Independent Film Festival Boston turns 21
‘We see the festival and the city as kind of intertwined’
This year, Independent Film Festival Boston turns 21 — old enough to drink and gamble. But for the event, the age represents something steadier: a vital position in Boston culture, fortified by two decades of showcasing artists and building community, all while prioritizing the sensibilities of local audiences.
“I think the Boston spirit is one of independence,” said Brian Tamm, the executive director of IFFBoston. “We see the festival and the city as kind of intertwined.”
Alongside program director Nancy Campbell, Tamm has worked at IFFBoston in some capacity nearly since its inception. Their time on the staff has allowed them to get to know Bostonian audiences.
“We are a group of people who are independently minded, probably somewhat stubborn,” Tamm said.
“That, to me, is what makes this a great filmgoing city,” he added. “People want to look beyond the headlines.”
This year’s program — which will screen May 1-8 at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, and the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline — offers a sampling of features culled from major independent film festivals around the country. Several had their world premieres at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where they received accolades and sold to major distributors. Their inclusion at IFFBoston ensures that local audiences can catch some of 2024’s best offerings months before they filter into theaters and onto streaming services.
But the lineup is also a showcase for smaller movies made by local talent, such as “Fear of Flying,” directed by Mark Phinney. And although prestige is a natural draw for audiences, it’s worth paying attention to the microbudget movies, like the partially crowd-funded horror-comedy “Evil Sublet,” precisely because the IFFBoston programmers have chosen to spotlight them without big festival buzz.
My favorite movie in the program, “Janet Planet,” premiered at the Telluride Film Festival last fall, but its story and tone scratch a strong Massachusetts itch. The film is the glorious first feature from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker, who was born in Cambridge and grew up in Amherst. Set in 1991, the story follows a taciturn preteen girl and her mother as they slog through the summer months in rural Western Massachusetts. Much of the movie’s magic hinges on Zoe
Ziegler, the first-time actress who plays the 11-year-old Lacy (Julianne Nicholson plays her mother, Janet). When casting for the part, Baker put out a call that specifically asked for introverts, hoping to find a girl who could nail Lacy’s quiet, observant temperament.
“Janet Planet,” which will be released by A24 this year, might be the buzziest New England movie playing at IFFBoston, but there are other local stories on the lineup, including “Fear of Flying,” a warts-and-all portrait of a filmmaker on the brink of breakdown, and “Secret Mall Apartment,” a documentary that recently premiered at South by Southwest. The former, written and directed by Boston native Mark
Phinney, is a thinly veiled self-portrait: It follows a Boston-based filmmaker named Mark (Mike Mitchell) whose phobias — of love, death, loneliness, and yes, flying — are disrupting his life and work.
The documentary “Secret Mall Apartment,” directed by Jeremy Workman, tells of a group of artists in Providence who in 2003 decided to move into a secret alcove in their local mall. The scheme began as a lark — a bet between friends on how long they could live in the vacant room before getting caught. But over time, the space grew into a kind of antiestablishment clubhouse, one that allowed the group to give a big middle finger to rampant commercial development and reclaim a sense of ownership over their rapidly urbanizing home city.
Other exciting documentaries include the Netflix titles “Daughters,” which follows four girls preparing for a Daddy-Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, and “Power,” a chronicle of the history of American policing directed by “Strong Island” filmmaker Yance Ford. The IFFBoston documentary centerpiece, “The Road to Ruane” (see feature below), tells the local story of Billy Ruane, a legendary rock music promoter in Boston. During the ’80s and ’90s Ruane became known as a champion of indie acts; according to lore, he sometimes paid bands out of pocket if ticket sales were low.
On the narrative end, “Good One,” which I highlighted out of Sundance, is a major gem; its portrait of a teenage girl on a camping trip with two grown men is taut, alert, and excellently observed. The film begins as Sam (Lily Collias), her divorced dad, Chris (James Le Gros), and his best friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) are preparing for the outing, and then follows them over a couple days in the forest. In her first feature, writer-director India Donaldson demonstrates a keen eye for how gender roles work among the trio: Throughout, Sam is expected to perform as the men’s assistant, therapist, cook, and overall caretaker — which she does readily, until she can’t take it anymore.
Two other Sundance titles worth your while are the Aubrey Plaza-starring
“My Old Ass,” which is playing as the IFFBoston narrative centerpiece, and “I Saw the TV Glow,” the hyperstylized second feature from Jane Schoenbrun. Both focus on a suburban coming-of-age story but manage to avoid familiar tropes by incorporating elements of the surreal.
Movies about community theater might not seem like everyone’s cup of tea, but I suspect that few will be disappointed by “Ghostlight,” a tender and winning family drama. The film tells the story of overworked parents (Keith Kupferer and Tara Mallen) dealing with their rebellious teenage daughter (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) after she’s suspended from school. The plot kicks into motion once Dad stumbles into a community theater practice for “Romeo and Juliet” and decides to join in. The film, like IFFBoston more broadly, ultimately makes the case for the power of art to bring people together and transform them for the better.