The 27th annual Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) will take place May 31 through June 9. The films will be shown at Windmill Studios in Greenpoint, the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, and the Center for Fiction in Fort Greene, as well as on the BFF's website. Passes are available for pre-sale now!

With prizes totaling $50,000 in cash, film services, and products, the BFF offers participants a great deal. But more than that are the connections the filmmakers build with peers in the industry, most especially with film distributors. This year, one hundred sixty films will compete for 30 awards. Every film shown, from a short to a two-hour feature, has a chance to win the top festival award, The Grand Chameleon.

The Festival is also a qualifying event for the Canadian Screen Award. Past award-winning films have also gone on to be nominated and awarded at the British Academy Awards (BAFTAs) and the American Academy Awards (Oscars).

This year, the Festival seeks to feature stories that "dive way beyond their own surface." With this in mind, the theme of the Festival this year is IMMERSION. The challenge to filmmakers is to make audiences look beyond the obvious outcomes and meanings and to consider the hidden and secretive ones.

Considering the manifold nature of the world in which we live, it is a challenge for us all to be told and to comprehend the truth of the story being told. The Festival hopes that in addition to the communal setting of the film screening, the Q&As at the end of the screenings, the various networking parties, and the infinite chats on social media will facilitate this.

As always, the BFF has Brooklyn at its heart. One of its key goals is to draw worldwide attention to Brooklyn as a center for cinema. The Festival believes all Brooklyn residents should have access to and experience the power of independent filmmaking. To achieve this, they promote artistic excellence and the creative freedom of artists without censure. The BFF believes in the true spirit of indie filmmakers.

The Brooklyn Film Festival has a principled tradition and community focus, which are also at the core of Broadway Stages' business philosophy. We both work hard to ensure a vibrant community. The Festival is the culmination of dedicated filmmakers' hard work and a treasure for cinephiles in the area. Be sure to take advantage and get your passes today!