Hobart and William Smith Colleges

15 October 2024 Brady’s '26 Film Premieres in Buffalo Festival By Cassandra Lundgren '26

Dark comedy features actual events of Ryan Brady’s father.  

Ryan Brady’s '26 short film Sundays Are for Winners was featured in a film festival in Buffalo, N.Y.

Launched in 2006, the Buffalo International Film Festival (BIFF) features regional, national and international films that push the limits of independent cinema. BIFF is screening more than 100 features and short films from Oct. 10-17.  

Brady’s short film, which she wrote and directed, premiered on Sunday, Oct. 13 at North Park in the “BIFF Shorts: Students” program, which featured the “next generation of storytellers.” A media and society major with a concentration in film, television and new media, Brady works on campus as a student digital media assistant. 

Sundays Are for Winners is inspired by Brady’s father Jeffrey Brady P'26. During the 14-minute short, which Brady describes as a dark comedy, a serene Sunday is brutally interrupted when a father at his wits end goes to extreme lengths to just have a relaxing day of watching golf.  

Brady says every moment in the film has actually happened to her father in real life.

Watch the trailer here.

Brady filmed the short on a 30mm prime lens, a choice she says that allows her to bring the protagonist in and out of focus and reflects his changing sanity. She also uses natural lighting throughout the piece.  

The film’s score is by Dantrae Alonso. In addition to actors Griffin Struckmann and Margaret Struckmann, the cast includes Instructor of Practice for Media and Society Casey Puccini – who also contributed to the project as a producer and editor.

Brady says she also sought feedback and guidance from Associate Professor of Media and Society Leah Shafer.

“I’m thankful to my family, especially my father, for their love and for letting me tell their stories,” Brady says. “Film has always been a connection point between my family and me, beginning with my grandfather who always dreamed of being a director and would make home videos of his kids and grandkids. We would watch movies together almost every night I spent with him, and I fondly remember sitting in his office as he edited films of his own.”   

On campus, Brady also is minoring in English and Italian studies and recently studied abroad in Rome, Italy. She is the recipient of the John Q. Easton '71 Endowed Scholarship and the Dave Davis '48 Endowed Scholarship. She graduated from Mount St. Mary Academy in Kenmore, N.Y.    

Learn more about festival here.