The Stony Brook Film Festival, presented by Island Federal, is in its 29th year at the Staller Center for the Arts. This year's festival will run from Thursday, July 18, through Saturday, July 27, 2024, offering 36 feature and short films from 19 countries. The full schedule can be seen here.

While the films are never chosen with an overall theme in mind, oftentimes, a theme seems to emerge, and 2024 is no exception. “While our goal is to always program the best films we can find, this year, we gave ourselves the added goal of keeping an eye out for films that appeared to be on the lighter side so we could give our audience some extra laughs in their lives — something that we felt many people could use,” says SBFF & Staller Center Director, Alan Inkles. As festival-goers have come to expect, the 2024 schedule is still peppered with hard-hitting films, compelling dramas, and some very unique science-fiction.

This year's festival features nine films from Stony Brook Film Fest Alumni. “Filmmakers depend on these festivals to help them get their films distributed so as many people can see them as possible and to gauge how a live audience is responding to their work – Our alumni love returning because we have a large, engaged audience and ensure they get the best showing and hospitality possible,” says festival Programmer, Kent Marks. “One of the most exciting parts for me is seeing these films up on the big screen and watching how the audience reacts,” says Outreach Director Paul Newland, “after spending so much time previewing these films, it’s truly exciting to see them have their big premiere in the festival, and our filmmakers love it too."

One of the key features of the Stony Brook Film Festival is that there is absolutely no other way to see these films. “Netflix and streaming services are easy and comfortable, and we get that, but these films are not offered on streaming services. They’re films looking to get picked up for distribution in order to stream or play in theaters - a lot of people don’t get that - so this is the prime opportunity to be the first to know and to see some truly incredible films that you cannot see anywhere else,” says Inkles. This year’s festival boasts 17 world, U.S., East Coast, and U.S. premieres of features and shorts throughout the festival.

This year’s festival has a secret film—one that you will only know about if you come in person on July 21. The film—a major motion picture starring well-known Hollywood faces—was produced by a native Long Island filmmaker whose films have previously played the festival. It tells an inspirational true story with an amazing local hook. As with almost all films in the festival, a question-and-answer session between the filmmakers and the audience will follow the preview.

[FILM HIGHLIGHTS]
The 2024 festival Lineup boasts 36 films from 19 countries and kicks off with the U.S. Premiere of The Blond Boy from the Casbah, Alexandre Arcady's semi-autobiographical dramedy about growing up in Algeria before emigrating to France as a teen. Festival Programmer Kent Marks describes the film as a “thought-provoking, unique journey through the past on the surprising path to self-discovery.”

Features on the lighter side include Fawzia Mirza’s The Queen of My Dreams, a heartwarming and touching, Bollywood-soaked mother-daughter comedy; as well as a warm-hearted, cold-blooded comedy titled Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, about a 68-year-old teenage vampire that’s too sensitive to kill humans. In Take a Chance on Me, a cheerful young waitress juggles various jobs to support herself and her father, but when she undergoes a series of mishaps that leaves her jobless and facing legal penalties, she develops an unlikely friendship in this sweetly inspiring and hilarious comedy. There are some very funny indie comedies in Month to Month, a World Premiere from SBFF alum Mike Koslov
and Derrick Owens that will bring a sly smile to your face; or the East Coast Premiere of A Fantastic Relationship, which features a delightfully dysfunctional ensemble that will keep you laughing well after you leave; or the U.S. Premiere of Free Money, a crime-thriller-comedy, filled with a series of outlandish characters that hop from country to country as it races through the ins and outs of cryptocurrency and the importance of remembering your password.

Compelling dramas include Mediha, a mind-staggering documentary feature about a teenage Yazidi girl who has recently returned from ISIS captivity. Though filmed in the aftermath of the Yazidi Genocide, the result is astonishingly beautiful and optimistic as we witness Mediha confront her past while searching for words that explain the unexplainable. Mediha Alhamad will be in attendance at the festival for the live Q&A following the film. Meanwhile, the amazing indie The Strangers’ Case follows the lives of Amira’s family in Aleppo during an intense civil war. As the veteran surgeon flees with her family, they meet a disillusioned Syrian soldier, a poet on the run with his family, a tough smuggler with a young son, and a haunted Coast Guard Captain searching for stranded refugees. The breathless pace of the film keeps you on the edge of the seat while capturing each character with complexity and dignity.

Other ‘can’t-miss’ gems include the light-hearted French drama A Real Job about a PhD student who finds himself assigned as a full-time math teacher; a twisty film-noir cold-war thriller called Mastergame from Hungary; and the one-of-a-kind Daughter of the Sun, which feels like it wandered straight out of the 1970's independent cinema scene. Closing the festival is the U.S. Premiere of the German epic One Million Minutes, an inspiring true story that follows an over-worked family trying to find balance in their lives, starring festival-favorite Karoline Herfurth.

[HOW TO WATCH]
Cinephiles will want to see all 36 films. There’s passes for that. For those who can’t, there are passes for that, too.

All festival pass types come with guaranteed priority seating, Q&As with filmmakers, discounts, and other perks at partner locations, including local eateries and breweries, as well as a festival gift.

The Flex Pass is intended for those who aren’t sure about purchasing a 10-day pass. For $75, pass holders also receive entry to any five nights of the festival except for closing night.

A Regular Pass – $100 – also includes entry to all films and the closing night awards ceremony.

The Gold Pass VIP – $250 (the cost of one night at Sundance)– also includes entry to all films, VIP First Priority reserved seating, and invitations to the Opening Night and Closing Night parties at St. Georges Golf Club in Setauket and on the rooftop at Curry Club at SaGhar in Port Jefferson, respectively.

Individual tickets, which go on sale July 1.

Buy tickets at stonybrookfilmfestival.com/pass. For questions, contact the box office at 631-632-2787 or boxoffice@stallercenter.com.

[FILM SCHEDULE] Click here to view the entire schedule.

Thursday, July 18, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) Chauncey
                    (F) The Blond Boy From the Casbah

Friday, July 19, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) Iron Lung
                    (F) The Queen of My Dreams
9:30 PM      (S) Detox
                    (F) Humanist Vampire…

Saturday, July 20, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) The Hope Chest Has…
                    (F) The Strangers' Case
9:30 PM      (S) Two Cents & A Footlong
                    (F) Take a Chance on Me

Sunday, July 21, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) The Grievance
                    (F) Audrey's Children
9:30 PM      (S) Revived
                    (F) Month to Month

Monday, July 22, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) Where We Belong
                    (F) Marguerite's Theorem
9:30 PM      (S) In the Night
                    (F) Excursion

Tuesday, July 23, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) Split Ends
                    (F) Free Money
9:30 PM      (S) Where Do Ants Sleep at Night
                    (F) A Fantastic Relationship

Wednesday, July 24, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) exuvia
                    (F) Mediha
9:30 PM      (S) [subtext]
                    (F) Running on Sand

Thursday, July 25, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) Mimesis
                    (F) Mastergame
9:30 PM      (S) Bible Camp
                    (F) Daughter of the Sun

Friday, July 26, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) The Overlook
                    (F) After the Fire
9:30 PM      (S) On the paths awakened
                    (F) A Real Job

Saturday, July 27, 2024
7:00 PM      (S) If
                    (F) One Million Minutes

Except for opening and closing evenings, each festival night includes four movies: two feature films and two shorts. The first pairing of features and shorts start at 7 p.m.; the second pairing begins at the close of the Q&A session following the first timeslot, usually around 9:30 p.m.