New York Underground Film Festival
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Founded in 1994 by filmmakers Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School) and Andrew Gurland, the New York Underground Film Festival occurs each March at Anthology Film Archives in New York City. After Phillips and Gurland turned the festival over to programmer Ed Halter (now an author and occasional critic for the Village Voice) it became noted for documentary and experimental film programming, and occasionally courted controversy, particularly in its early years. Some of these have included: premiering a documentary about NAMBLA in 1994; premiering a film in 1995 that accused Quentin Tarantino of plagiarism; being protested by Reverend Fred Phelps in 2002 (apparently for not choosing to show a film about Phelps); and premiering a theatrical version of Brad Neely's Harry Potter parody "Wizard People, Dear Reader," which eventually led to action by Warner Brothers to suppress future theatrical performances of the work. Nevertheless, though the festival has remained a small affair, and has little value as a market, its programming has attained a certain prestige, especially among younger or more experimental filmmakers. In February 2008 the festival organizers announced that the 15th festival would be the last.
List of Films Shown
- 14th festival, March 28 - April 3, 2007
- 13th festival, March 8-14, 2006
- 12th festival, March 9-15, 2005
- 11th festival, March 10-16, 2004
- 10th festival, March 5-11, 2003
- 9th festival, March 6-12, 2002
- 8th festival, March 7-13, 2001
- 7th festival, March 8-14, 2000
- 6th festival, March 10-14, 1999
- 5th festival, March 18-22, 1998
- 4th festival, March 19-23, 1997
- 3rd festival, March 20-24, 1996