Boston is stepping up it’s game. No we don’t mean the city or its baseball team, we mean the The Independent Film Festival of Boston. Admittedly, we don’t know what the festival was like in 2008, but regardless, this year IFFBoston has firmly put itself on the map with a rather excellent line-up that runs April 22 through 28.
Highlights of the festival include Rian Johnson’s “The Brothers Bloom,” “500 Days of Summer” which includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel and a killer soundtrack, the writer of “The Wrestler”s (Rob Seigel) directorial debut, “Big Fan,” starring comedian Patton Oswalt in a dramatic role, Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain” (he used to pen all the Alejandro González Iñárritu films, “Babel,” “21 Grams”), Olivier Assayas’ beautiful and profoundly affecting meditation on the loss of parents in “Summer Hours,” Bruce McDonald’s subversion of the zombie genre with “Pontypool,” and Sundance acclaimded films like, Nicolas Winding Refn’s psychopath flick “Bronson” and Bobcat Goldthwait’s “The World’s Greatest Dad.” It’s like a mini SXSW and Sundance right inside Boston which is pretty impressive.
Documentaries include Doug Pray’s acclaimed, “Art & Copy,” the beloved “Troll 2” examination, “Best Worst Movie,” Ondi Timoner’s heralded Internet doc, “We Live In Public,” and many many more. The short film section also includes our much coveted John Cazale documentary, “I Knew It Was You,” directed by Richard Shepard.
Narrative Features
500 DAYS OF SUMMER, directed by Marc Webb, THE ANSWER MAN, directed by John Hindman, BEESWAX, directed by Andrew Bujalski, BIG FAN, directed by Robert Seigel, BIRDWATCHERS, directed by Marco Bechis
BREAKING UPWARDS, directed by Daryl Wein, BRONSON, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, THE BROTHERS BLOOM, directed by Rian Johnson, THE BURNING PLAIN, directed by Guillermo Arriaga, CHILDREN OF INVENTION, directed by Tze Chun, THE ESCAPIST, directed by Rupert Wyatt, FROM INSIDE, directed by John Bergin, GRACE, directed by Paul Solet, HELEN, directed by Joe Lawlor & Christine Malloy, THE HIGHER FORCE, directed by Olaf De Fleur, IN THE LOOP, directed by Armando Iannucci, MAKE-OUT WITH VIOLENCE, directed by The Deagol Brothers, THE MISSING PERSON, directed by Noah Buschel, LA MISSION, directed by Peter Bratt, PONTYPOOL, directed by Bruce McDonald, STILL WALKING, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda
STINGRAY SAM, directed by Cory McAbee, SUMMER HOURS, directed by Olivier Assayas
THAT EVENING SUN, directed by Scott Teems, THE VICIOUS KIND, directed by Lee Toland Kreiger, THE WORLD’S GREATEST DAD, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait
Documentary Features
ART & COPY, directed by Doug Pray, AUTOMORPHISIS, directed by Harrod Blank, BEST WORST MOVIE, directed by Michael Stephenson, BLOOD, SWEAT & CHEERS, directed by Al Ward, CHIP ON MY SHOULDER, directed by Ian McFarland, CRUDE, directed by Joe Berlinger, FOOD, INC., directed by Robert Kenner, FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES, directed by Gerald Peary, HERB AND DOROTHY, directed by Megumi Sasaki, I NEED THAT RECORD!, directed by Brendan Toller, INVISIBLE GIRLFRIEND, directed by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON, directed by Bestor Cram, KIMJONGILIA, directed by NC Heikin, THE LOST SON OF HAVANA, directed by Jonathan Hock, LUCKEY, directed by Laura Longsworth, MINE, directed by Geralyn Pezanoski, MONSTERS FROM THE ID, directed by David Gargani, NOLLYWOOD BABYLON, directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal, OF ALL THE THINGS, directed by Jody Lambert, PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI, directed by Paul Saltzman, SHOOTING BEAUTY, directed by George Kachadorian, SHOUTING FIRE: STORIES FROM THE EDGE OF FREE SPEECH, directed by Liz Garbus, SPEAKING IN CODE, directed by Amy Grill, THE SWEET LADY WITH THE NASTY VOICE, directed by Joanne Fish and Vincent Kralyevich, TRIMPIN: THE SOUND OF INVENTION, directed by Peter Esmonde, TRINIDAD, directed by PJ Raval, TRUST US, THIS IS ALL MADE UP, directed by Alex Karpovksy, UNMISTAKEN CHILD, directed by Nati Baratz, UPSTREAM BATTLE, directed by Ben Kampas, THE WAY WE GET BY, directed by Aron Gaudet, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, directed by Ondi Timoner, WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE, directed by Sarah and Emily Kunstler, WINNEBAGO MAN, directed by Ben Steinbauer
Here’s the full line-up including all the Short films that are playing. IFFBoston runs April 22 – 28. Go check it out if you’re in the area. The line-up is super solid.