Tough Stuff from the Buff

People who haven't spent time in Buffalo, New York probably don't know about the Queen City's potent media arts community with a long tradition of creating unusual works that blur the lines between video art, personal documentary and media activism.

Straight out of Buffalo, filmmakers Marc Moscato and David Gracon are currently on a bike tour of the Northwest, carrying a collection of short films and videos by Buffalo artists. "Tough Stuff from the Buff" is a collection of 16 short films being shown in a dozen theaters, all ages venues and non-traditional spaces throughout the Pacific Northwest. Having already stopped in Anacortes, Bellingham and Vancouver, BC, they are now headed South, from Port Townsend down to Portland, and will be in Seattle for one night, july 28th, at the Caffe Vita on Capitol Hill. Full tour dates here. The tour website is being regularly updated, with photos, video and stories from the road.

The "Tough Stuff" collection purposefully presents a diverse sampling of Buffalo artists, from accomplished media makers to first timers, who reflect the city's rustbelt charm and demonstrate how ballsy one has to be to find a unique voice in a town suffering from the advanced stages of capitalism.