Bill Cowell Presents The 2017 Edition of the BNIFF

Festival director, Bill Cowell, has an ambitious schedule of panels, workshops and seminars as an added attraction to the festival.  “We strive for education to go hand-in-hand with the outstanding indies and docs that are being presented,” said Cowell.  He added, “These are added value events.  At the workshops, filmmakers to will get to talk to and collaborate with filmmaking students and avid cinema buffs.  We have a wonderful selection of international films and will be presenting on two screens.”

Raymond Rolak, will be featured Saturday, September 23, at 11:00 A.M. at the Four Seasons Cinema, 2429 Military Road, Niagara Falls, N.Y.  14304.  He will speak on the HARMONY OF MUSIC AND CINEMA.  Rolak said the enrichment will be very worthwhile for emerging filmmakers and music students.  He will also touch on product placement for both full features and shorts.  “They don’t cover this in film or music school,” said Rolak.  Rolak is a contributing producer with a new full feature, “Kuleana” (2017) which will be released to theaters at Christmas time.  He spent August in Poland doing site visits in the Krakow and Wrocław areas for an upcoming film on baseball.

Western New York has had a tradition of robust film and music industry contributions. The Buffalo/Niagara region is no exception.  Buffalo’s history for film locations is well known. The BNIFF is a chance to expose the area as a great location to new filmmakers and producers.

“The Natural” (1984) featuring Robert Redford was a good example. In 1983 parts of the motion picture were filmed at the now demolished Buffalo War Memorial Stadium and adjacent Buffalo locations.

Special guests of the BNIFF will be will be Nikki Moore and Holly Fain.  Moore is a veteran actress and producer, known for “Sorority Row” (2009), “The Babymakers” (2012) and “Crawlspace” (2013). Likewise, Fain has numerous Hollywood credits and is especially noted for her guest appearances on television.