre Film Archive.
- MOPE – East Coast Premiere
Lucas Heyne | USA | 2019
The tragic true story of best friends Steve Driver and Tom Dong, two low end porn actors who sought fame but gained infamy.
- TONE-DEAF – East Coast Premiere
Richard Bates Jr. | USA | 2019
After losing her job and having a recent, complicated relationship implode, a woman flees to the countryside for a weekend getaway, where she finds anything but respite as her rental’s owner struggles to control his psychopathic tendencies.
- THE UNTHINKABLE – New England Premiere
Crazy Pictures | Sweden | 2018
Sweden is under attack by an unknown force, and in the midst of the chaos, Alex tries to reunite with his girlfriend.
- WEREWOLF – New England Premiere
Adrian Panek | Poland | 2018
Children liberated from a Nazi concentration camp must overcome hunger, thirst and vicious dogs in an abandoned mansion surrounded by the forest. Little do they know that their fight for freedom has only just begun.
There will also be a midnight Secret Screening, short films, Kier-La Janisse’s Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat Cereal Cartoon Party and more!
