Program, locations, tickets, A-list elbow rubbing
Homegrown or bred abroad, brief or full-length, made-up or real-life, accessible or obscure - it takes all types of movies to fill the slate at the Independent Film Festival of Boston.
Only in its sixth year and already considered a top festival for indie films, IFFBoston 2008 offers 32 narrative features, 26 documentary features, and 37 short films divided among screenings at the Somerville, Brattle, and Coolidge Corner theaters.
The seven-day program begins Wednesday with the opening night thriller "Transsiberian," starring Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer, and Woody Harrelson, and closes April 29 with Werner Herzog's Antarctica documentary "Encounters at the End of the World." In between are 93 films that comprise the very definition of eclecticism - a mixed bag of the sincere, the dramatic, and the offbeat. Not to mention the 50-plus directors, actors, and film personnel in attendance, plus panel discussions on craft and parties for passholders.
"We want to make sure the Boston audience is going to sit in front of a filmmaker," said Nancy Campbell, one of the fest's managing directors. "You [have] questions, [you] get them answered immediately. You love the film, you get to embrace the filmmaker immediately. This is about creating that interaction between the public and the filmmaker."
Among the headliners and films making their American premier this year will be two name-brand actors presenting their debuts as directors. Mary Stuart Masterson ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Fried Green Tomatoes") brings "The Cake Eaters," about two Upstate New York families facing their commingled pasts, starring Bruce Dern, Kristen Stewart ("Into the Wild"), and Westford native Aaron Stanford. "Turn the River," directed by Chris Eigeman ("Malcolm in the Middle," "The Last Days of Disco") stars Famke Janssen ("X-Men") as Kailey, a card and pool hustler eager to remake her life. Masterson, Janssen, and Eigeman will be on hand at the screenings.
Another film with name-brand talent is "Transsiberian." Director Brad Anderson said he "did my time" in Boston, and shot earlier features like "Next Stop Wonderland" and "Session 9" in town. "My very first film was a $16,000 guerrilla indie shot in Boston," he said. "It's nice to come back to Boston with a bigger movie." Though Anderson's exotic train caper was shot in Spain, Russia, and China with big stars like Kingsley (scheduled to attend opening night), "Transsiberian" was financed without studio money and clings to his independent pedigree. Further, Will Conroy, the film's co-writer, is a Boston native.
But IFFBoston's fingers are primarily on the pulse of unsung filmmakers. The festival's open-submission policy means any movie has a chance at a slot, be it the Hong Kong martial arts action-laden "Flash Point" or "Wild Blue Yonder," Celia Maysles's earnest search for her father, Boston-raised documentarian David Maysles.
Boston filmmakers also get their due. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis ("King Corn") return to IFFBoston with "The Greening of Southie," a chronicle of the construction of the Macallen Building, South Boston's first "green" residential building. Locals Eric Poydar and Brett Portanova's dramatic monologue "Larry the Actor" makes its world debut here, as does "Twelve," a paean to Beantown featuring a dozen area directors each contributing a chapter.
Roxbury native Robert Patton-Spruill's "Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome," about the rap group of the title, and "Secrecy," Harvard professors Robb Moss and Peter Galison's film about alleged misdeeds of the US government, are two more local products.
The heart-wrenching and inspirational "Life. Support. Music," which profiles the recovery of musician Jason Crigler after a brain hemorrhage, isn't exactly a Boston film. But much of the action takes place here. "The screening at IFFB will be a sort of homecoming," said director Eric Daniel Metzgar in an e-mail exchange. "Lots of people involved in Jason's story will be present, including his extended family, his many doctors and therapists. It should be exciting."
A wrap-up of IFFBoston would be incomplete without mentioning the always strong shorts, which are to feature-length films as short stories are to novels.
Among those worthy of attention are "La Corona," about a Colombian woman's prison beauty pageant; "Man," a vignette involving two adolescent sisters and a boy; and "Chief," a fable of a Samoan's redemption in Hawaii. Many, like the Australian "Spider," pack the wallop of a two-hour drama into nine minutes.
Whether there to be blown away or subtly shaken, attendees of IFFBoston will find movie experiences for all stripes. And they'll get the extra rush of being able to stick around when the lights come up and ask questions.
Ethan Gilsdorf lives in Somerville. Contact him at ethan@ethangilsdorf.com. 