In 2003, the Independent Film Festival of Boston's (IFFBoston) inaugural year, 40 films were screened over four days to 10,000 attendees. Last year, 94 films were shown over seven days to over 23,000 attendees.
This year, the festival gets even bigger.
As it enters its sixth year, the IFFBoston is more ready than ever to wow both cineastes and casual movie goers alike. Featuring a lineup of 100 films, the festival will take place over seven days, from April 22 through April 28, though most films will be shown over that Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The films will be screened at the Somerville Theatre, the Brattle Theatre, the Coolidge Corner Theatre and, new for this year's festival, The Institute of Contemporary Art.
For the 2009 festival, the IFFBoston received over 1,500 submissions. These submissions, along with films seen by the organizers at various other independent film festivals over the past year, were screened for quality, and the cream of the crop -- the aforementioned 100 films -- were selected for this year's festival. The final mixes offers something for everyone -- both long and short films as well as documentary and narrative features round out the lineup.
"We are very picky," IFFBoston's Program Director Adam Roffman told The Daily. "We try to not go much higher than the number of films being shown now ... there are only 100 [or] 102 [films] each year that are good enough to be shown in the festival."
IFFBoston is totally non-profit, and everyone involved has a full-time day job. Many of the staff, board members and organizers of the festival are involved in the film industry simply because they are passionate about film. The organizers are all young (the oldest is 37) and work tirelessly year-round to produce the best festival they can.
Despite the fact that there are Boston-raised directors and actors in Hollywood as well as several notable films that take place in the city, Boston is not usually associated with the cinematic arts. But the Independent Film Festival of Boston is quickly catching up to other festivals in prestige -- including New York's Tribeca Film Festival, Austin's South by Southwest and even Park City's Sundance.
Where some festivals are concerned with having the most world premieres, IFFBoston seeks only to showcase the best, highest quality, most enjoyable cinematic works of the past year.
Still, IFFBoston does have a number of films making their world premieres at next week's festival, including documentaries "Blood Sweat and Cheers", which delves into world of competitive cheerleading; "Chip on My Shoulder," which looks at the seminal Boston straight-edge, hardcore band Slapshot; and "Speaking in Code," which focuses on techno music.
The festival will also host the New England premiere of many films, including the Farrelly brothers' "The Lost Son of Havana," a documentary about former Red Sox player Luis Tiant's return to Havana after nearly 50 years.
According to Roffman, although the Independent Film Festival of Boston may be small, because of the highly selective nature of the festival, the quality of the films is higher than larger festivals like the Toronto International Film Festival or Sundance. Also, the IFFBoston offers a carefree, relaxed environment that is highly conducive to filmmakers meeting and forming friendships, which often lead to collaborations, the end product of which are films for future festivals.
The films showcased at the IFFBoston are not big budget Hollywood films. This may turn off some casual moviegoers, but even those with nothing more than a passing interest in movies can find something to enjoy.
"Some of these films will get a theatrical release, but a lot of them won't," Roffman said. "These films, for the most part, are just more thoughtfully crafted and just have more interesting things to say than what you will generally see at the Boston Commons [AMC Loews] Theater ... None of these films are dumbed down for a mass audience."
Seeing a movie at a film festival is not the same as seeing one at a regular multiplex. Sure, the films themselves are different, but the atmospheres are also worlds apart. For starters, the filmmakers themselves are often present at the screenings.
"Take advantage of the fact that many of these filmmakers are here," Roffman said. "They really do want to meet the people of Boston who are seeing their films."
This year the festival's attendees include actor Brian Cox, presenting his new film "The Escapist" (2008); writer/director Robert Siegel ("The Wrestler" (2008)) and Kevin Corrigan presenting "Big Fan"(2009); and director Andrew Bujalski ("Funny Ha Ha" (2002)) with "Beeswax" (2009).
The opening night's screening of "The Brothers Bloom" (2008) will be hosted by director Rian Johnson ("Brick" (2005)), and the film's stars, Adrien Brody, Rachel Wiesz and Mark Ruffalo, are expected to attend.
For the New England premiere of "The Lost Son of Havana," both Bobby and Peter Farrelly ("Dumb and Dumber" (2004), "There's Something About Mary" (1998)) will be in attendance, along with the film's subject, Tiant, as well as narrator Chris Cooper and many current and former Red Sox players.
The following are a select few films -- some chosen by The Daily and some recommended by the IFFBoston's Adam Roffman -- as festival standouts. This guide, however, is merely a jumping off point. The full festival lineup can be found at the IFFBoston's website, www.IFFBoston.org. Catch some of these films, and stick around afterwards for a more in-depth film experience:
"Big Fan:" Writer/director Robert Siegel's directorial debut and follow-up to last year's Oscar-nominated "The Wrestler," this film follows Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt), a New York Giants fanatic whose devotion to the team is put to the test after a violent encounter with one of the team's players. "Big Fan" was nominated for the 2009 Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It shows on April 24 at 9:15 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, followed by a Q-and-A with Siegel and Corrigan.
"Children of Invention:" Though low budget, this film from writer/director Tze Chun packs a serious punch. This family drama is centered on an illegal Chinese immigrant -- a single mother living in Boston with her two young children. When she gets involved in a phony pyramid scheme, her children, Raymond and Tina, find themselves alone and fending for themselves. Breakout performances from the child stars, as well as taut pacing and a non-formulaic story make this a must-see. The film runs on April 23 at 7:15 p.m. and April 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre.
"We Live in Public:" From the director of "DiG!" (2004), this documentary focuses on web-entrepreneur and artist Josh Harris whose social experiments seemed to predict the current web 2.0 phenomenon years in advance. The film was nearly 10 years in the making, and won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It will play April 24 at 9:45 p.m. and April 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre.
"Best Worst Movie:" In 1990, "Troll 2" was released, and has since earned the title, thanks to IMDB.com ratings, as the worst movie of all time. It also became a cult phenomenon. The child star of the film, Michael Stephenson, now an adult, documents the world of "Troll 2" fanatics, reconnects with the rest of the cast of this abysmal(ly amazing) piece of cinema and tracks down the director. It runs April 25 at 9:30 p.m. at the Brattle Theatre. Stephenson will be presenting.
"(500) Days of Summer:" The internet has been abuzz with talk of "(500) Days of Summer" since its Sundance premier earlier this year. This love story follows the relationship between Tom (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel) from beginning to end. Tom is a hopeless romantic, Summer is the girl of his dreams, and their chemistry in "(500) Days of Summer" is expected to get the film a wide theatrical release in the near future. It shows April 24 at 7 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre.
"The Brothers Bloom" (2008): Rian Johnson's follow-up to his 2005 breakout hit "Brick" is the story of orphaned brothers and conmen Stephen (Ruffalo) and Bloom (Brody) as they try to pull a long-con on an eccentric heiress (Weisz). "Bloom" will run on April 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre and will be presented by the film's cast and crew.
To support independent cinema and see great films, purchase tickets for screenings at individual venues or at www.IFFBoston.org.
