The Bad-Ass Film Festival combines Sci-Fi, Horror. Action, Adventure and all other genres in a film festival that celebrates edgy and soul moving film and media. It is coming to Erie Pa in 2013 and I talked to the festival president David Bostaph about the festival:
What is the Bad-Ass Film Festival?
The Bad-Ass Film Festival (BAFF) is a film festival designed
to celebrate what I have been calling the “art of bad-ass”. The types of films
we will be celebrating have swagger, they have balls. They kick ass so hard it
turns your brain into jelly with their cinematic fists of awesome! We all have
sat and watched as something ferocious unfurled on film, and as we staggered to
catch our breath, a simple phrase always comes to mind: “That was Bad-Ass!” These moments, these films are often not
rewarded for the right reason. These films maybe lauded for aspects that all
come together to create the bad-ass, but they have never been given their due
for the right reason. We aim to change that.
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| David Bostaph, B.A.F.F. Prez |
How is this festival different from all the others?
The whole thing is set up to be completely different from
any other film festival, where in most film festivals you are looking at many
different types of films and judging them in a very conventional fashion.
Acting, script, editing, photography; these things are all important to any
film and while they will continue to be important to how we judge and select
films to play at BAFF, there is another layer to it, and it makes the whole
thing even trickier. The BAFF will be selecting films on how Bad-Ass they are. There are Science-fiction and Action Film
Festivals out there and while they appeal to a specific genre of film, and when
you go to one, you know what to expect. The BAFF is going to be a bit more
gonzo in its approach. When you ask someone what a bad-ass film is, I find
people have a specific image that appears in their head, but when you get past
that initial response, there is a whole world of films that can fall under the
title. You won’t know what to fully expect when you come to the BAFF!
What makes a film “Bad-Ass”?
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| Joseph Mellesh B.A.F.F. VP |
Now, when I say the word “Bad-Ass” there is that instant
image that instantly appears in your mind, but “Bad-Ass” doesn’t even evoke an
image but more of a feeling, and it is that feeling that we want to celebrate.
All art connects with people on some level, it just does so in different ways
because no two people are the same. This applies to film as an art form, and it
applies to the art of bad-ass as well. A good drama can make you feel for its
subject, tragedy can make you cry, a horror movie can make you jump, but a
Bad-Ass film does something just a bit more. It affects you on a gut level.
There is something very tactile about how it makes you feel. But, again, this is very subjective as are
most things with art, so what we have been doing is creating a judging system
where we can tear a movie apart as you would with any critique, but the filter
we would run the parts through would then seek to identify those elements that
make a movie Bad-Ass. We already are seeing that this is resulting in a wide
spectrum of Bad-Ass, and this is helping us gauge where the cut off should be
for what gets played while allowing us to see just what it takes to give the
ultimate prize: the Bad-Ass certification of 100% Bad-Ass.
Are there any genres that the festival will specifically
focus on?
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| 'Monster' Mark Kosobucki B.A.F.F. Art Director |
What can film fans expect to experience at the Bad-Ass
film festival? Any events, contests or other activities planned during or to
coincide with the festival?
There are a lot of things we are looking into as
possibilities to coincide with the BAFF. We would love to have a trade show
with MMA and professional wrestling celebrities, trainers, and demos. We also
will encourage film makers and film tech companies to come to the trade and
demonstrate the latest gear and techniques being used to create Bad-Ass films.
There are plans to invite someone new every year and possibly name them
“Bad-Ass of the Year”. After parties, a possible music festival, contests, and
too much to even go into. I’ll just say that there will be quite a bit to keep
Bad-Ass attendees entertained.
What are some of your favorite “Bad-Ass” films?
It’s funny but when we were first kicking around the idea of
creating our own film festival, there were so many different things we could
do, and the knee jerk reaction was to go to the type of film that you love
best. I am a huge fan of science-fiction and horror, but in the years working
with the horror fest, I got a bit pigeonholed as a horror person, and I love more
than just that. I love all kinds of films, and that was where the idea for
“Bad-Ass” kind of started from. Years ago, I had a conversation with Monster
Mark where we envisioned a festival where we could invite anyone we felt was
awesome enough to attend. It was from this framework that the idea for Bad-Ass
was born. There was one small change, the addition of “Bad-Ass”, which added
threshold for us gauge toward. We have an incredible and diverse team, but in
the end, we all agreed that there was one type of film we all enjoyed. These
were the films that made us geek out with amazing fights, mind-blowing action
sequences, and hard edged characters who we just could not forget. All of these
things had one major quality, when we sat back and examined them, we all
agreed. They were Bad-Ass.
There were films that we each threw in as examples of
Bad-Ass Cinema. One that will always be close to me is Aliens. I was like 11
when I first saw it and it changed my life. I had never seen anything like it
before and the intensity was almost overbearing. That 11 year old still comes
out in me whenever I see Ripley step out in the powerloader and begin
bitch-slapping the queen around.
Last year I would say my two favorite films definitely
defined Bad-Ass. Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins and Attack the Block by Joe
Cornish. What’s funny is that both of these films are about groups of people
trying to overcome terrible odds. Attack the Block is a great character study with a beautiful
arc built around its main character, and Assassins is more about the entourage
and builds slowly to a climax that is profoundly epic and beautifully brutal.
Recently, I have to say that Gareth Evans film, The Raid:
Redemption was a bombastic display of constant bad-assery. The final fight between
Iko Uwais, Doni Alamsyah, and Yayan Ruhian left me out of breath. It was
superhuman without becoming a superhero movie.
Have there been any films that you thought would totally
stink but they surprisingly blew you away?
I am a film whore. I go to see a film with very few
reservations and I am rarely completely disappointed. There is something in
almost every film that redeems the project in some way or another, and on the
rare occasions where I am not able to find something redeeming, it usually
stems from disappointment out of a film promising something it doesn’t deliver
on. There have been a few surprises out there when I have went in not unsure of
what exactly I was getting into. One recent example was Cabin in the Woods. All
I knew was it had been gathering a huge amount of positive buzz. Now, I try to
stay away from spoilers, and I was determined to see this before anyone could
ruin the “twist” for me. With misplaced confidence, I already felt I had a good
grasp on the story the film was going to tell, and I thought I was ready for
whatever it had to throw at me. Understand I was perturbed at the thought that the
trailer had given most it all away. Yet, I remained curious. Well… let’s just
say this, (and anyone who has seen the film knows the part I am about to allude
to) but when the elevator doors opened, all I could think was: OH MY GOD, THAT
IS SO BAD-ASS!
Oh, and Law Abiding Citizen. Watched it on a whim and was
completely surprised by the incessant insanity it spewed out. I know some people
did not think it was a good film, but in the Bad-Ass world that doesn’t matter.
Bad-Ass doesn’t have to be good by anyone else’s definition. Bad-Ass doesn’t
care. It’s just too Bad-Ass.
What can local film fans do to help get this project off
the ground?
We have launched a Kickstarter site to help us get the
project moving. We have a lot of things planned for the next year in
preparation for the event, and if our Kickstarter is successful, it will give us
the means to ensure that we are successful in delivering the event we are
envisioning! We need support from the local and film communities to reach our
Kickstarter goal. In exchange we are
offing some really exclusive Bad-Ass rewards for backers, including exclusive
Bad-Ass Shirts, Wristbands, and glasses. Also you can get donate and get passes
to the event. There are even lifetime passes available where the backer would
get admission to every BAFF every year! There are a lot of Bad-Ass rewards and
Kickstarter is the only place to get them!
You can help get the Bad-Ass Film Festival get off the ground by pledging at Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dwb/bad-ass-film-festival
You can help get the Bad-Ass Film Festival get off the ground by pledging at Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dwb/bad-ass-film-festival
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