Friday night will mark another opening for the now bi-annual Brightside Tavern Film Festival (BTFF). In a matter of four years, the festival has gone from being a casual one-day celebration of short films to each entry spanning three days with showings of as many 90 entries.
"It's not like the area is starved for film festivals," said Chris Capaci, who along with Chris Cullen co-runs BTFF. "There's been plenty, and yet somehow this one took off."
The Brightside Tavern Film Festival's story began its gestation with Capaci and Cullen working at the tavern itself. The two filmmakers would leave Brightside at separate times, but when they wanted to start a film festival together, the tavern was their setting of choice. It already had screens, after all, and they had the blessing of owner Tom Parisi – whose warmth and openness embodied the place itself, says Capaci. So, why did they decide to go with a short film festival?
"Film festivals in general, but particularly, short film festivals, give inspiring, up-and-coming and in some cases even established filmmakers who are experimenting a platform," says Capaci. "It gives them an opportunity to showcase their work."
As filmmakers themselves, Capaci says he and Cullen enjoy that aspect – giving other filmmakers something beyond the struggle-side of getting a film made.
"The benefit of film festivals is, or I think one of the things we try to do is, to connect people for their next project or let them know that there's other people out there in the community doing what they're doing, or trying to in a different way, even," says Capaci. "Maybe they come back with a different perspective on how to do things. In general, short film festivals ... that's what they offer people. And we try to focus on that."
Capaci says the specific benefit of having it in a tavern is the social element. "In between the blocks of film, and after each night, you go hang out with everybody, intermingle and chat and talk about what you just watched, exchange information .... We have a lot of exemplary people who have gone to make films together after meeting each other at our festival."
BTFF's short film offerings are quite broad. "Our Saturdays are student films specifically," says Capaci. "We try to include all skill-levels and experience-levels." And much thought is given to how films are grouped together, with the goal that each block is composed of things that are relevant together. "For the most part we do a pretty good job of that," says Capaci. "We have block of films that are just the horror section. We do the experimental section of films. We have the documentary section."
The entries have come from as far as India and Australia, and filmmakers have traveled from Canada via car to see their films screened at BTFF.
"We've spent time trying to figure out how to expand it without losing what's good about it," says Capaci. "We didn't want to lose the venue. We didn't want to change too much. We were just trying to accommodate more and that was never really what we thought was going to happen .... It very much took off on us, and we're very happy to have that happen."
The success of BTFF has coincided with both Capaci and Cullen having one other festival on their plate. Cullen runs the Hang on To Your Shorts Film Festival in Asbury Park, and in the past two years, Capaci has started the New Jersey Recovery Film Festival, which is a fundraiser for the state's first public high school in which support for substance abuse recovery is integral.
The Brightside Tavern is located in Jersey City, which has long been considered a place welcoming to all, however complicatedly. When affluent residents and working-class industries left the city in the seventies, part of the city's open nature was simply due to its affordability for people who had nowhere else to go. It became a challenging place of survivors. In the fabric of the film festival, Capaci sees the kind of openness one hopes the city itself still has.
"I think the city even historically has had open arms to everyone and all," says Capaci. "I've been told what's good in our festival is .... What works for us, and what I think the Brightside offers and Jersey City offers, is the open arms sort of approach. It's not about how many films you've made or whom you made it with or anything like that. It's just about the fact that you're up there doing it, and we want to accept everyone that's doing that. And I think the atmosphere in this city and that particular venue shares that."
For Friday's eighth season opening night of the BTFF, actor and journeyman Garry Pastore and independent filmmaker Thomas Baldinger will be honored and a selection of their work will be screened. "Each time we (select honorees) we try to find either someone who has just made a film recently or someone who over the course of a long period of time has contributed in some way to the greater community," says Capaci.
Tickets to this $35 event, which includes free food an an open bar, are still available as of today (July 31) but are separate from the Saturday and Sunday blocks. Both of the latter days also end with an awards ceremony. Tickets can be bought for individual blocks or as day passes at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3529776 and, depending on their availability, at the door.
The Brightside Film Festival will commence Friday night and continue throughout the weekend at the Brightside Tavern, 141 Bright St., in Jersey City.