Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival: 2017 Call For Submissions

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Nov. 16, 2016 - PRLog -- Building on the tremendous success of this year's event, Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival is calling for submissions for its 2017 season, which will again run 10 days: Friday, November 3rd - Thursday, November 9th at the Dipson Theaters Eastern Hills Cinema, and Friday, November 10th - Sunday, November 12th at the Screening Room Cinema Cafe.  In 2016, Buffalo Dreams received a record 350 submissions: 310 films and 40 Original Screenplays, and screened a record 107 films, 34% of those submitted.  Thirty filmmakers traveled to Western New York to represent their work on a big screen, another record.  In addition, film lovers from Syracuse, Erie, Pa, and Ontario, Canada attended screenings.

"The passion and participation of attending filmmakers makes our festival a true celebration of independent film and film artists," says Buffalo Dreams co-founder Chris Scioli.  "Every year, out of town filmmakers travel to Buffalo, stay in hotels here, sample Western New York dishes at local restaurants, and conduct fascinating Q&A sessions with our appreciative audience.  Filmmakers from as far away as Australia, Mexico and the UK have screened their work here in person.  This festival is turning Buffalo into a destination spot for filmmakers around the world."

Buffalo Dreams is seeking films in the following categories: Action, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction and Thriller.  The festival separates content into three divisions: North American (U.S. and Canada), International, and Western New York.

In 2016, the annual event successfully incorporated the Buffalo Dreams Family Film Festival and launched its Young Student Filmmaker Award.  For its 2017 edition, Buffalo Dreams introduces the Lois Weber Award, named after the first female filmmaker in the U.S.  Weber directed 135 films, wrote 114, and acted in 100.  She was the first female filmmaker to own a production studio in this country, and is credited with creating the split screen technique and shooting directing the first sound film.  The Lois Weber Award is designed to spotlight contemporary women in film.

Noted horror, humor and Young Adult author Jeff Strand has been named the guest judge of the next Original Screenplay Competition.  A selection committee will nominate five finalists in the competition, and Strand will select First, Second and Third Place winners.  He will also provide script notes to each of the five finalists.  Strand is a four-time Bram Stoker Award-nominated author over 30 books, including Pressure, Dweller, and I Have a Bad Feeling About This.  Publishers Weekly has called his work "wickedly funny" and Cemetery Dance wrote, "No author working today comes close to Jeff Strand's perfect mixture of comedy and terror."

Also in 2016, Final Draft sponsored Buffalo Dreams by donating six screenwriting software programs, which the festival awarded to young filmmakers Talia Cohen-Vigder (Holiday of Holidays), Sly Sundown (Sleepover), Elsie Logan (Choices Determine Your Life), Marc Norowyta (Circuit Sizzle) and Kellen Pembleton (Condemned with You All), as well as the C. Dee Wright Community Center in Akron, New York, which has a program designed to introduce youngsters to basic filmmaking techniques.

Submissions can currently be made via:

https://filmfreeway.com/festival/BuffaloDreamsFantasticFi...

Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival -

http://www.buffalodreamsfantasticfilmfestival.com

Jeff Strand - www.jeffstrand.com

Final Draft - www.finaldraft.com