SYDNEY CLARA BRAFMAN & SQUIB FILMS®
PRESS
“Sydney Clara Brafman… we see you and yes you have our attention.”
- A.W. Kautzer
“Behind the dried stage blood and bodega cats, Sydney is truly a force to be reckoned with.”
- The Horror Culturalist
“HOFF'S PUBLIC DOMAIN HORRORFEST presents Roger Corman's mind-bending 1957 sci-fi tale NOT OF THIS EARTH, plus an appearance from our special guest, award-winning horror filmmaker Sydney Clara Brafman (“The Only Thing I Love More Than You Is Ranch Dressing,” NYC Women Filmmakers board member)! Hosted by Hoff Matthews and produced by Hoff, Andrei Alupului, George Gordon and Marybess Pritchett. Log on, sit back, and prepare to laugh until you scream!”
- HOFF'S PUBLIC DOMAIN HORRORFEST
“Kelly sat down with 3/5 directors to discuss their contributions to this one of a kind project, as well as the genre of extreme cinema. These women were an absolute delight to talk to and this is turning out to be one hell of a film.”
- INTERVIEW WITH SPINSTERS OF HORROR PODCAST
“Sydney is the Queen of micro shorts and her work has played in many venues and platforms world wide. Get to know her better through this killer interview and get ready for the amazing work she'll be contributing to FUKT” Director Spotlight with Sydney and FUKT - an extreme cinema anthology
Eviscerating myths about women and visceral horror, six talented filmmakers have teamed up to create the first female-driven, extreme horror anthology, FUKT. Morbidly Beautiful
The first anthology dedicated to women directing extreme cinema, FUKT, will feature six directors diving into the most depraved corners of the mind in a specific genre that is currently underpopulated by women. Nightmarish Conjurings
“Women in Horror: Women as Heroes and Villians” Panelist at Barnard College in partership with Athena Film Fest and Future of Film is Female
“Q&A with Sydney Clara Brafman, director of “The Only Thing I Love More Than You is Ranch Dressing”
- ALTER
“FEARnyc has honored Sydney Clara Brafman with this year’s Next Generation Horror Award! They will also be screening three of her films The Only Thing I Love More Than You Is Ranch Dressing, Spoiled Milk, and never before seen Squib teaser! Film screenings are 10/30 7pm at Film Noir Cinema. The FEARnyc Next Generation Awards will be presented to Terrifier writer-director Damien Leone, and to Brooklyn filmmaker Sydney Clara Brafman for her surreal short films. Brafman will be presented her award by Glass Eye Pix's Larry Fessenden!”
- FearNYC
“An interview with Sydney Clara Brafman during her screening of The Only Thing I Love More Than You Is Ranch Dressing”
- Congested Cat presents IndieWorks: Insider Series
“The Tiny and Terrifying World of Sydney Clara Brafman: Short Films, Lethal Chocolate, and How Life Imitates Art”
- 25 Years Later
"An interview with Sydney Clara Brafman: Award winning Writer and Filmmaker"
- Native Society
"Tiny Terrors as per Sydney Clara Brafman on this perNYC episode! Sydney is the creator of Tiny Terrors, an anthology of creepy teeny films. In other words, "Tiny Terrors is a horror anthology series determined to explore the nexus of fear, comedy, and filmmaking".
- PerNYC
"In honor of its 110th anniversary, Variety selects 110 students who represent the future of film, media and entertainment."
- Variety Magazine Online and in print April 28th 2015
"Sydney Clara Brafman just oozes that kind of horrific charm that guarantees a chilling slice of the macabre...[she] not only promises to be full of disturbing imagery but also promises the psychological pangs of truly great horror... Squib has all the making of being a truly great horror film and Brafman the makings of the next big name in horror."
- Ramblings Magazine
“Dir. Sydney Clara Brafman’s Creepy Christmas Film Festival closing film had the fitting prompt, “Ornament,” and she took the prompt a short and sweet conclusion… What more could you ask for?”
- Dread Central
FILMOGRAPHY
CLAUSTROPHOBIA (2021)
NEWS
COMING SOON
SCREENINGS
Nitehawk Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION Brooklyn, NY 2022
Horrible Imaginings Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION San Diego CA 2021
Horrible Imaginings Campfire Tales OFFICIAL SELECTION San Diego CA 2021
Fantasia Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Montreal CANADA 2021
DECAPITATO: CONSEQUENZE MORTALI (2020)
NEWS
“This super short film is short and sweet with a good payoff that comes quick... it’s well done with a good attention to detail from filmmaker Sydney Clara Brafman and acting that sells the story/premise really well from Bill McGovern. The short is fun and easy to watch, it’s a quick one with the right amount of nostalgia that should play well with horror crowds.”
- Emilie Black, Cinema Crazed“Turns out one minute really is all you need. Wow… Brafman makes it an indelible runtime. Starring Bill McGovern as an unnamed protagonist, Decapitato is the name of the video game he’s about to play. No dialogue, but a rocking 8-bit score by composer, Neil Sveri.”
- Rachel Bellwoar, Comicon“I've stuck to digital download games ever since... ”
- Matt Deturck, Anomaly Film Festival Creative Director“A little tiny masterpiece, Original and just what Indie horror needs.”
- Lestat Horror 2019“Perfecto, decapitato!”
-RUSSELL, LETTERBOX REVIEW
”CAN'T FIND THIS ... CAN SOMEONE LINK ME PLEASE??!”
- FIONA, LETTERBOX REVIEW“PURE CINEMA”
- OLLIE, LETTERBOX REVIEW“Maybe all those parental warnings about playing video games were true?”
- Miguel Rodriguez, Horrible Imaginings Film Fest Director"Quick and effective. It's funny, well done and made me wince!"
- Rebekah Fieschi, Horrible Imaginings Film Fest Programmer
SCREENINGS
Cabane á Sang OFFICIAL SELECTION Canada 2022
Picture Farm Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION Brooklyn, NY 2021
Anomaly Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION Rochester NY 2020
Nightstream Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION Online 2020
Overlook Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION New Orleans LA 2020
Brooklyn Horror Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION Brooklyn NY 2020
Celluloid Screams Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION UK 2020
Horrible Imaginings Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION San Diego CA 2020
Fantasia Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Montreal CANADA 2020
Portland Horror Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Portland 2020
Chattanooga Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Chattanooga, TN 2020
Russian International Horror Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Russia 2020
15 Second Horror Film Challenge WINNER 21st Place Online 2019
BEST KILLS/DEATHS WINNER
BIGGEST LAUGHS WINNER
SCARIEST MONSTER WINNER
BEST SFX/FX WINNER
JUDGE PICKS BARBIE WILDE Top 10 WINNER
JUDGE PICKS JENNILEE MURRAY Top 5 WINNER 4th Place
JUDGE PICKS JOHN BRENNAN Top 5 WINNER 4th Place
THE ONLY THING I LOVE MORE THAN YOU IS RANCH DRESSING (2019)
NEWS
“It’s an INCREDIBLE movie! Sydney makes incredible, hilarious, and fucked up shorts.”
- ALTER“A minute long, thrash metal guitar solo of a movie. It’s an assault on the senses with greasy wings, wet, squelching sound design, and a script that takes no prisoners.
…there’s another layer of flavor with notes of mischief and a proudly feministic middle finger to what society expects of women. …there’s always an inherent danger when a woman goes on a date with a man. Horror fans see a guy and a girl getting along and immediately start writing the woman’s obituary. Brafman seems to take that expectation and beat it to death with a film camera, reversing the audience’s perception of who’s truly in danger, right from the beginning.
There’s also a perpetually wagging finger when it comes to women and food. Women, society tells us, are supposed to eat like birds, if they eat at all. Brafman centers her short around a woman’s hunger and refusal to stop, making for a badass, hilarious, and vindicating ride. Even the title slaps the patriarchy’s expectations for women in the face.
When a sexist asshole tells you to put him above all else, you can respond with Brafman’s battle cry: “The Only Thing I Love More Than You Is Ranch Dressing!”"
- POPHORROR.COM“Puts a new twist on the term “maneater”…it’s a sexy, metal-fueled, darkly comedic bit of bite-sized horror.”
Morbidly Beautiful
“Sometimes it’s enough just to provide a fun bit of horror that packs a bite, and in that this short very much delivers.”
- RUE MORGUE 2021
“This 60-second horror short cannibalized the festival circuit, screening at over 30 film festivals across 7 countries, including Fantasia Film Festival, and even winning the award for Best Editing at Cinepocalypse. behind the dried stage blood and bodega cats, Sydney is truly a force to be reckoned with… Sydney and her rowdy bunch of collaborators created a horror film that lasts the blink of an eye yet resonates with our undeniable love for ranch dressing, blood, and gore.”
- THE HORRORCULTURIST“I’ve seen sketches about ranch dressing. And I’ve seen sketches about cannibalism. But I’ve never seen those two ideas combined in quite such a way.”
- Nightmareish Conjurings“Another short and sweet horror film that leaves you kind of hungry. I’m not even saying this as a pun. I was really hungry after watching this.”
- Dis/member“This is one of those hidden gems you find and as soon as you have watched it, you have to share it to all your friends so they can watch it, then spend the rest of the day going “Mate, WTF did i just watch!”
- Lestat Horror“The Only Thing I Love More Than You is the Kino The Only Thing I Love More Than You Is Ranch Dressing (2018). As both a French New Wave and Ranch Dressing Motion Picture this is the first Franch New Wave Dressing Motion Picture, and it shows.”
-Colinkline, Letterboxd Review“The short is a tossed salad of Grindhouse style filming as it feels like it was made in the early 1980's, but has insane scream metal which brings it to the modern age… this was such a nice short that I double dipped by watching a second time. The makeup effects were even better on the second watch. I would love to see what Sydney Clara Brafman could do with a feature film as she seems to have an eye for directing.”
- Creepy Kingdom
Nightmares Film Festival 2021 Interview: ‘FUKT’ Filmmakers Sydney Clara Brafman, Brooklyn Ewing, and Jessie Seitz
- PopHorror.com
SCREENINGS
Mile High Horror Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION CO 2020
ALTER’s Roses Are Dead OFFICIAL SELECTION CA 2020
Women In Horror Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION GA 2020
Best Renegade Short Film NOMINATED 2020
Slay Bells OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
FearNYC OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
Celluloid Screams Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION UK 2019
Nitehawk Shorts Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
Idaho Horror Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION ID 2019
Ravenheart International Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Oslo, Norway 2019
Syndicated Shorts Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
Picture Farm Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
60 Second Horror Challenge OFFICIAL SELECTION NC 2019
Best Gore WINNER 2019
Fantasia Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Montreal CANADA 2019
Cinepocalypse OFFICIAL SELECTION Chicago 2019
Best Editing WINNER 2019
Glasgow Horror Fest: Bite Size OFFICIAL SELECTION UK 2019
IndieWorks OFFICIAL SELECTION NYC 2019
NYC Indie Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION NYC 2019
What the Fest ?! OFFICIAL SELECTION IFC Center NYC 2019
Iron Mule Comedy Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Alamo Drafthouse BK 2019
Wizard World Comic-Con OFFICIAL SELECTION Portland 2019
Portland Horror Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Portland 2019
Russian International Horror Film Festival SEMI FINALIST Russia 2019
Chattanooga Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Chattanooga, TN 2019
Martini Shot Salon Screening Brooklyn, NY 2019
Hard Times Christmas Liquors at the Sunset Bar Wing Nite Screening Brooklyn 2019
Short. Sweet. Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION Cleveland, OH 2019
Final Girls Berlin Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Berlin 2019
Short to the Point International Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Bucharest, ROMANIA 2018
Southern States Indie Fan Film Festival FINALIST Bilxoi, MI 2019
15 Second Horror Film Challenge WINNER 27th Place Online 2018
BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR Top 5 WINNER 4th Place
BEST BODY HORROR Top 10 WINNER 6th Place
BEST TWIST ENDINGS Top 10 WINNER 8th Place
TROMA TROMATIC PICKS Top 5 WINNER 4th Place
JUDGE PICKS NAJARRA TOWNSEND Top 5 WINNER 2nd Place
JUDGE PICKS JENNILEE MURRAY Top 5 WINNER 4th Place
JUDGE PICKS MARK TORGL Top 5 WINNER 4th Place
JUDGE PICKS SPOOKY ASTRONAUTS Top 10 WINNER 8th Place
☹ (2017)
news
A profile with Brooklyn, New York's Sydney Clara Brafman whose entry "☹" placed 38th place out of 300 entries in our 2017 program
- 15 Second Horror Film ChallengeReturning for another year the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival brings women directed horror and gore to the forefront
- The Hollywood News"Tiny Terrors as per Sydney Clara Brafman on this perNYC episode!"
- PerNYC
screenings
GIPHY Film Festival FINALIST New York, NY 2018
Medusa Underground Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Las Vegas, NV 2018
Quickie Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION Brooklyn, NY 2018
Final Girls Berlin Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Berlin 2018
15 Second Horror Film Challenge WINNER 38th Place Online 2017
TROMA TROMATIC PICKS Top 10 WINNER 5th Place
INDIE HORROR MAG BEST HORROR COMEDY Top 10 WINNER 8th Place
JUDGE PICKS JILL SIXX Top 10 WINNER 1st Place
JUDGE PICKS HANNAH FIERMAN Top 10 WINNER 6th Place
JUDGE PICKS JACKEY RAYE NEYMAN JONES Top 10 WINNER 10th Place
NYWIFT Fall Shorts Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Online 2017
7 CINEMA "2017: A Real Piece of Work" OFFICIAL SELECTION NiteHawk Cinema 2017
IIN THE BOWELS OF THE BUILDING (2018)
ART DIRECTION
SCREENINGS
Coney Island Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2021
DRIP (2018)
ART DIRECTION
SCREENINGS
Yofi Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
Female Voices Rock Film Fest OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
The Cutting Room International Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
Santa Cruz Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION CA 2019
Lady Filmmakers Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION CA 2019
Widescreen Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Las Vegas NV 2019
Coney Island Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
Chain Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION NY 2019
Buffalo Dreams OFFICIAL SELECTION Williamsville NY 2019
Silver State Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Las Vegas NV 2019
Northeast Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Teaneck NJ 2019
Silicon Beach Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Los Angeles CA 2019
The Art of Brooklyn OFFICIAL SELECTION Brooklyn NY 2019
Long Island International Film Expo OFFICIAL SELECTION Long Island NY 2019
Lighthouse International Film Festival WINNER Best Short Film New Jersey NY 2019
Die Laughing Film Festival WINNER Best Dark Comedy Los Angeles CA 2019
Hollywood Comedy Shorts OFFICIAL SELECTION Los Angeles CA 2019
Astoria Film Festival WINNER Best Comedy Short Astoria NY 2019
Queens World Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Queens NY 2019
Iron Mule Comedy Film Festival WINNER Audience Favorite Alamo Drafthouse NY 2019
SQUIB (SCREENPLAY)
AWARDS
FEAR Awards OFFICIAL SELECTION Best Screenplay Online 2017
iHorror Awards FINALIST Best Screenplay Online 2017
Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest FINALIST Best Screenplay Charleston SC 2017
Die Laughing Film Fest FINALIST Best Screenplay Hollywood CA 2017
New York City Horror Film Festival FINALIST Best Screenplay New York NY 2017
Los Angeles Film Awards WINNER Best Horror Screenplay Los Angeles 2017
London Film Awards WINNER Best First Time Writer; 5th Place London 2017
EL CUCO IS HUNGRY (2017)
WRITER
screenings
Nitehawk Shorts Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION New York NY 2018
Nightmares Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Ohio 2018
Official Latino Film Festival FINALIST New York NY 2018
Dragon Con Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION New York NY 2018
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Brooklyn NY 2018
Fort Lauderdale International Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Ft Lauderdale FL 2018
EXTINCT (2017)
CO-DIRECTOR, EDITOR, art director
SCREENINGS
Katra Film Series OFFICIAL SELECTION Alamo Drafthouse NY 2019
Asia Web Awards OFFICIAL SELECTION Online 2018
Asian American Film Lab WINNER GRAND PRIZE New York NY 2018
SYMBIONT (2016)
SQUIB
(SHORT, 2015)
NEWS
"There is a great chemistry between the two filmmakers [Shaun and Mac], and one that comes with a smidge of charm, clever & quick-witted humor, and of course, a fantastic and macabre dedication to the art. Squib was smart, captivating, chuckle-inducing…and bloody to boot!"
- Reel Bloody HorrorFeatured in print 2015-2016 issue of UNDERGRAD BULLETIN
Featured on Pratt Institute's Instagram and Facebook
Featured on F*ck Yeah Women Film Directors
Featured in print Spring 2015 issue of Ubiquitous Magazine
Featured in print 2015 issue of Pratt Show NYC X Design Magazine
Selected as a staff pick on Kickstarter, a featured pick on the Horror Discover page, and Project of the Day
Featured on Film Pulse
Featured on Hallow-Holics Anonymous
Featured on Pratt Kickstarter
SCREENINGS
the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Select and Juried Screening Brooklyn 2015
Wherever It Takes You Pratt Institute Screening and Reception Brooklyn 2015
Home is Where the House Is Pratt Institute Film/Video and Photography Thesis Exhibition Manhattan 2015
SPOILED MILK (2012)
news
Featured in print in the Festival De Cannes Short Film Catalogue
Film fest set to fete Internet cat videos
- NY POSTCannes Film Festival to Screen Short Film by Student Sydney Clara Brafman
- Inside PrattFeatured in print Fall 2014 issue of PRATTFOLIO: The Magazine of Pratt Institute
Featured in print 2014-2015 issue of UNDERGRAD BULLETIN
screenings
Quickie Fest Brooklyn, NY 2018
Marché du Film Festival De Cannes Short Film Corner Cannes, FR 2014
a New York Super Week special engagement a part of New York Comicon Manhattan, NY 2014
Internet Cat Video Festival tour created by the Walker Art Center 40 US States, SXSW, Japan, Greece, Sweden, Australia 2014
The First (and Probably Last) Annual Feline Film and Video Festival for Humans Brooklyn, NY 2013
Featured on AnimalPlanet.com 2013
Passages Bar Monday Movie Night Brooklyn, NY 2013
Wallabout Film Festival Brooklyn, NY 2012