The Circuit

I was shocked to read on David Hudson's required-reading Greencine blog that the New York Underground Film Festival is shuttering.  More shocked to see that it announced it over a month ago.  More shocked to realize that, in fact, I had barely heard a peep from the NYUFF for years, which probably explains why it's going dark. 

NYUFF was created by Todd Phillips (of "Road Trip" fame) and Andrew Gurland, and later passed on to the very capable hands of Ed Halter.  It was an East Village staple at the Anthology Film Archives, packed with NYU students, mostly.  It was fun and rowdy. 

Hard to gleam what happened, but the tiny sponsor list may be a pointer.  There is something on their site about the current directors of the fest moving on to something called Migrating Forms.  But it has yet to migrate.

From their website, Halter writes that the NYUFF was "created to showcase films that weren't being supported anywhere else. Over time, we evolved into a festival that promoted our own special blend of documentaries, features and experimental work. People came to expect the unexpected at the NYUFF; we became an anti-institutional institution."

It will be missed.