BUFF 2016: Indie Vampire Film Blood of the Tribades Takes Flight as Best New England Film
John Campopiano
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Blood of the Tribades, a modern twist on the arthouse/Hammer vampire films of the 1970s, took home “Best New England Film” at the Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) this past weekend. Locally grown and shot, Blood of the Tribades was the third feature by filmmakers Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola.
Shown to a sold-out audience at Cambridge’s historic movie house The Brattle Theatre, Blood of the Tribades is a superbly atmospheric and stylistic nod to, as the film’s website states, “both the sparse, surrealist, weirdo 70s arthouse Euro vampire films [e.g., The Shiver of the Vampires (1971), Lips of Blood (1975), and Vampyros Lesbos (1971)] and the theatre-derived British Hammer vampire films [e.g., Twins of Evil (1971), Countess Dracula (1971), Lust For a Vampire (1971), and The Vampire Lovers (1970)].”
Dread Central got in touch with Sophia Cacciola, one of the filmmakers, for comment on their new film and the “Best New England Film” Award: “BUFF has been so important and so supportive of us making films. We got into making short films after making a bunch of music videos, and that led to entering a contest that the Brattle has annually to make a fake trailer, and because we are people who like to take every idea one step too far, we decided to make that trailer into our first feature film, TEN. At this point, making films has become sewn into who we are, and we’ve been inspired to continue in a huge way because of the support of this community, BUFF, and The Brattle. I’m really happy to have won ‘Best New England Film’ for Blood of the Tribades – it was our largest cast of 32 local actors, about a dozen more local friends as crew, and it’s definitely our most ambitious film. I’m proud of what we accomplished with the film. We’re leaving this community soon for LA, but this will always be our home, so it’s bittersweet.”
Epstein and Cacciola receive their award. March 2016
This impressive win is yet another example of the important and all too often overlooked (and underfunded) work happening on the independent filmmaking scene. Too bad for us Bostonians that this creative powerhouse is relocating to Los Angeles later this year. You can read more about their decision to take their efforts elsewhere here.
Congratulations, Michael and Sophia!
Blood of the Tribades tells the story of an immortal clan of vampires, who, having long forgotten their promise to create a utopian society, are led by a dictator into ruin and despair.
Upcoming Blood of the Tribades screenings include:
Motor City Nightmares – April 22-24, 2016 – Novi, MI
Fright Nights Festival of Angst – May 9-15, 2016 – Vienna, Austria
Fantasmagorical Film Festival – July 29-31, 2016 – Louisville, KY
Categorized:News
