The Brooklyn Film Festival Has Something to Offend Everyone in 25th Edition Campaign

Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) has launched its 25th edition, themed 'Unthinkable', with a campaign created by MullenLowe New York (MLNY) that invites people to keep an open mind and consider thoughts, ideas and nuances that don’t align with their own.

At its best, independent cinema invites people to see things from someone else’s perspective and inspires an honest conversation about the world around us. The Brooklyn Film Festival prides itself on never censoring its filmmakers, offering a range of narratives, sensibilities and arguments that explore every aspect of human experience from different points of view. Unfortunately, the fear of offending someone in today’s politically charged climate can lead to self-censorship, making it impossible to have open and honest conversations. 

The campaign is built around the premise that if art’s raw, unadulterated honesty has become offensive, then the Brooklyn Film Festival has something to offend everyone. 

“By never censoring their filmmakers, The Brooklyn Film Festival caters to an audience that appreciates being challenged. As a joke, we thought those people might need help talking about the films they’re about to see with people who might not be as open-minded as they are, so we took inspiration from the interactive HR training videos we are made to watch every year. If they can teach us how to interact with our coworkers without being offensive, surely, they can teach filmgoers how to do the same,” explain Rich Singer and Zack Menna, group creative directors at MLNY. 

In a choose-your-own-adventure style, the tongue-in-cheek HR interactive experience found in www.howtotalkaboutbff.com sets out to prove that no matter what you do, someone is bound to get offended. 

In out-of-home executions, “Something to Offend Everyone” portrays a series of very annoyed characters expressing their anger at being offended in unexpected ways. “We worked to make every character/scenario as fantastical and provocative as we could while making sure they were also very relatable. There’s a beauty in seeing a true human feeling being expressed by a total nonhuman character,” explained João Paz, head of design at MLNY. 

“We are thrilled to have partnered with the Brooklyn Film Festival. Independent film is an important medium to push the creative community and our society at large forward. The “Something to Offend Everyone” campaign is meant to intrigue, inspire and provoke people to enjoy the growth that comes from reflecting on different points of view,” added Rebekah Pagis, managing director at MullenLowe New York. 

“We hope people see our campaign and have a greater appreciation for what the Brooklyn Film Festival is doing, not only creating a space for independent filmmakers, but also fiercely protecting the spirit of independent art. If it prompts folks to engage with viewpoints outside of the mainstream narratives and motivates them to talk about art and perpetuate those important but often challenging conversations with others around them, we will have done our job,” concluded Hunter Kelly, senior strategist at MullenLowe NY.