B-Movie Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The B-Movie Film Festival is an annual film festival
held in Syracuse, United States
.
The festival was founded in 1999 by local filmmaker Ron Bonk to promote the art of B-movie
making. It was canceled in its third year due to the effects of September 11 attacks. It then existed primarily online or as a much smaller event for several years (during which it was profiled by the Wall Street Journal,) and only restarted as a live event at the Palace Theatre
in 2005.
Many of the films entered are made on minimal budgets. Screenings can feature full-length films, documentaries
, and shorts. Various genres are included, and selected films are usually reviewed for possible distribution. The festival defines a B-movie as "a production whose entertainment and artistic value exceeds the limitations of its budget." The festival's "Killer B" or "Tor" awards are sought after and prominently displayed by the winners. One film maker described being nominated for a B-Movie Film Festival award "like heaven to the world of independent filmmaking". It averages a B in reviews.
a 'dialogue-free comedy' based on an unproduced Ed Wood screenplay, won Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Set Design, Best Director (Aris Iliopolous), Best Actor (Billy Zane
), and Best Star Cameo (Christina Ricci
). Other awards were Best Actress to Karin Viard
for The New Eve, Best Screenplay, for Pep Squad
, by Steve Balderson
, and Best Documentary for Memories of the Soil.
, a thriller directed by Eric Stanze. Scrapbook won Best Screenplay and Best B-Movie Villain, both for Tommy Biondo, who died before the awards vere voted on. Lethal Force won Best Cinematography and Best Action Sequence. Neil Maffin won Best Actor for A Moment in Time
and Lorri Bagley
won Best Actress for Peroxide Passion. Mike Legge won Best Supporting Actor for Curtains and Paulina Galvez
won named Best Supporting Actress for Tatawo, which also won Best Foreign Film Award (Spain
). Aliens of the Sea won Best Documentary, Third World Cop
Best Musical Score, Beware Best Editing, Cremains Best Set Design, Biohazardous Best Make-up, Creatures of the Mist Best Special Effects, Bucky McSnead Best Short Subject and Ornaments Best Animated Short.
won Best B-Movie, Best Director (David Michael Latt), and Best B-Movie Hollywood Appearance/Cameo (Colin Mochrie
). The winner of Best Actor was Michael Emanuel for Lucky, Best Actress Andrea Ajemian for Rutland, USA, Best Supporting Actor Graeme Anning for P.O.V, Best Supporting Actress Lara Clancy for Summer Rain. Hunting Humans won Best Editing and Best Action Sequences. Best Writer was Stephen Sustarsic for Lucky. There was a Special Achievement Winner: Young Man Kang
for 1st Testament CIA Vengeance
), Best Actress (Rhonda Shear
), and Best Set Design. The Passage won Best Actor (Greg Dow), and Best Screenplay Award for Daniel Casey-Vanhout. Ambition Withdraw won Best Documentary and Best Music Score, and Head Hunter won Best Make-up and Special Effects.
The Last Round won Best B-Movie Short, and Beer Muscles won the B-Movie Merit Award.
, a fantasy comedy, won Best Picture, Best Actor (Thomas Edward Seymour
), Best Cinematography, and Best Make-up Effects. Best Director was shared by four people, Thomas Edward Seymour
, Mike Aransky and Phil Guerette jointly for Land of College Prophets, and Elza Kephart
for Graveyard Alive, which also won for Best Editing. And I Lived won for Best Supporting Actor (Josue Rivera), and Best Music Score (Matt Tyson and Gary Judge). Maggie Ross won Best Actress for Rock and Roll Eulogy, and Debbie Rochon
won Best Supporting Actress for Scream of the Decapitated. Michael Legge
won Best Screenplay for Democrazy. Phil Hall received a Special Achievement Award for his work supporting independent film as a publicist and film writer.
. Drama Big Fish in Middlesex, won "Tor" Awards for Best B-Movie, Best B-Movie Writer (Jonathan Straiton), Best Supporting Actor (Michael Wingfield) and Best Music Score. Science fiction film Borrowing Time, won Best Director (Webster Crowell), Best Editing, Best Set Design, and Best Digital / Special Effects. Jackie Parker won Best Actress for Both. Ray Wise
won Best Actor for Cyxork 7. Ellektra won "Best Foreign B-Movie" (Belgium
), Best Supporting Actress (Axelle Red
). Flyaway won Best Animated Short, Pawns of Paradise won Best Documentary, Bon Appetit won Best Short, The Last Eve won Best Cinematography, Big Foot won Best Make-Up.
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
held in Syracuse, United States
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
.
The festival was founded in 1999 by local filmmaker Ron Bonk to promote the art of B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
making. It was canceled in its third year due to the effects of September 11 attacks. It then existed primarily online or as a much smaller event for several years (during which it was profiled by the Wall Street Journal,) and only restarted as a live event at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, Syracuse
The Palace Theatre is a 1920s-era movie palace in the village of Eastwood in Syracuse, New York. It has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 80 years.-History:...
in 2005.
Many of the films entered are made on minimal budgets. Screenings can feature full-length films, documentaries
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, and shorts. Various genres are included, and selected films are usually reviewed for possible distribution. The festival defines a B-movie as "a production whose entertainment and artistic value exceeds the limitations of its budget." The festival's "Killer B" or "Tor" awards are sought after and prominently displayed by the winners. One film maker described being nominated for a B-Movie Film Festival award "like heaven to the world of independent filmmaking". It averages a B in reviews.
Awards
"Killer B" awards are given out in Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Foreign Film and other categories. A B-Movie is defined as "a low-budget film which provides a level of entertainment and/or artistic value which rivals or surpasses big-budget mainstream pictures." Feature films, documentaries and short subjects are open for consideration.2000
Hosted by B-movie star Roxanne Michaels. I Woke Up Early the Day I DiedI Woke Up Early The Day I Died
I Woke Up Early The Day I Died is a camp comedy film written by Edward D. Wood, Jr.. The film, directed by Aris Iliopulos, stars Billy Zane, Tippi Hedren, Ron Perlman, and Christina Ricci, among many others.-Production:...
a 'dialogue-free comedy' based on an unproduced Ed Wood screenplay, won Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Set Design, Best Director (Aris Iliopolous), Best Actor (Billy Zane
Billy Zane
William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...
), and Best Star Cameo (Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
). Other awards were Best Actress to Karin Viard
Karin Viard
Karin Viard is a multi-award-winning French actress. She made her film debut in Tatie Danielle in 1990.Since then she has appeared in such films as Delicatessen, L'Emploi du temps , Adultère, mode d'emploi and La parenthèse enchantée.She was a member of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival...
for The New Eve, Best Screenplay, for Pep Squad
Pep squad
Pep squads are found in high schools, middle schools and sometimes, elementary schools in the United States. The pep squad's main duty is to promote school spirit. Pep squad members make posters, cheer for school sports teams, and help with pep rallies. During games, pep squads lead cheers and chants...
, by Steve Balderson
Steve Balderson
Stephen Clark Balderson is an American film director.-Early life:Balderson was born in Manhattan, Kansas and raised in nearby Wamego, Kansas until the age of twelve, when his family moved to Manhattan. Balderson attended Manhattan High School. Though his class attendance was poor, Balderson...
, and Best Documentary for Memories of the Soil.
2001
The ceremony was scheduled for September at the Westcott Movie Theater, Syracuse, New York, but canceled due to the September 11 attacks. The awards had been voted on before the attacks, and were announced October 31, 2001. Best B-Movie and Best Director were both tied between Lethal Force, a martial arts film directed by Alvin Ecarma and ScrapbookScrapbook (film)
Scrapbook is a horror film about a young woman who is kidnapped, held captive, and repeatedly beaten and raped for several days. The title refers to a scrapbook that her captor uses as a record of the ordeals of his victims.-Plot:...
, a thriller directed by Eric Stanze. Scrapbook won Best Screenplay and Best B-Movie Villain, both for Tommy Biondo, who died before the awards vere voted on. Lethal Force won Best Cinematography and Best Action Sequence. Neil Maffin won Best Actor for A Moment in Time
A Moment in Time
A Moment in Time is the tenth studio album by American country music artist Lorrie Morgan. The album was released on October 27, 2009 via Stroudavarious. It is a covers album, featuring a total of 14 traditional country classics.-Content:...
and Lorri Bagley
Lorri Bagley
Lorri Bagley is an American actress and model.-Life and career:Bagley made her television debut at a young age appearing on Late Night with David Letterman in 1982, and had made a name for herself as a model in Europe by the age of fourteen, as well as modelling for Victoria's Secret for five...
won Best Actress for Peroxide Passion. Mike Legge won Best Supporting Actor for Curtains and Paulina Galvez
Paulina Gálvez
Paulina Gálvez is a Spanish actress. She was born in Santiago de Chile, Chile to a Chilean mother and a Spanish father, both economists. She was raised in Madrid from the age of eight...
won named Best Supporting Actress for Tatawo, which also won Best Foreign Film Award (Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
). Aliens of the Sea won Best Documentary, Third World Cop
Third World Cop
Third World Cop is a 1999 Jamaican action-crime film starring Paul Campbell, directed by Chris Browne and produced by Chris Blackwell of Island Jamaica Films.- Plot synopsis :...
Best Musical Score, Beware Best Editing, Cremains Best Set Design, Biohazardous Best Make-up, Creatures of the Mist Best Special Effects, Bucky McSnead Best Short Subject and Ornaments Best Animated Short.
2002
Held October 5-October 6 at the Planet 505 Club in Syracuse, New York. Jane White Is Sick & TwistedJane White Is Sick & Twisted
Jane White Is Sick & Twisted is a 2002 comedy film produced by The Asylum, starring Kim Little. It is one of few films by the studio not to be made to capitalize on another film, and is also one of few Asylum films to have a theatrical release.- Plot :...
won Best B-Movie, Best Director (David Michael Latt), and Best B-Movie Hollywood Appearance/Cameo (Colin Mochrie
Colin Mochrie
Colin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish Canadian actor and improvisational comedian, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.-Early life:...
). The winner of Best Actor was Michael Emanuel for Lucky, Best Actress Andrea Ajemian for Rutland, USA, Best Supporting Actor Graeme Anning for P.O.V, Best Supporting Actress Lara Clancy for Summer Rain. Hunting Humans won Best Editing and Best Action Sequences. Best Writer was Stephen Sustarsic for Lucky. There was a Special Achievement Winner: Young Man Kang
Young Man Kang
Young Man Kang is a Korean filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has directed and produced The Last Eve , Soap Girl , Cupid's Mistake and Kimchi Warrior...
for 1st Testament CIA Vengeance
2004
Prison-a-Go-Go, a parody of women in prison films, won Best B-Movie, Best Director (Barak EpsteinBarak Epstein
Barak Epstein is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. Epstein's body of work is considered to mostly consist of independent and grindhouse films...
), Best Actress (Rhonda Shear
Rhonda Shear
Rhonda Shear is an American television personality, comedienne, and actress.-Early life:Shear was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a Jewish American family. She attended Loyola University, earning a B.A. in Communications...
), and Best Set Design. The Passage won Best Actor (Greg Dow), and Best Screenplay Award for Daniel Casey-Vanhout. Ambition Withdraw won Best Documentary and Best Music Score, and Head Hunter won Best Make-up and Special Effects.
The Last Round won Best B-Movie Short, and Beer Muscles won the B-Movie Merit Award.
2005
Held April 8-April 14 at the Palace Movie Theater, in Syracuse, New York. Land of College ProphetsLand of College Prophets
The Land of College Prophets is a 2005 independent comedy film produced by the Hale Manor Collective, a trio of Connecticut filmmakers consisting of Mike Aransky, Phil Guerrette and Thomas Edward Seymour...
, a fantasy comedy, won Best Picture, Best Actor (Thomas Edward Seymour
Thomas Edward Seymour
Thomas Edward Seymour is an American filmmaker, composer, singer-songwriter and actor.Thomas Edward Seymour is considered one of the Top Twenty Contemporary Underground Filmmakers in the U.S., according to the book The History of Independent Cinema This "Top Underground" status has been echoed...
), Best Cinematography, and Best Make-up Effects. Best Director was shared by four people, Thomas Edward Seymour
Thomas Edward Seymour
Thomas Edward Seymour is an American filmmaker, composer, singer-songwriter and actor.Thomas Edward Seymour is considered one of the Top Twenty Contemporary Underground Filmmakers in the U.S., according to the book The History of Independent Cinema This "Top Underground" status has been echoed...
, Mike Aransky and Phil Guerette jointly for Land of College Prophets, and Elza Kephart
Elza Kephart
Elza Kephart is a Canadian filmmaker. She is perhaps best known for Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love , a film that she wrote, directed and produced. The film was well-received by critics who appreciated its camp horror and feminist motifs, while at the same time harkening back to more...
for Graveyard Alive, which also won for Best Editing. And I Lived won for Best Supporting Actor (Josue Rivera), and Best Music Score (Matt Tyson and Gary Judge). Maggie Ross won Best Actress for Rock and Roll Eulogy, and Debbie Rochon
Debbie Rochon
Debbie Rochon is a Canadian B-movie actress and former stage performer, best known for her work in Troma films.-Biography:...
won Best Supporting Actress for Scream of the Decapitated. Michael Legge
Michael Legge
Michael Legge may refer to:*Michael Legge , Irish comedian*Michael Legge , Northern Ireland-born actor*Michael Legge , American actor and independent filmmaker...
won Best Screenplay for Democrazy. Phil Hall received a Special Achievement Award for his work supporting independent film as a publicist and film writer.
2006
The 2006 guest of honor was B-movie star Michael BerrymanMichael Berryman
Michael John Berryman is an American actor. He has appeared in several horror movies and other B movies. Berryman is famous for having a distinctive physical appearance as a result of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic condition which prevents him from developing hair, sweat glands...
. Drama Big Fish in Middlesex, won "Tor" Awards for Best B-Movie, Best B-Movie Writer (Jonathan Straiton), Best Supporting Actor (Michael Wingfield) and Best Music Score. Science fiction film Borrowing Time, won Best Director (Webster Crowell), Best Editing, Best Set Design, and Best Digital / Special Effects. Jackie Parker won Best Actress for Both. Ray Wise
Ray Wise
Raymond Nicolas "Ray" Wise is an American actor, known for his roles as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks, as Leon C. Nash, right-hand henchman to villain Clarence Boddicker in the science fiction classic RoboCop, and recently as the Devil in the CW television series Reaper.-Life and career:Wise was...
won Best Actor for Cyxork 7. Ellektra won "Best Foreign B-Movie" (Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), Best Supporting Actress (Axelle Red
Axelle Red
Axelle Red is a Belgian singer-songwriter.-Biography:She was born at Hasselt, Flanders, Belgium, the daughter of Roland Demal, a solicitor in Hasselt and Councillor for the Flemish Liberals and Democrats in the City Council.Nowadays a committed artist and a militant humanist, back in 1993 Axelle...
). Flyaway won Best Animated Short, Pawns of Paradise won Best Documentary, Bon Appetit won Best Short, The Last Eve won Best Cinematography, Big Foot won Best Make-Up.