8th Annual Philly Unnamed Film Festival (PUFF) Preview
by “Doc” Hunter Bush, Staff Writer and Podcast Czar
Get ready to start your spooky season with Philadelphia’s premier genre and independent film film showcase: PUFF!
6 Short Films from Year 7 at Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival
by Allison Yakulis, Staff Writer & “Doc” Hunter Bush, Podcast Czar
A selection of favorite shorts from this year’s PUFF.
Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2022 Preview
by Hunter Bush & Allison Yakulis
The 7th annual Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival (PUFF) is almost upon us, and Hunter Bush and Allison Yakulis will be giving you all the tasty scoops on the select shorts and features from near and far
Beasts Clawing at Straws
Written and directed by Kim Yon-hoon
Starring Jeon Do-yeon, Jung Woo-sung and Bae Seong-woo
Running time: 1 hour and 48 minutes
by Billy Russell
Many of the press materials for Kim Yong-hoon’s new film, Beasts Clawing at Straws, compares it to last year’s Best Picture winner, Parasite, but aside from some superficial similarities (they’re both South Korean pictures with a twisted sense of humor dealing with class struggles), the two have very little in common. I get it, though. Parasite was a big deal, the first non-English-speaking film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards in the United States. If there’s a passing similarity, it makes sense to hitch yourself to its wagon and try to get in on some of its success.
Read MorePUFF Postscript - 2020
by Hunter Bush
With the news that Cineworld would be shuttering their theaters until 2021 coming out over the weekend, digital film festivals are looking more and more like the new status quo as opposed to a stop-gap solution. To that end, I sincerely hope you took advantage of the PUFF 2020 screenings over the weekend because things like PUFF - the Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival - are important for filmmakers who don’t have studio backing. If you didn’t, you missed out on some great stuff, but we are trying our best to regularly cover similar fests here at Moviejawn.
Read MorePhiladelphia Unnamed Film Fest 2020 Preview
Tickets for these pictures can be obtained HERE. The Silent Party, Poser, Hail to the Deadites, and Seeds are screening October 2nd, while Beasts Clawing at Straws is on the 3rd amid the blocks of short films. The blocks are divided into four categories: Bizarre, International, Local, and Horror. I fully endorse PUFF and suggest that, if you have $5 - $10 to spare, you check it out. You can also follow PUFF on Facebook or Twitter for regular updates.
Read MoreThe Invisible Mother
Written and directed by Matthew Diebler and Jacob Gillman
Starring Debra Wilson, Kiersten Warren and Richard Riehle
Running time: 1 hour and 46 minutes
by Hunter Bush
If you read the Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival wrap-up I co-wrote with Allison, you may recall me saying that The Invisible Mother is my favorite film of the year. If not, there you go. I also explained that the “Unnamed” part of their moniker is a signifier of their preference for showcasing films that are difficult to pin down under one neat little label.
Read MoreThe Furies
Written and Directed by Tony D’Aquino
Starring Airlie Dodds, Linda Ngo, Taylor Ferguson, Ebony Vagulans
Running Time: 1 hour and 22 minutes
by Allison Yakulis
What could be more intense than a young woman being terrorized by a masked madman in the woods? I suppose Tony D’Aquino pondered this question and figured “Hell, let’s make it eight! Each!”
Read MorePuff 2019: Part Two - Postscript
by Allison Yakulis and Hunter Bush
The films that screen at the Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival, by and large, are difficult to pin down. Organizers prefer to think of it as an "Alternative" film festival, though a lot of the movies do tend to fall under the umbrella of "horror". But you may as well just classify them all as "movies" and call it a day for how unspecific that is. Hence the "Unnamed" part of the PUFF moniker; it's not just that they were too lazy to come up with a name.
The Man in the Mask
Written and Directed by Jessica Barnthouse and Stacy Buchanan
Starring Kip Weeks, Tyler Bergeron, Theodus Crane
by Allison Yakulis
At one point in The Man in the Mask (2018) Kip Weeks attends a horror convention in Texas. It is his first. He asks the viewers (or more likely Jess Barnthouse or Stacy Buchanan, whomever was holding the camera at that moment) if people go to cons to meet the character or to meet the real person. I don’t know what the answer is, but if you’d like to know more about the man behind an iconic horror role, this is the way to do it.
Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival: 2019 Preview
by Allison Yakulis and Hunter Bush
PUFF Part 1 - Prologue
For this, the fourth annual Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival (or PUFF), Moviejawn contributors Allison Yakulis and Hunter Bush are going to check out all the delicious independent genre films and shorts that are being screened in our own backyard. PUFF will be rocking and rolling from September 26th to September 29th at the 2223 Theater in Fishtown. There’s also a pre-PUFF event on September 25th that will include a screening of The Blair Witch Project with director Eduardo Sánchez in attendance (it’s the 20th anniversary of the film!) and a screening of Legacy Award to Exhumed Films winner Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural with its director Richard Blackburn there to introduce the film. Lemora is also going to be screened in 16mm, which is rad for all you format freaks out there.