
Directing
Tony Buba
Born
1943-10-20 (83)
Place of birth
Braddock, Pennsylvania, USA
Known for
Directing
Credits
48 titles
Anthony E. "Tony" Buba (born October 20, 1943) is an American filmmaker. He is primarily known for his documentaries focusing on the working-class communities and social issues in his hometown Braddock, Pennsylvania and the nearby Pittsburgh.
Known for
7.5During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Dawn of the Dead
1978
6.8A young man, convinced he's a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvanian town, where he tries to suppress his bloodlust.
Martin
1978
NRBehind The Scenes with DAY OF THE DEAD featurette from the original Anchor Bay DVD.
Behind the Scenes with Day of the Dead
2001
10.0An honest exploration of one Pennsylvania factory worker's mundane existence, and his pursuit of a love long lost.
No Pets
1994
A tableau of a crucified man over Braddock PA.
Stigmata
2008
NRFeature length documentary taking a look at the making of George A. Romero's MARTIN.
Taste the Blood of Martin
2023
Film credits
2020s · 2 titles
NRFeature length documentary taking a look at the making of George A. Romero's MARTIN.
Taste the Blood of Martin
2023
8.0Documentary released with Second Sight Films' Dawn of the Dead restoration featuring John Amplas, Roy Frumkes, Tom Savini, Christine Forrest, Tom Dubensky, Tony Buba, Taso Stavrakis and a whole host of zombies and bikers.
Zombies and Bikers
2020
1980s · 5 titles
NRA film which uses the device of developing Polaroid camera shots to present the highlights of a family celebration during the birthday of filmmaker Tony Buba.
Birthday Party
1985
7.0A trip inside a Steel Valley workers’ magazine, which looks like raw material for a Bruce Springsteen song.
The Mill Hunk Herald
1981
The film follows a neighborhood guy who has never been quite the same since somersaulting out of the faulty sixth-story window of some shoddy subsidized housing.
Peabody & Friends
1983
NRTony Buba trains his documentary lens on the washing of his 87-year-old grandmother’s kitchen walls, an annual ritual. While the filmmaker works diligently and mostly out of sight of the camera, his grandmother anchors the piece, recounting stories of her immigration from Italy in the 1940s, her first impressions of the United States, and her endearing love of Braddock.
Washing Walls With Mrs. G
1980
7.0Tony Buba, a film maker from Braddock, Pennsylvania, tells the story of his hometown's decline (along with the rest of the steel mill towns along the Monongahela River) while he dreams of making higher budget films. The picture documents, in a lighthearted way, the community anxiety and activism that accompanied the failure of the steel industry around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Lightning Over Braddock: A Rustbowl Fantasy
1988
1970s · 4 titles
7.5During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Dawn of the Dead
1978
6.8A young man, convinced he's a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvanian town, where he tries to suppress his bloodlust.
Martin
1978
9.0A portrait of a wiry, engaging street hustler, Sal Carulli, whose cocky patter breaks down at the end of the film, when he visits his father’s grave.
Sweet Sal
1979
5.5Buba introduces us to a Braddock entrepreneur who has failed at twelve businesses and is busy teaching would-be entrepreneurs self-confidence.
J. Roy: New and Used Furniture
1974
Behind the camera
NRBehind The Scenes with DAY OF THE DEAD featurette from the original Anchor Bay DVD.
Behind the Scenes with Day of the Dead
2001
10.0An honest exploration of one Pennsylvania factory worker's mundane existence, and his pursuit of a love long lost.
No Pets
1994
A tableau of a crucified man over Braddock PA.
Stigmata
2008
NRAn account of a 1975 independent truckers strike.
Shutdown
1975
NRA film which uses the device of developing Polaroid camera shots to present the highlights of a family celebration during the birthday of filmmaker Tony Buba.
Birthday Party
1985
9.0A portrait of a wiry, engaging street hustler, Sal Carulli, whose cocky patter breaks down at the end of the film, when he visits his father’s grave.
Sweet Sal
1979
The third entry in Tony Buba's Mon Valley Trilogy
Cite Specific
2023
Braddock, PA reflected in mirrors.
Reflexions
2019
A look at the passage of time, filmmaking, and Braddock PA.
Fade Out
1998
A compilation of Tony Buba's home movies
Home Movies
1980
7.0A trip inside a Steel Valley workers’ magazine, which looks like raw material for a Bruce Springsteen song.
The Mill Hunk Herald
1981
The film follows a neighborhood guy who has never been quite the same since somersaulting out of the faulty sixth-story window of some shoddy subsidized housing.
Peabody & Friends
1983
5.5Buba introduces us to a Braddock entrepreneur who has failed at twelve businesses and is busy teaching would-be entrepreneurs self-confidence.
J. Roy: New and Used Furniture
1974
5.5Buba introduces us to a Braddock entrepreneur who has failed at twelve businesses and is busy teaching would-be entrepreneurs self-confidence.
J. Roy: New and Used Furniture
1974
NRA look into traditional sausage making.
Making Soppressata with Dom and the Guys
2019
A visit with a barber in his autumn years.
The Barber of New Kensington
2019
This short tells the story of a cafe where steel workers come to eat.
Betty's Corner Cafe
1976
8.0This documentary focuses on the Civil Rights Movement in the heavily segregated steel industry and its equally segregated union, The United Steelworkers of America (USWA), at the time when this industry—devastated by mismanagement and global competition—began to crumble. It is a powerful picture of black working-class life in the latter part of the 20th century, told in a combination of interviews and documentary footage. Through live testimonials and revelatory archival materials, Struggles shows the contributions of African Americans to the steel industry and to the labor movement more generally. (via cinema.indiana.edu)
Struggles in Steel: A History of African-American Steelworkers
1996
8.0This documentary focuses on the Civil Rights Movement in the heavily segregated steel industry and its equally segregated union, The United Steelworkers of America (USWA), at the time when this industry—devastated by mismanagement and global competition—began to crumble. It is a powerful picture of black working-class life in the latter part of the 20th century, told in a combination of interviews and documentary footage. Through live testimonials and revelatory archival materials, Struggles shows the contributions of African Americans to the steel industry and to the labor movement more generally. (via cinema.indiana.edu)
Struggles in Steel: A History of African-American Steelworkers
1996
NRGhosts of Amistad by Tony Buba is based on Marcus Rediker's The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom (Penguin, 2012). It chronicles a journey to Sierra Leone in 2013 to visit the home villages of the rebels who captured the slave schooner Amistad, to interview elders about local memory of the incident, and to search for the long-lost ruins of Lomboko, the slave trading factory where their cruel transatlantic voyage began. The filmmakers rely on the knowledge of villagers, fishermen, and truck drivers to recover a lost history from below in the struggle against slavery, and to explore the African origins of the heroes of the Amistad incident.
Ghosts of Amistad - In the Footsteps of Rebels
2014
NRTony Buba trains his documentary lens on the washing of his 87-year-old grandmother’s kitchen walls, an annual ritual. While the filmmaker works diligently and mostly out of sight of the camera, his grandmother anchors the piece, recounting stories of her immigration from Italy in the 1940s, her first impressions of the United States, and her endearing love of Braddock.
Washing Walls With Mrs. G
1980
A snapshot of a pizzeria in Braddock, PA circa 1990.
Welcome to Sgambati's
2017
A look back at Braddock's "Cot Club" and its patrons.
The Cot Club: Braddock Hospital
2012
Citizens of Braddock PA are asked about the poetry of their city.
Ode to a Steeltown
2007
Filmmaker Tony Buba charts the history and present of his hometown, Braddock, Pennsylvania
Voices from a Steeltown
1983
A visit with family to learn how to make fresh pasta.
Pasta Lesson: A Sunday in Rabatana
2019
7.0Tony Buba, a film maker from Braddock, Pennsylvania, tells the story of his hometown's decline (along with the rest of the steel mill towns along the Monongahela River) while he dreams of making higher budget films. The picture documents, in a lighthearted way, the community anxiety and activism that accompanied the failure of the steel industry around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Lightning Over Braddock: A Rustbowl Fantasy
1988
7.0Tony Buba, a film maker from Braddock, Pennsylvania, tells the story of his hometown's decline (along with the rest of the steel mill towns along the Monongahela River) while he dreams of making higher budget films. The picture documents, in a lighthearted way, the community anxiety and activism that accompanied the failure of the steel industry around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Lightning Over Braddock: A Rustbowl Fantasy
1988
A glimpse into the economic decline of Braddock PA.
"The Fall" 1980
2008
A year goes by during the G.W. Bush administration.
Year on the Throne
2007
A tour of the last remaining pawn shop in Braddock, PA.
The Last Pawn Shop in Braddock
2019
6.0A global portrait documenting the year's events, Cinetracts '20 features the work of an international lineup of 20 filmmakers. Capturing the zeitgeist in their own backyard, the artists' short films are the culmination of a year-long residency project.
Cinetracts '20
2020
From implosions of steel mills after the decline of the industry to the demolition of the community hospital in Braddock, filmmaker Tony Buba stitches together footage from his extensive documentation of changes taking place across Pittsburgh and the surrounding region over the last few decades. In his multichannel video installation, the artist records Braddock citizens’ struggles against different industries to deconstruct and challenge popularized narratives of energy and economic transitions.
40°24.2983’ N 79° 58.251’ W
2023
A portrait of a now-shuttered barber shop in Braddock PA.
Pirozzi's Barber Shop
2017
NRA short film featuring images of his grandfather’s just-demolished shoe-repair shop in 1972
To My Family
1972
A short documentary about Braddock
Homage to a Mill Town
1980
In this film, Buba struggles over whether he should make a film about a food bank, or just use the money to donate food to the bank. In the end, he leaves it up to the viewer.
Braddock Food Bank
1985
