BeFilm the Underground Film Festival, also known as BTUFF and originally known as the Tribeca Underground Film Festival (TUFF), was an annual New York-based film festival begun in 2004 and featuring short films in categories such as animation, documentary, experimental, narrative, and, as of 2009, 3-D stereoscopic. [1] It was the first U.S. short film festival to feature a category for 3-D steroscopic films. [2] It focused on a belief that "shorter is better" [3] with films distinguished by genre rather than country and having panels of judges from the within the entertainment industry. [3] It changed its name from the Tribeca Underground Film Festival to BeFilm at the request of the Tribeca Film Festival. [4] Some of its films have gone on to receive further recognition, such as West Bank Story which in 2007 won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film [5]
As of 2017 [update] the festival appeared to be defunct.