Breakdown of BUFF editions by year, with premieres, awards and nominees. Currently including 2017–2026. All screenings were held at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge.
[Missing information from 1998 to 2016]
2017 The 2017 festival took place from March 22 to March 26.
New England premieres Fraud (Dean Fleischer-Camp, US, 2016) She's Allergic to Cats (Michael Reich, US, 2016) The Void (Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski, US, 2016)
East Coast premieres A Dark Song (Deborah Haywood, Ireland, 2016) A Life in Waves (Brett Whitcomb, US, 2017) – Directors Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason in attendance Bitch (Marianna Palka, US, 2017) Hidden Reserves (Valentin Hitz, Austria/Germany/Switzerland, 2016) Neighborhood Food Drive (Jerzy Rose, US, 2017) – Director Jerzy Rose and writer Halle Butler in attendance
Repertory Screenings Southland Tales (Richard Kelly, US, 2006)
2018 The 2018 festival took place from March 21 to March 25.
World premieres Something Wicked This Way Comes (Jessica Barnthouse and Stacy Buchanan, US, 2018) – Directors Jessica Barnthouse and Stacy Buchanan in attendance The Queen of Hollywood Blvd (Orson Oblowitz, US, 2018) – Director Orson Oblowitz and actress Rosemary Hochschild in attendance
New England premieres Let the Corpses Tan (Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, Belgium/France, 2017) Pin Cushion (Deborah Haywood, UK, 2017) The Theta Girl (Christopher Bickel, UK, 2017) – Screenwriter David Axe in attendance Tigers Are Not Afraid (Issa Lopez, Mexico, 2017) – Director Issa Lopez in attendance
East Coast premieres Good Manners (Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra, Brazil/France, 2017) MexMan (Josh Polon, US, 2018) – Director Josh Polon in attendance My Name is Myeisha (Gus Krieger, US, 2018) – Director Gus Krieger and actor Rhaechyl Walker in attendance The Ranger (Jenn Wexler, US, 2018) – Director Jenn Wexler in attendance Revenge (Coralie Fargeat, France, 2018)
United States premieres Daha (Onur Saylak, Turkey, 2017)
Repertory screenings Liquid Sky (Slava Tsukerman, US, 1982) – 35th anniversary, 35mm Print
Other screenings Spoor (Agnieszka Holland, Poland, 2017) Top Knot Detective (Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce, Australia, 2017)
2019 The 2019 festival took place from March 20 to March 24.https://independent-magazine.org/2019/04/22/boston-underground-film-festival-2019-recap/
New England premieres Werewolf (Adrian Panek, Poland, 2018) Knife+Heart (Yann Gonzalez, France, 2018)
East Coast premieres Girl on the Third Floor (Travis Stevens, US, 2019) – Director Travis Stevens in attendance Happy Face (Alexandre Franchi, Canada, 2018) – Director Alexandre Franchi in attendance Mope (Lucas Heyne, US, 2018) – Director Lucas Heyne in attendance Tone-Deaf (Richard Bates Jr., US, 2019)
United States premieres Assassinaut (Drew Bolduc, US, 2019) – Director Drew Bolduc in attendance
Massachusetts premieres Canary (Christiaan Olwagen, South Africa, 2018) Clickbait (Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola, US, 2018) – Directors Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola in attendance
Boston premieres Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records (Julia Nash, US, 2018)
Repertory screenings Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore (Sarah Jacobson, US, 1997) – 2K Restoration
Other screenings Hail Satan? (Penny Lane, US, 2018) – Director Penny Lane and actor Lucien Greaves in attendance The Nightshifter (Dennison Ramalgo, Brazil, 2018) The Unthinkable (Crazy Pictures, Sweden, 2018)
2019 – BUFF-o-WEEN The BUFF-o-WEEN was an extension of the 2019 festival which took place from October 17 to October 20.
New England premieres Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson (David Gregory, US, 2019) – Director David Gregory in attendance Extra Ordinary (Enda Loughman and Mike Ahern, Ireland, 2019) The Golden Glove (Fatih Akin, Germany/France, 2019) Tammy and the T-Rex (Stewart Raffill, US, 1994) – New England premiere of 4K Restoration
East Coast premieres Blood on Her Name (Matthew Pope, US, 2019)
Boston premieres Daniel Isn't Real (Adam Egypt Mortimer, US, 2019)
2020 The 2020 festival took place from March 25 to March 29.
World premieres It Cuts Deep (Nicholas Payne Santos, US, 2020) – Director Nicholas Payne Santos in attendance The Passion of Darkly Noon (Philip Ridley, UK/Germany/Belgium, 1995) – 2K Restoration
New England premieres It Comes (Tetsuya Nakashima, Japan, 2018) Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (Miguel Llansó, Spain /Estonia/Ethiopia/Latvia/Romania, 2019)
East Coast premieres The Deeper You Dig (John Adams and Toby Poser, US, 2019) Dinner in America (Adam Rehmeier, US, 2020) Jumbo (Zoe Wittock, France, 2020) Lucky (Natasha Kermani, Brazil/France, 2020) – Director Natasha Kermani in attendance
Boston premieres Deerskin (Quentin Dupiex, France, 2019) Holy Trinity (Molly Hewitt, US, 2019) – Director Molly Hewitt in attendance Saint Maud (Rose Glass, UK, 2019) – Director Rose Glass in attendance
International premieres Shark Week (Bri Poke, US, 2020) – Director Bri Poke in attendance
Repertory screenings The Witches (Nicolas Roeg, UK, 1990) – 30th anniversary
Other screenings Films in the Living Room (David Kleiler Jr., US, 2020) – Director David Kleiler Jr. in attendance
2021 Boston Underground Film Festival participated in the Nightstream event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2022 The 2022 festival took place from March 23 to March 27.https://www.ghoulsmagazine.com/articles/boston-underground-film-festival-features
New England premieres Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr. (Philipp Reichenheim, US/Germany, 2021) Hatching (Hanna Bergholm, Finland, 2022) The Innocents (Eskil Vogt, Norway, 2021) Lux Æterna (Gaspar Noe, France, 2019) Medusa (Anita Rocha da Silveira, Brazil, 2021) Neptune Frost (Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, US/Rwanda, 2021) Vortex (Gaspar Noe, France/Belgium, 2021) You Won't Be Alone (Goran Stolevski, Australia/UK/Serbia, 2022)
East Coast premieres Honeycomb (Avalon Fast, Canada, 2022) – Director Avalon Fast in attendance Hypochondriac (Addison Heiman, US, 2022) The Next (Terrence H. Winkless, US, 1987) – Premiere of Restoration Nitram (Justin Kurzel, Australia, 2021) Watcher (Chloe Okuno, US, 2022)
Repertory screenings The Secret of NIMH (Don Bluth, US, 1982) – 40th anniversary
2023 The 2023 festival took place from March 22 to March 26.
World premieres The Unheard (Jeffrey A. Brown, US, 2023) – Director Jeffrey A. Brown, & screenwriters Michael and Shawn Rasmussen in attendance
New England premieres Enys Men (Mark Jenkin, UK, 2022) How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Daniel Goldhaber, US, 2022) Mister Organ (David Farrier, New Zealand, 2022) Piaffe (Ann Oren, Germany, 2022) Rebel (Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Belgium, 2022) Sick of Myself (Kristoffer Borgli, Norway/Sweden, 2022) Smoking Causes Coughing (Quentin Dupiex, UK, 2022) Stand By for Failure: A Documentary About Negativland (Ryan Worsley, US, 2022)
East Coast premieres The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (Bomani J. Story, US, 2022) Divinity (Eddie Alcazar, US, 2023) Nightsiren (Tereza Nvotova, Slovakia, 2022) Spaghetti Junction (Kirby McClure, US, 2022) – Director Kirby McClure in attendance
Massachusetts premieres Moon Garden (Ryan Stevens Harris, US, 2022)
2024 The 2024 festival took place from March 20 to March 24.
World premieres Strange Kindness (Joseph Mault, US, 2024) – Director Joseph Mault in attendance
New England premieres The Becomers (Zach Clark, US, 2023) – Director Zach Clark in attendance Femme (Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, UK, 2023) Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Ariane Lous-Seize, Canada, 2023) Infested (Sébastien Vaniček, France, 2023) Omen (Baloji, DRC, 2023) Sleep (Jason Yu, South Korea, 2023) With Love and a Major Organ (Kim Albright, Canada, 2023)
East Coast premieres Immaculate (Michael Mohan, US, 2024) In a Violent Nature (Chris Nash, Canada, 2024) – Director Chris Nash in attendance Off Ramp (Nathan Tape, US, 2023) – Director Nathan Tape in attendance
North American premieres Fatal Termination (Andrew Kam, Hong Kong, 1990) – Premiere of Restoration
Massachusetts premieres Tiger Stripes (Amanda Nell Eu, Malaysia, 2023)
Other screenings Boy Kills World (Moritz Mohr, Germany/South Africa/US, 2023)
2025 The 2025 festival took place from March 19 to March 24.
World premieres Alma and the Wolf (Michael Patrick Jann, US, 2025) – Director Michael Patrick Jann and actor Lukas Jann in attendance Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon, US, 1985) – World Premiere of 4K Restoration, Actress Barbara Crampton in attendance
New England premieres Best Wishes to All (Yuta Shimotsu, Japan, 2023) Frewaka (Aislinn Clarke, Ireland, 2024) Sister Midnight (Karan Kandhari, India, 2024)
East Coast premieres Chain Reactions (Alexandre O. Philippe, US, 2024) Escape From the 21st Century (Yang Li, China, 2024) Fucktoys (Annapurna Sriram, US, 2025) – Director Annapurna Sriram and actor Sadie Scott in attendance Head Like a Hole (Stefan MacDonald-Labelle, Canada, 2024) – Director Stefan MacDonald-Labelle in attendance The Ugly Stepsister (Emilie Blichfeldt, Norway, 2025)
Massachusetts premieres Vulcanizadora (Joel Potrykus, US, 2024)
Boston premieres The Surfer (Lorcan Finnegan, Australia/Ireland, 2024)
Repertory screenings Muerte en la Playa (Enrique Gomez Vadillo, Mexico, 1991)
2026 The 2026 festival took place from March 18 to March 22.https://bostonunderground.org/schedule/2026/
East Coast premieres The Furious (Kenji Tanigaki, Hong Kong, 2026) Normal (Ben Wheatley, US/Canada, 2025) – Actor Bob Odenkirk attendance Obsession (Curry Barker, US, 2026) Sugar Rot (Becca Kozak, Canada, 2025) - Director Becca Kozak in attendance
New England premieres Boorman and the Devil (David Kittredge, US, 2025) - Director David Kittredge in attendance Buffet Infinity (Simon Glassman, Canada, 2025) Camp (Avalon Fast, Canada, 2025) The Cramps! A Period Piece (Brooke H. Cellars, US, 2025) - Director Brooke H. Cellars in attendance The Hedonist (Nick Funess, US, 2025) - Director/star Nick Funess in attendance Saccharine (Natalie Erika James, Australia, 2025) The Serpent's Skin (Alice Maio Mackay, Australia, 2025)
Repertory screenings Exorcist II: The Heretic (John Boorman, US, 1977) - Screened at the Coolidge Corner Theater The Devil's Rejects (Rob Zombie, US, 2005) - Actor Bill Moseley in attendance The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (Tobe Hooper, US, 1986) - 40 year anniversary, actor Bill Moseley in attendance, co-presented by Rucking Fotten
References