The Independent Film Festival Boston is a

not for profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

in Boston, Massachusetts.

History

The Independent Film Festival Boston (also known as IFFBoston or IFFB) was created in 2003 by the non-profit organization the Independent Film Society of Boston. The festival takes place each April in the Boston area's finest art-house cinemas. Over 1,200 films are submitted to the festival each year and roughly the best 90-100 of those are shown. Over 120 screenings take place, most with director Q&A sessions following them. There are also nightly parties for guest filmmakers and passholders as well as weekend panel discussions. The Independent Film Festival Boston was named "one of the top five film series in Boston" by the Boston Society of Film Critics in the festival's inaugural year of 2003 and was the only film festival on that list. The book ''The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide'' named the festival "the premier film festival in Boston" and the festival has since been recognized by the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', '' Boston Herald'', ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' an ...

'', ''Boston Magazine'', ''

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'', and countless filmmakers as "the premier film festival in Boston". In 2008, '' MovieMaker Magazine'' named IFFBoston among "The Top 25 Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee". The festival debuted in 2003 with an audience of 10,000 people and has grown in size each year since (2004–15,000 people, 2005–18,000 people, 2006–22,000 people, 2007–23,000 people, 2008–23,400) making it the largest film festival in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

Special guests

Special guests of the festival in its first six years included Steve Buscemi,

Chris Cooper Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in several major Hollywood films, including '' American Beauty'' (1999), ''October Sky'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' Ca ...

Sir Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two ...

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular char ...

Lili Taylor Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence with supporting parts in the films ''Mystic Pizza'' (1988) and '' Say Anything...'' (1989), before establishing herself as one of the key figures of 1990s i ...

Illeana Douglas Illeana Hesselberg (born July 25, 1961 or 1965), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of '' Six Feet Under'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as O ...

Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, '' The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ...

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

Michael Almereyda Michael Almereyda (born April 7, 1960) is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Early work Almereyda studied art history at Harvard but dropped out after three years to pursue filmmaking. He acquired a Hollywood agent on ...

Robert Vaughn Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; th ...

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...

Dylan Baker Dylan Baker (born October 7, 1959) is an American actor. He gained recognition for his roles in the films such as '' Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' (1987), ''Happiness'' (1998), '' Thirteen Days'' (2000), '' Road to Perdition'' (2002), '' Spide ...

Famke Janssen Famke Beumer Janssen (; born ) is a Dutch actress. She played Xenia Onatopp in '' GoldenEye'' (1995), Jean Grey / Phoenix in the ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2014), and Lenore Mills in the ''Taken'' film trilogy (2008–2014). In 2008, she ...

Mary Stuart Masterson Mary Stuart Masterson (born June 28, 1966) is an American actress and director. She has starred in the films '' At Close Range'' (1986), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), '' Chances Are'' (1989), ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and '' Benny & ...

, ''

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s Jay McCarroll,

Todd Graff Todd Graff (born October 22, 1959) is an American actor, writer and director, best known for his 2003 independent film '' Camp'' and his role as Alan "Hippy" Carnes in the 1989 science fiction film ''The Abyss''. Early life Graff was born in N ...

, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney,

Ted Hope Ted Hope (born 1962) is an American independent film producer based in New York City. He is best known for co-founding the production/sales company Good Machine, where he produced the first films of such notable filmmakers as Ang Lee, Nicole H ...

, Bob Odenkirk,

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, Anna Boden,

Alexandre Rockwell Charles Alexandre Rockwell is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and professor. Life and career Alexandre Rockwell is best known for his independent films made in NYC with a small group of actors he met on the lower east side in ...

Eliza Dushku Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Faith in the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) and its spin-off series ''Angel'' (2000–2003). She als ...

Danny Huston Daniel Sallis Huston (born May 14, 1962) is an Italian-born American actor and film director. A member of the Huston family of filmmakers, he is the son of director John Huston and the half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston. He is known for ...

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Doug Pray Doug Pray is an American documentary film director, cinematographer, and editor who often explores unique subcultures in his films. His work includes ''Surfwise'' (2008), a portrait of the nomadic, 11-member Doc Paskowitz family (often referred to ...

Albert Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films i ...

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Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

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Fred Armisen Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. ...

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Rob Corddry Robert William Corddry (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a correspondent on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' (2002–2006) and for his starring role in the film ''Hot Tub Time Machine''. He ...

and

Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera (; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, voicing the character of Brother Bear on the children's television show ''The Berenstain Bears'' and portraying a young Chuck B ...

Notable films

Films shown at the festival in the first six years included '' Half Nelson'', '' Murderball'', '' The Corporation'', '' The Proposition'', '' The Saddest Music in the World'', ''

Ivans XTC ''ivansxtc'' is an American independent drama film co-written by Bernard Rose and Lisa Enos, produced by Lisa Enos and directed by Bernard Rose, the first of several Enos-Rose collaborations, including ''Snuff-Movie'' (2005), ''Kreutzer Sonata'' ...

'', ''

Lonesome Jim ''Lonesome Jim'' is a 2005 American comedy/drama film directed by actor/filmmaker Steve Buscemi. Filmed mostly in the city of Goshen, Indiana, the film stars Casey Affleck as a chronically depressed aspiring writer who moves back into his parents ...

'', ''

The Puffy Chair ''The Puffy Chair'' is a 2005 mumblecore road film written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass. It stars Mark Duplass, Katie Aselton and Rhett Wilkins. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005, and went on to ...

'', ''

Fay Grim ''Fay Grim'' is a 2006 espionage thriller film written and directed by Hal Hartley. The film is a sequel to Hartley's 1997 film '' Henry Fool'', and revolves around the title character, played by Parker Posey, the sister of Simon Grim (James Urbani ...

'', '' Hannah Takes the Stairs'', ''

Mutual Appreciation ''Mutual Appreciation'' is a 2005 independent film by Andrew Bujalski who previously directed ''Funny Ha Ha'' (2002). The script is primarily dialogue between a group of young people as they try to determine where they fit in the world. It is consi ...

'', ''

Me and You and Everyone We Know ''Me and You and Everyone We Know'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Miranda July. She also acts in the starring role, opposite John Hawkes. The film was the first major studio production for July, who had b ...

'', '' Transsiberian'', ''

My Winnipeg ''My Winnipeg'' is a 2007 Canadian film directed and written by Guy Maddin with dialogue by George Toles. Described by Maddin as a "docu-fantasia", that melds "personal history, civic tragedy, and mystical hypothesizing", the film is a surrealist m ...

'', ''

Medicine for Melancholy ''Medicine for Melancholy'' is a 2008 independent romantic drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins. The film stars Wyatt Cenac, Tracey Heggins, and Elizabeth Acker. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 7, 200 ...

'', ''

Ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...

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Encounters at the End of the World ''Encounters at the End of the World'' is a 2007 American documentary film by Werner Herzog about Antarctica and the people who choose to spend time there. It was released in North America on June 11, 2008, and distributed by ThinkFilm. At the 81 ...

'', ''

The Story of the Weeping Camel ''The Story of the Weeping Camel'' ( mn, Ингэн нулимс, ', "Tears of the Camel") is a 2003 German docudrama distributed by ThinkFilm. It was released internationally in 2004. The film was directed and written by Byambasuren Davaa and ...

'' and '' Metallica: Some Kind of Monster'' as well as the U.S. premier of ''

Azumi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yū Koyama. Its story concerns the title character, a young woman brought up as part of a team of assassins, charged with killing the warlords that threaten the uneasy peace in Feudal Jap ...

''. The festival shows narrative features, documentary features, short films, animation, and experimental works.

Judging

The Independent Film Festival Boston awards Grand Jury, Special Jury prizes, and Audience Awards in the categories of narrative feature, documentary feature and short film. The juries are composed of top film industry professionals.

Year-round activities

The Independent Film Festival Boston also holds monthly screenings throughout the year. The main hub of the festival is the

Somerville Theatre The Somerville Theatre is an independent movie theater and concert venue in the Davis Square neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. Over one hundred years old, the Somerville Theatre started off as a vaudeville house and movie ...

in Davis Square,

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area o ...

. Other venues used by the festival in its first seven years include the

Coolidge Corner Coolidge Corner is a neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, centered on the intersection of Beacon Street and Harvard Street. The neighborhood takes its name from the Coolidge & Brother general store that opened in 1857 at that intersecti ...

Theatre, the

Brattle Theatre The Brattle Theatre is a repertory movie theater located in Brattle Hall at 40 Brattle Street near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theatre is a small movie house with one screen. It is one of the few remaining movie theaters, if n ...

, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Jimmy Tingle Theatre.

IFFBoston testimonials

"Yet in only its third year, the Independent Film Festival of Boston has become the major game in town: a smartly programmed and risk-taking festival that balances 'big' indie films with the best in local filmmaking." - Ty Burr, ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''

"IFFBoston has redefined the term 'filmmaker friendly' for every producer, director, editor, cinematographer, composer and actor that has been lucky enough to experience the festival. The audiences are passionate and intelligent, which is every filmmaker's dream." -
Joe Swanberg Joseph Swanberg (born August 31, 1981) is an American independent film director, producer, writer, and actor. Known for micro-budget films which make extensive use of improvisation, Swanberg is considered a major figure in the mumblecore film mo ...
, director of ''Hannah Takes the Stairs''

" e annual Independent Film Festival Boston (IFFB) has accomplished more in its five-year history, than some festivals do with twice as much time and resources. - Matt Dentler, Indiewire

"Definitely one of the best-run film festivals I have been to." - Bob Odenkirk, director of ''Melvin Goes to Dinner''

"Though the word 'independent' sometimes connotes 'small', it's clear that the Independent Film Festival of Boston is THE premiere film festival in the Boston area. From a distributor's standpoint, it's important that a festival handle a film with a certain degree of professionalism and attention to detail. IFFBoston's focus on presenting dynamic, quality films and treating each screening as an event both meets and exceeds those expectations." - Brad Westcott,
Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Ma ...

References

{{reflist

External links

IFF Boston website
Film festivals in Boston