SWFF-11 schedule - current as of April 9th, 2022
Thursday, April 7, 2022
5:45 to 6:00 PM - Opening of SWFF-11
Remarks by Festival Director Noah Ramer
6:00 to 7:30 PM - Screening: Pier Kids (Bratton, 2019)
This feature-length documentary follows three young queer and transgender New Yorkers who frequent the Christopher Street Pier in Manhattan. The movie shines a light on how queer people of color utilize spaces to create a chosen family, as well as highlights the police presence in a community that relies on sex work for their main form of income. Directed by Elegance Bratton and Produced by Chester Gordon, SWFF-11’s keynote speakers, Pier Kids premiered at the Los Angeles Outfest 2019 and was acquired by PBS to screen as part of its renowned documentary series POV.
Friday, April 8, 2022
3:00 to 5:00 PM - SCREENING
Official Selection – Graduate Films
The Girl in the Straw Hat (Director, SUNY Stony Brook)
5:10 to 5:50 PM - SCREENING
Artistic Expression & The Natural World
Through the Eyes of a Child (Kotwica, University of Buffalo, Animation)
Dissociation (Henze, SUNY Fredonia, Experimental)
The Plant (Smith, Alfred State, Animation)
Artists of Western New York: Shasti O’Leary Soudant (Clare, Buffalo State, Documentary
Liminal Worlds (Wiers, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Narrative – Drama)
Capturing Light (SUNY Oswego, Experimental)
The Process – Felice Koenig’s “Now” Series (Johnson, Buffalo State, Documentary)
The Shape of Songs – Visualizing Song Structure (Yatsko, Alfred State, Documentary)
Vera La Vida (Scibona, SUNY Brockport, Narrative – Drama)
6:00 to 7:10 PM - WELCOME & KEYNOTE
Julie Pretzat Merchant
Dean, School of Communication, Media & the Arts
SUNY Oswego
Elegance Bratton & Chester Gordon
Elegance Bratton was thrown out of his mother’s home at the age of 16 in New Jersey for being gay. After ten years spent homeless, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps where he became a combat documentarian. After finishing the Marines, he earned an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and an MFA from NYU’s Tisch Graduate Film program. Elegance’s award-winning short films have played in almost 150 film festivals worldwide including Sundance, Outfest and the American Black Film Festival. He is the executive producer and creator of Viceland’s GLAAD-nominated series, My House.
In 2019, Chester Gordon became the first gender non-binary African-American costume designer to compete in competition at Cannes Film Festival with Port Authority. In the last 4 years, they have produced a fleet of acclaimed short films, including the feature documentary Pier Kids. Gordon was also a winner of the Tribeca Film Institute’s 2019, TFI All Access Grant and TFI Pond5 Program. Gordon is a Film Independent 2019 Producing Lab & Fast Track Lab fellow. Gordon’s films have been an official selection and won many awards in over 200 festivals, including Berlin, SXSW, BFI, Outfest, New Orleans, Cleveland, Athens, Palm Springs, Blackstar and the American Black Film Festival. They are also a producer for the MIPCOM 2018 winner - GLAAD nominated documentary TV series, My House, on Viceland. Gordon’s latest shorts Buck and Ship are Sundance Film Festival 2020 world premieres.
7:20 to 8:00 PM - SCREENING
Man Up (Fallat, SUNY Oswego, Narrative – Comedy)
Le Barber (Mackintosh-Smith, SUNY Fredonia, Narrative – Comedy)
Just Keep Fishing (Anderson, SUNY Fredonia, Animation)
When Does a Man Die? (O’Donnell, Binghamton University, Experimental)
Put on a Happy Face (Farrell, SUNY Oswego, Experimental)
Earthworm Graveyard (Baum, Alfred State, Animation)
Existential Stroll (Ferrara, SUNY Old Westbury, Animation)
Between Two Worlds (Wallace, SUNY Oswego, Narrative – Drama)
Motions of Afterlife (Liggio, Fashion Institute of Technology, Narrative – Drama)
8:00 to 9:30 PM - NETWORKING
Teams must sign up to compete. Please register your teams here. Prizes provided by The Criterion Collection.
Saturday, April 9, 2022
11:00 AM to 11:30 AM - INTERVIEWs (Block 1)
Join us in the SWFF-11 Zoom Room to learn more about the SWFF-11 student filmmakers.
Filmmakers in Block 1:
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11:00AM-11:10AM- David Schultz (Stony Brook University, The Girl in the Straw Hat)
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11:10AM-11:20AM- Jacob Yatsko (Alfred State College, The Shape of Songs- Visualizing Song Structure)
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11:20AM-11:30AM- Lochlainn O'Connell (SUNY Fredonia, Jane Goes to the Convenience Store)
11:30 AM to 12:00 PM - Interviews (Block 2)
Join us in the SWFF-11 Zoom Room to learn more about the SWFF-11 student filmmakers.
Filmmakers in Block 2:
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11:30AM-11:40AM- Gray With an A (SUNY Purchase, Friendly, The Human Taxidermy)
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11:40AM-11:50AM- Daniel Mustico (Alfred State College, Aviation in Chemung County)
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11:50AM-12:00PM- Paulina Jaskiewicz (Westchester Community College, Born to Fight, Wide Open Dreams)
12:00 to 1:05 PM - Screening
Wide Open Dreams (Jaskiewicz, Westchester Community College, Documentary)
Sink (Shah, Binghamton University, Experimental)
Kashgar Shops - Stories Behind Their Local Brands (Fan, SUNY Stony Brook, Documentary)
God Bless The Soft White Light That Shines Through Our Broken Windows (Johnston, SUNY Purchase, Narrative – Drama)
Cry About It (Jamal, SUNY Purchase, Animation)
The Battle (Guadalupe, SUNY New Paltz, Documentary)
Community (Simiele, SUNY Purchase, Documentary)
Mr. Sisyphus (Kang, Buffalo University, Narrative – Drama)
1:15 to 1:45 PM - INTERVIEws (Block 3)
Join us in the SWFF-11 Zoom Room to learn more about the SWFF-11 student filmmakers.
Filmmakers in Block 3:
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1:15PM-1:25PM- Jedi Kang (University of Buffalo, Mr.Sisyphus)
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1:25PM-1:35PM- Steven Zaza (SUNY Purchase, On The Edge of Paradise)
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1:35PM-1:45PM- Zagham Shah (Binghampton University, sink)
2:00 to 3:05 PM - Screening
The Human Taxidermy (Scott-Simpson, SUNY Purchase, Narrative – Comedy)
307.50 (F50.9) – Unspecified (Purdy, SUNY Fredonia, Experimental)
Sound of Silence (Midgley, SUNY Purchase, Experimental)
Witchy Business (Pramanand, Fashion Institute of Technology, Narrative – Comedy)
Helvetica (Wheat-Dardano, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Narrative – Drama)
Man (Polkowski, SUNY Oswego, Experimental)
Into The Light (Flynn, SUNY Purchase, Experimental)
Mikhael’s Wrath (Cass, Binghamton University, Narrative – Comedy)
3:10 to 3:40 PM - INTERVIEWS (Block 4)
Join us in the SWFF-11 Zoom Room to learn more about the SWFF-11 student filmmakers.
Filmmakers in Block 4:
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3:10PM-3:20PM- Amani Jamal (SUNY Purchase, cry about it)
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3:20PM-3:30PM- James Ferrara (SUNY Old Westbury, Existential Stroll)
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3:30PM-3:40PM- Jorge Mendoza (Alfred State College, Playpen)
3:50 to 5:00 PM - Screening
Chicken Sammich (Gonzalez, Alfred State, Animation)
Jane Goes to the Convenience Store (O’Connell, SUNY Fredonia, Animation)
Carpe Diem (Anderson, SUNY Fredonia, Narrative – Comedy)
[Creators] – Paranormatrix (Brooks, Alfred State, Animation)
On The Edge of Paradise (Zaza, SUNY Purhcase, Narrative – Comedy)
Most Wanted (Aldinger, SUNY Fredonia, Narrative – Drama)
Stages (Knapp-Wilson, SUNY Purchase, Narrative – Drama)
Photograph (Flynn, SUNY Purhchase, Experimental)
5:30 to 6:40 PM - Screening
Frame Fumble (Griffin, SUNY Oswego, Narrative – Comedy)
Aviation in Chemung County (Mustico, Alfred State, Documentary)
Playpen (Mendoza, Alfred State, Animation)
Born To Fight (Jaskiewicz, Westchester Community College, Documentary)
Wizard Interrogation (DiCarlo, SUNY Fredonia, Narrative – Comedy)
A Tall Order (Maxim, SUNY Purchase, Narrative – Comedy)
Here To Collect (Nimetz, SUNY Oswego, Narrative – Drama)
Friendly (Scott-Simpson, SUNY Purhcase, Narrative – Drama)
7:00 to 8:30 PM - NETWORKING
Teams must sign up to compete. Please register your teams here. Prizes provided from Five Below.
Sunday, April 10, 2022
10:20 AM to 11:00 AM - Interviews (Block 5)
Join us in the SWFF-11 Zoom Room to learn more about the SWFF-11 student filmmakers.
Filmmakers in Block 5:
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10:20AM-10:30AM- Markez Ellis (Alfred State College, Confrontation)
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10:30AM-10:40AM- Janna Guadalupe (SUNY New Paltz, The Battle)
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10:40AM-10:50AM- Nancy Pramanand (Fashion Institute of Technology, Witchy Business)
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10:50AM-11:00AM- Katie Brooks (Alfred State College, [ Creators ] - Paranormatrix)
11:00 AM to 11:30 AM - INTERVIEWS (Block 6)
Join us in the SWFF-11 Zoom Room to learn more about the SWFF-11 student filmmakers.
Filmmakers in Block 6:
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11:00AM-11:10AM- Brandon Fallat (SUNY Oswego, Man Up)
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11:10AM-11:20AM- James Simiele (SUNY Purchase, Community)
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11:20AM-11:30AM- Qihui Fan (Stony Brook University, Kashgar Shops - Stories behind their local brands)
11:30 AM to 12:00 PM - Interviews (Block 7)
Join us in the SWFF-11 Zoom Room to learn more about the SWFF-11 student filmmakers.
Filmmakers in Block 7:
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11:30AM-11:40AM- Rayne Polkowski (SUNY Oswego, Man)
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11:40AM-11:50AM- Samuel O'Donnell (Binghampton University, When Does A Man Die?)
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11:50AM-12:00PM- Andrew Nimetz (SUNY Oswego, Here to Collect)
12:00 to 12:40 PM - Screening
Confrontation (Ellis, Alfred State, Animation)
A Silent Crisis (Maham, Buffalo University, Documentary)
Circle (Barit, Buffalo University, Experimental)
Professional Therapy (Remmler, SUNY Stony Brook, Narrative – Comedy)
She’s Not From Here (Foote, SUNY Stony Brook, Narrative Comedy)
12:50 PM to 1:45 PM - INTERVIEWS (Block 8)
Join us in the SWFF-11 Zoom Room to learn more about the SWFF-11 student filmmakers.
Filmmakers in Block 8:
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12:50PM-1:00PM- Moss Johnston (SUNY Purchase, God Bless The Soft White Light That Shines Through Our Broken Windows)
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1:15PM-1:25PM- Jackson DiCarlo (SUNY Fredonia, Wizard Interrogation)
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1:25PM-1:35PM- Alex Purdy (SUNY Fredonia, 307.50 (F50.9) - Unspecified)
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1:35PM-1:45PM- Ally Farrel (SUNY Oswego, Put On a Happy Face)
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM - AWARDS CEREMONY
Best Narrative Drama - Awarded to the film that crafts the strongest narrative that reflects the wide breadth of human emotions.
Best Narrative Comedy - Awarded to the film that best represents the humor in humanity with cinematic style.
Best Experimental - Awarded to the film that challenges and redefines one’s traditional perception of cinema.
Best Documentary - Awarded to the film that best captures a view of our world that could otherwise go unnoticed.
Best Animation - Awarded to the film that best utilizes the animated form to explore subjects and characters that would not be possible in a live-action environment.
Best Graduate Student Film - Awarded to the film that best exemplifies graduate student filmmaking.
Grand Jury Prize - Awarded to the film that best demonstrates excellence in cinematic techniques and that strongly resonates with the viewer on an emotional level.
Audience Choice - Completely voted on by festival attendees, this award is given to the film that best connects to audiences of all demographics.
Schedule is subject to change. Current as of April 8th 2022