Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival

15/12/2023

12/12/2023

The rest of the official TBUFF 2023 pics are a coming very soon, but in the meanwhile, here's the annual Buffy winners group photo following the ceremony on 12/9. Missing are the audience winners, just declared today: Shorts (Admissions, Didn't You Hear?, Spin the Bottle) and Features (Glowzies and the Junior Squad Strikes Again). Thanks again to venue Port Richey Cinema 6, sponsor Patriot Auto Glass, after-party location SocialNPR and all the filmmakers and attendees that made the milestone 10th edition of Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival a success, as we had our highest attendance of the Pandemic Era and one of the highest ever period! We look forward to our 11th year... underground.

https://tbuff.org
https://tbuff.org/selections2023/awards2023.html
https://thecinema6.com/
https://www.patriotautoglassfl.com/
https://www.facebook.com/patriotautoglassfl/

09/12/2023

Opening Night was definitely a great start to TBUFF X and we followed that up with a terrific Friday; Saturday's always the biggest day so come out today and be part of the 10 year chaos!

07/12/2023

TODAY IS THE DAY! The 10th Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival kicks off TONIGHT, at Port Richey Cinema 6, Thursday, December 7, 2023, with Red Carpet at 6PM and show at 7PM! A brand new cut of Rick Danford’s “The Clock” is the feature of the evening, with never before seen footage that was shot only a couple weeks ago! It’s preceded by premieres of Apollo Nava’s “Didn’t You Hear?,” Samantha Garzon’s “The Shutter” and A.J. Constantino’s “Guilt!” plus multiple-award winning Canadian short “[Insert Short Film Title]”. We have about 200 more films to play 12/8 through 12/10, many genres to speak of, something for everybody, trips down TBUFF memory lane, Rick Danford's holiday Toy Drive for the awesome organization Celebrate Birthdays (https://www.celebratebirthdays.org/), parties 'til the break of dawn (or whatever time things close in Pasco County), so we hope to see you tonight and all weekend long... underground!

Opening Night Link: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/.../654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68c7
Main Schedule: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule
Official Selections: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/films
Passes: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/passes/buy
https://tbuff.org/
TBUFF’s 2023 title sponsor: https://www.patriotautoglassfl.com/
https://www.facebook.com/patriotautoglassfl/

07/12/2023

Anthony Caban is all over TBUFF yet again -- in fact, he's in so many places Friday night, he might need one of those fancy time travel devices Hermione had in "The Prisoner of Azkaban" to be everywhere he needs to be. He stars in "Werewolf of Wismar" and is also in the credits of "Alma," both of which are in 12/8's Bad Dreams' block. Then he co-stars in "Sammy Slick Vampire Slayer" right after Bad Dreams. But he's SLIGHTLY more likely to be in the movie directly opposite of that one, the world premiere of the action sequel "The Junior Squad Strikes Again," which he wrote, produced, directed and stars in. Caban became legendary at Cinema 6 when the original "Junior Squad" sold out its premiere in 2020, and we're hoping he builds on that legend this Friday, 12/8, 8:55 PM at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68dd

06/12/2023

Much like Taylor herself, the ERAS Block needs no introduction... but we’ll do one anyway. Because this block is a diva like that. In honor of TBUFF’s 10th Edition, we foolishly decided to put many of our legendary longtime filmmakers into a single, all-genre block at 3:55 PM on 12/9 and see what happens. We were hoping for magic, but chaos is kind of the same thing, right? Domonic Smith (“Ring”) and Christian Cashmir (“John Dick” and its BTS doc) are the only remaining filmmakers who have had at least one selection in each TBUFF and they return with new movies, Domonic’s so new that the final version might show up during the projector downtime before the block starts. Rick Danford (“Halloween Death Walks Among Us 3” premiere) and Jared Miller (“Murder, Mystery and Mayhem”) have also been around since the first TBUFF, though not every year. They’re joined in the TBUFF Year 1 Club by Mary Rachel Quinn, the star of “ConspiraTOURS”; that movie’s production team of Evan Smith and Mark Dahl have also had TBUFF selections most years. Stefanie Davis (“Spin the Bottle”) and TL Westgate (“All For Naught”) just missed being in that club and Tyler Council (“Badvertisements”) wasn’t far behind them. Which brings us to “Why Noon,” the debut film from Jacqlyn Titus. Why “Why Noon” here then? Its cinematographer Stephen McKendree directed “Poltergeist of Borley Forest,” the film responsible for the founding of TBUFF, as nearly all of the original board members worked on that project. The ERAS block filmmakers combined have about 10 audience awards and dozens of jury awards, with Smith having the TBUFF individual record, so this block might be *slightly* popular. Maybe as popular as Taylor herself. The ERAS block is this Saturday 12/9, 3:55 PM at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass, and there will be no bad blood among our esteemed filmmakers... but even if there is, they will just shake it off.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68f1

05/12/2023

Check out TBUFF Board Members SK Shore and Jay Frank promoting this year's event on WFTS-ABC Action News' Tampa Bay's Morning Blend:

https://www.abcactionnews.com/morning-blend/tampa-bay-underground-film-festival-happening-dec-7-10

04/12/2023

After a decade, we’re not surprised by much that happens with TBUFF anymore, but with ***3 days*** until Opening Night, we checked the ol’ advanced tickets sales, and our minds were blown: the top selling show is the feature film “Glowzies.” What’s befuddling about that? A couple reasons: 1) This is the first time a non-local film has been leading the pack at this point. 2) This is the first time a Friday *afternoon* film has been leading the pack at this point. We’re an “underground festival,” that just doesn’t happen, but co-star Kevin Brooks has made it happen, as he has some connections to the area and has whipped his social circle into a frenzy about this sci-fi action comedy featuring slimy intergalactic invaders threatening our planet. Probably doesn’t hurt that it has the most star-studded cast in this year’s TBUFF (and one of the most star-studded of all time), including James Remar (most recently in summer Barbenheimer phenomenon “Oppenheimer”), Michael Dorn (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) and Josie Davis (younger sister in “Charles in Charge”). And it also doesn’t hurt that it’s an outstanding movie, with 6 Buffy nominations, some related to its out-of-this-world rave-influenced effects. “Glowzies” is this Friday, 12/8, 3:30 PM at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass – skip that last class in school, sneak out of work a couple hours early, leave that patient on the operating table until the morning, do whatever you have to do to make this mega-fun screening!

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68d3

04/12/2023

Sunday night’s also all right for fighting...actually, pretty much any day of the week will do with the right (or wrong) people, but this Sunday 12/10 TBUFF goes out with a bang with a couple of high octane, bare-knuckled, teeth-shattering blocks. At 5:40 PM is WACked Shorts featuring Anthony Caban’s “Dead or Alive,” about 2 soldiers on their way home from a mission when they’re ambushed by a cartel; a Cold War era interrogation by the Soviet Union of an American believed to be a spy in Patryk Godlewski’s “[Elephant]”; a fantasy action short with the very GOT-ish name “The Tragity of the Harkened Zealot”; and season 2 of Thomas Frick’s long running web series “Darkest Case” all rolled into one. Then at 7:35 PM we get a double dose of the legendary Joel D. Wynkoop, who has just accomplished something few people ever have: 200 film credits. That’s Cal Ripkin Jr. and Tom Brady type stuff there and he deserves all the publicity he’s receiving for it. Heck, he has at least 4 in TBUFF this year, including 2 in the Fantastical Shorts block. One of those is his own writer-director project (which helped push him over the double century mark), the sci-fi action film “187 Times.” He’s also in friend Marcus Kempton’s “3 Films” action shorts production in this block, but somehow he’s not in the other short in this block, the sequel to last year’s “AtomSteam” steampunk fantasy project, “AtomSteam: The Rise of Leviathan.” Get ready to rumble on 12/10 at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f6909

03/12/2023

Crime is completely out of control. At least that’s what life seems like in the movies, so why not a block dedicated to such films? Nevertheless, the Crime Time Block is fairly diverse for such a focus – not a single Mafia flick this year, though a few hard boiled detectives here and there, but even those come with a twist, such as “Above the Trees,” from 2020 High School Film winners the Torres brothers. Their winner 3 years ago was pretty much par for the course in crime time films, but executed in outstanding fashion for high schoolers (or even many professionals); their latest goes in a completely different direction as it’s an 1800s period piece, shot in the mountains of Georgia, about a serial killer investigation. Shawn Ray’s “Lemonade” about a detective interrogating a suspect also moves in a different direction than perhaps you thought it would. Another interview goes interestingly off the rails in “So Long and Good Night,” while Claire Louise Holder pulls double-double duty for her film “Perception,” as the director-actress plays a woman confronting a familiar intruder in her home. Young people get in too deep in their attempts to expose corruption in “First Awaken” and a man deals with the worst “Midnight Stroll” ever in one of TBUFF veteran Austin Janowsky’s earlier works. “See It, Want It, Get It” involves one woman attempting to help another woman in her mission to rob an abusive ex-boyfriend. And then there’s “Violar.” As Best Actress nominee Jill Galbraith’s character deals with being pregnant in a sinister, isolated environment, perhaps this is the one movie in this block where the crime is… unsolvable. If there even is a crime. Sometimes things just are. Crime Time is 1 week from today, 12/10, 3:20 PM, at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f6901

03/12/2023

Passions for a cause run deep in the Passion Project Block. Some you can tell what that passion is about just from the title alone, such as “The Illusion of Choice.” Others require deeper digging, like Shawn Ray’s “Intentional.” Several deal with psychological problems, like Rory Smith’s “Matters of the Mind” and Werner Jauch’s “Not Him.” Some passion projects like “Silence” are flashing warnings at the highest level. Others are about overcoming adversity to achieve one’s passions, such as “Circles” and “The Studioman.” The Keith Driver-Danielle DeAngelo team have a pair of passionate films in this block, “The Evil Within: The Beginning” and “Violet Ends,” about domestic violence and its effect on children. Then there’s “The Club.” Although technically fictional, certainly the true life events it’s based on ignited all Floridians’ passions, especially those in Orlando, about 7 years ago. Get some passion to put to good use 1 week from today, 12/10, 1:15 PM at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68fd

03/12/2023

Why... so... serious? Let’s put a SMILE on that face... with TBUFF’s comedy shorts blocks. On 12/9 is the Saturday Funhouse Block at 1:40 PM, and on Sunday are the Divine Comedies at noon. These blocks feature such comedy gods and goddesses as last year’s Best Comedy winner Tyler Council (“Werewolf with a Gun,” “Urniture”), Cameron Tucker (“Finger Wars”), 2022 Best Supporting Actress Chelsea Wolf (“Dating Game,” her directorial debut), previous Best Comedy winner plus numerous less funny Buffys Tony Ahedo (“Passion Avenue”), longtime TBUFF comedy contributor TL Westgate (“Superposition) and TBUFF regular Jason DelSignore (“Bridges” and our personal favorite 2023 TBUFF title “Ah S**t! I'm Dead... or How not to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse”). They’re joined by equally side-splitting projects from TBUFF comedy newbies in “Friend Draft,” “Pickup Here,” “I Will Survive,” “The Final Audit” and “Life Altering Gender Reveal”). So if all the other blocks are too heavy for you... wait until you get a load of these, at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival 2023, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68eb

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68f9

03/12/2023

The Breakthrough Block features many characters putting great effort into difficult challenges that are in need of a breakthrough moment... but not all breakthrough moments are as expected or as wanted. In “Flag Act,” the protagonist fights the provocative flag law but FOR the Constitution. The dance movie “heArd” features one character trying to break out of the herd mentality to the chagrin of many others that are staying in line. “The Follow Up” has two detectives questioning the sole survivor of a camping accident who they're trying to get to admit she knows more than she's been saying. The grief drama “Let Go I Forgive You” deals with a woman who is tortured by the ghost of the husband she killed in a drunk driving accident. In the mega meta film “Stringout” from TBUFF Year 1 filmmaker Ashton K. Bracciodieta, a man cannot figure out why nothing seems quite right about his life, only to achieve a breakthrough on the issue he wished he hadn’t. Multiple Buffy nominee “Florida School Number 4891” may claim to be science fiction but if us sane Floridians don’t achieve a breakthrough soon, it actually shows the next natural step in our evolution. Fellow sci-fi flick “Diversion,” from 2022 Best Short Screenplay winner Mandy Mills, features a woman with a lot less control of her fate than the “Florida School” people as she’s in a world where you get a box telling you how much time you have left to live, and she’ll need a breakthrough to overcome the results. And finally, there’s TBUFF regular Dale Metz’s “Dream On.” This nearly perfectly executed musical about pursuing a life in musicals is a breakthrough in-and-of-itself as the short film with the most Buffy nominations, 7. Outside of the Eras Block that we’ll get to later, the Breakthrough block has the most awards nominations of all the films of any block. It is 1 week from today, 12/9 at high noon, at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68e7

02/12/2023

Everybody experiences a different life, so there is a quite a diversity of slices in the Slice of Life Block, which plays 1 week from today, 12/9 at 1:30PM. A boxer struggles to reach his full potential in 2022 Buffy winner Jean-Baptiste Hansali’s “Here & Now.” A young person deals with grief in a cinematically unusual way in “Still in the Backseat Stirring.” A fledgling couple bonds over filmmaking in “The Wallflower Pact.” A different young couple bonds over the sunset in “The Beginning.” Two cousins decide to commit a robbery to pay for their grandmother’s funeral during a routine bank visit in “Do It For Grandma.” A young woman uses music to come to terms with a hurtful friendship in “Prelude.” Two brothers enlist a young woman’s help in deciding which brother can go to college in “Admissions.” A young man takes unexpected trips through time while doing the laundry in “The Laundry Machine.” And even the Old West has a few slices when a robbery leads to unexpected events in “White Poison.” That's life for you in the Slice of Life Block at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68e9

02/12/2023

Chris Leto’s TBUFF journey began with TBUFF’s own journey, 9 TBUFFs ago in 2014 at the late great Seminole 8 with campy slasher “Die Die Delta Pi.” Although his other 2023 TBUFF entry “Sammy Slick Vampire Slayer” is in a similar vein to that Sean Donohue co-produced horror classic, Leto shifts into a completely different gear with Shawn Ray as his main collaborator for “Man in the Blue Suit.” The mystery thriller, with more than a sprinkle of Hitchcock-ish neo-noir, features MacKenzie Aaryn as a young woman experiencing phenomena in her inherited house that makes her wonder if she’s losing her mind. As the walls close in around her, she seeks the help of a pair of police detectives, played by writer/producer Ray and last year’s Best Actor winner D’Andre Noire’ but that may not be enough help fast enough for whatever is happening to her. Arguably Leto’s spiritual successor to his 2022 Best Thriller winner “Death Blow,” the world premiere of 7-time Buffy nominee “Man in the Blue Suit” is 1 week from today, 12/9, 5PM at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68f3

02/12/2023

Deon Gibson has had rather diverse contributions to TBUFF, including the post-war drama “Home of the Brave” and the outrageous comedy “Church Folks,” and he continues that trend with this year’s romantic drama “The Pages of My Heart Volume 1,” starring Buffy leading actress nominee Geneva Maccarone as an actress who had higher hopes than being an acting teacher in St. Pete, which is most definitely NOT the Hollywood of the South. A date with a journalist/poet (red flag?) leads to a whirlwind romance that lifts her out of her doldrums but she soon begins to suspect things aren’t going as well as she originally thought, with her close friends (led by fellow Buffy nominee Jovan Hayes) trying to help her find the way. Best Florida Feature nominee “The Pages of My Heart” plays 1 week from today, 12/9, 3:15 PM at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68ef

02/12/2023

Are you ready for a really bad trip, man? The Bad Dreams Block gets into your head, preying on your worst fears, whether it’s something as simplistic as someone chasing you, as in “Don’t Run” or as complex as all your problems manifesting into something dark and suffocating, as seen in “Gnomes,” “3:33 AM” and Cookie Reyes’ “Alma.” Try not to become your own worst enemy as in “Influencer” and 2019 Best Short Film winner Brittany Brock’s latest “Reaper.” I mean, you can’t even trust your realtors these days in “Dwelling,” and sometimes a societal debate somehow has even bigger ramifications in “Pregnant? Scared?” Then we turn pretty traditional with “Diet of the Living Dead” before Rick Danford messes up multiple holidays for us all with “Secret Santa” and one of the original boogey men in the second part of his Michael Myers’ ode “Halloween Death Walks Among Us Chapter 2: The Horror of Crystal Lake.” This particular nightmare starts 1 week from tonight, 7:20 PM, but doesn’t end until the next night at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass... or does it really ever end?

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68db

01/12/2023

The world is a pretty big and oftentimes barren place, so connecting with people, staying connected with people and never losing that connection with people is often a challenge for even the most extroverted. In the Connectivity Dramas Block, some overcome those challenges... some don’t. “Ashes to Ashes” from TBUFF’s 2023 “Lady of the Festival” Camille Lewerke (who has a movie playing each one of the full days of the event) is one of the more obvious to fit this theme, as the main character finds a very important locket she attempts to return to its owner. Also in the block are: Jonna Volz’s “Paradiso” about an unhoused couple trying to connect with regular existence; a mother pulling out all stops to save her young daughter’s favorite toy in “Small Packages”; exchanged gazes from 2 strangers leading to a slow chase on the beach in “Pursuit”; a woman trying to reconnect with lost loved ones and reality in “Free Fall”; and Anita Caldwell’s latest, a broken romance called “Committed” that features Buffy leading actress nominee Geneva Maccarone (also for “The Pages of My Heart,” discussed tomorrow). Connectivity Dramas will connect with audiences 1 week from today, Friday, 12/8, 7:05 PM at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68d9

01/12/2023

James Morris' “He Never Left” is a well-paced horror-thriller about a couple in a motel room from hell who begin to suspect they are the latest targets of the legendary Pale Face killer that has apparently haunted this area “out West” for some time. How much of it is paranoia and how much of it is the real deal is tough to say for most of the movie because of the spot-on performances by Buffy nominees Colin Cunningham and Jessica Staples, as characters who have created enough of their own problems to be chased by somebody for sure. Also nominated for supporting actor for the 3rd year in a row and record 6th time overall (including lead performances) is TBUFF fan favorite David McMahon, who despite not having lived in the Tampa Bay Area, has by far the record for appearances in TBUFF selections during our 10 years of existence. We actually don’t even know for sure what that number is, but he was in 8 in one year, which is a good TBUFF career for many actors. “He Never Left” shows 1 week from today, 12/8 at 5:10 PM, Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival 2023, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68d5

01/12/2023

ONE WEEK FROM TONIGHT! The milestone 10th Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival kicks off 168 hours from right now, at Port Richey Cinema 6, Thursday, December 7, 2023, with Red Carpet at 6PM and show at 7PM! A brand new cut of Rick Danford’s “The Clock” is the feature of the evening, with never before seen footage that was shot only a little over a week ago! It’s preceded by Apollo Nava’s “Didn’t You Hear?,” Samantha Garzon’s “The Shutter,” A.J. Constantino’s “Guilt!” and some craziness out of Canada called “[Insert Short Film Title]”. We’ve actually been having trouble with printers getting that one right – couple times already it’s literally turned into an Abbott & Costello bit: “Hey, you forgot to fill in the short film title on this one”; “No, it IS ‘[Insert Short Film Title]’”; “Right, what film title do you want us to insert here?” Well, fortunately for all of you, the movie’s a lot funnier than that. Anyway, we have about 200 more films to play 12/8 through 12/10, genres just raining from the sky, something for everybody, trips down TBUFF memory lane, parties 'til the break of dawn (or whatever time things close in Pasco County), so in 7 days, we hope to see you... underground!

Opening Night Link: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/.../654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68c7
Main Schedule: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule
Official Selections: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/films
Passes: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/passes/buy
https://tbuff.org/
TBUFF’s 2023 title sponsor: https://www.patriotautoglassfl.com/
https://www.facebook.com/patriotautoglassfl/

27/11/2023

Florida has by far the highest drug overdose mortality rate among the largest states, more than twice that of Texas and significantly higher than New York and California; in raw numbers, it had more drug overdoses in 2021 than Texas and Georgia combined. So it is not surprising that quite a number of documentaries and narrative-docs about addiction were submitted to TBUFF this year. Two such features play 2 weeks from today, 12/10. “One Second at a Time: Battling the Monster of Addiction,” which explores one woman’s battle against both fentanyl and mental illness, plays at 4:20 PM, while “Second Chances,” a mini-feature that follows the recovery plight of 4 very different individuals, is part of the Sunday Docs block that begins at 12 PM. Also in that same block is the short documentary “Laced,” which attempts to put a human face on fentanyl addiction through the eyes of a grieving mother and a paramedic. The night before at 9:30 PM, “Uncut” is recreation of sorts of one man’s battle with alcohol. All these films examine the sober reality of addiction in our otherwise Sunshine State.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68fb
https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f6907
https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68f7

25/11/2023

Steve Balewicz, M.C. Nowell, Ryan Esteban and the rest of the We Masscare crew are regular contributors to TBUFF, with such past feature selections as “Please, Do Not Disturb” and “King James.” You pretty much know what you’re getting into just from the title of their latest, “Fistswings 76’,” a madcap retro road trip for 2 brothers who always seem to find trouble whether they are looking for it or not. You, too, can be part of their crime-filled journey into the backwoods of America, two weeks from tonight, 9:30PM on 12/9 at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/films/6547b7d598c57900c3e8ba2b

25/11/2023

TBUFF’s student films blocks are where you can catch a glimpse of the cinematic future, and for some of these students, the future is now. Molly Smith certainly fits into that category as a young filmmaker who has had regular representation and awards nominations at TBUFF since she was in high school 5 years ago, and last year this current Yale student took a big step into the “real world” by winning Best Overall Drama at TBUFF with “Lioness,” among many other awards in film festivals across the country. Her latest likely TBUFF student nominee just about sums up the student experience with its title, “The Happiest and Saddest I’ve Ever Been.” She’s joined by students as close by as Pinellas County and Orange County high schools, and as far away as the esteemed film schools at Florida State and Chapman University in the OTHER Orange County, California. And of course where would a TBUFF student block be without the ubiquitous presence of Lakeland’s extremely talented performing arts school, Harrison High, which has produced the winner of the Best High School Student film the past 5 years in a row under the tutelage of Rick Jansen. Be at Patriot Auto Glass’s Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival on 12/9 (2 weeks from today) at 10 AM and 11:50 AM and 12/10 at 2:15 PM for the student film blocks to see if Harrison and Molly continue their streaks.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68e1
https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68e5
https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68ff

25/11/2023

Reunions. Every school has them. Just a bunch of “So, what have you been up to?” and “My God, what happened to HER?” “We Good Project” explores what happens when several high school friends reunite after years of growing apart, supposedly for the purpose of helping one of them with a documentary project about sisterhood. Instead, we get a hilarious mockumentary about sisterhood as the young women try to figure out... well, what they have been up to and what happened to HER. FSU alum and writer-director Cassandra Belony describes “We Good Project” as her most personal film project to date, and you can feel that genuine intensity throughout. Judge for yourself 2 weeks from today, 3PM on 12/9 at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/films/6547b7d698c57900c3e8baa7

24/11/2023

It’s Black Friday so it must be time to talk about TBUFF After Dark. Which with the time change is anything after 5 PM, but in this case we’re talking about 9:40 PM, two weeks from tonight, which is where you’ll find the horror action flick “Sammy Slick Vampire Slayer,” from last year’s Best Thriller winner Chris Leto. As the title suggests, we have a guy named Sammy Slick and he’s slaying vampires, but in his case it’s in an even seedier place than the Los Angeles shadows Blade and Buffy hung out in: Sammy’s working 5 to 9 in Florida’s own den of sin, Ybor City, right down the road from TBUFF. Of course, anybody that’s lived here for more than a day knew there were vampires all over the place at Ybor’s Castle, but apparently they decided to expand their operation to the entire Tampa neighborhood, and Sammy’s our only hope to keep them from spreading all the way to SoHo and Westchase – well, that, and a traffic jam at the malfunction junction of I-4 and 275; even vampires aren’t immune to that mess. Again, “Sammy Slick” plays 12/8 at 9:40PM at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, presented by Patriot Auto Glass.

https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/films/6547b7d698c57900c3e8ba6e

24/11/2023

Happy Thanksgiving, American TBUFF-ers! We hope you’re having a wonderful start to the holiday season! And if you’re Canadian, we hope you had a great start to the holiday season last month! And if you’re in a country without Thanksgiving… you really need to look into this thing, because it’s pretty cool. Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday, because that means that TBUFF is just around the corner – in fact, Opening Night is exactly *2 weeks* from today, December 7! (Which itself is sort of a holiday around these parts, but we won’t get into that.) This year TBUFF is extra thankful because it’s our TENTH YEAR! Join us December 7 through December 10 as we celebrate 10 years of supporting low budget independent cinema from around the world, as well as 10 years of the film community supporting us, as we definitely would not have survived a year, much less a decade, without all of you! Thank-you, and we hope to see you UNDERGROUND in 2 weeks! (Hopefully that is enough time for turkey coma recovery.)

Opening Night Link: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule/654afcbe1c2d70005f8f68c7?fbclid=IwAR3aj2WP1f119TQaYerNl0ZMc0GMul21zA_71jZEXRDVFwbshMv6Kb880nA
Main Schedule: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/schedule
Official Selections: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/films
Passes: https://tbuff2023.eventive.org/passes/buy
https://tbuff.org/

TBUFF is especially thankful for this year’s title sponsor: https://www.patriotautoglassfl.com/
https://www.facebook.com/patriotautoglassfl/