It’s like a greatest hits of the 2011 film festival circuit in this program for the 2011 Independent Film Festival of Boston, running April 27-May 4, 2011. From the official press release:
The Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston) announced today the films that will be featured at the 2011 festival. The ninth annual festival will take place April 27- May 4, 2011. The festival will take place at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, and the Stuart Street Playhouse in downtown Boston. The festival, complete with over 110 film screenings, filmmaker Q&A sessions, panel discussions, visiting filmmakers, parties and events will showcase the best in current American and International cinema.
“BEING ELMO” directed by Constance Marks will open the 9th annual festival on April 27th at the Somerville Theatre. This marks the first time the festival will open with a documentary. The film follows Kevin Clash, from humble upbringings as he follows his dream to become a puppeteer and one day work with his idol, Jim Henson, to the present day where he has traveled the world performing as the puppeteer and voice behind Sesame Street’s breakout star, Elmo. Director Constance Marks, Kevin Clash, and Elmo will be in attendance on Opening Night.
“CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP”, directed by Rodman Flender, will close the festival on Wednesday May 4th at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. The documentary follows late night host Conan O’Brien from the days just after his breakup with NBC following their proposal to move the Tonight Show past midnight and gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Conan’s touring stage show of 2010. Director Rodman Flender will be in attendance on Closing Night, which will take place in Conan O’Brien’s hometown of Brookline, Massachusetts.
Other notable films screening at the festival include:
- Michael Winterbottom’s comedy THE TRIP starring Steve Coogan
- Miranda July’s THE FUTURE, with director/star Miranda July in attendance
- James Marsh’s (Man On Wire) new documentary PROJECT NIM
- Andrew Rossi’s fascinating documentary PAGE ONE: A YEAR INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES
- The World Premiere of Peter Sasowsky’s documentary HEAVEN + EARTH + JOE DAVIS, about MIT’s resident “free spirit”
- The Co-World Premiere of John Henry Summerour’s southern gothic drama SAHKANAGA. The film will have its World Premiere the same weekend at both the Independent Film Festival Boston and the Atlanta Film Festival
- Takashi Miike’s samurai action film 13 ASSASSINS
- Azazel Jacobs makes his third trip to IFFBoston, this time with the comedy feature TERRI starring John C. Reilly
- Larysa Kondracki’s true-life drama THE WHISTLE BLOWER starring Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci and David Strathairn
- Andre Ovredal’s frightening and hilarious faux documentary THE TROLL HUNTER
- Boston filmmaker Rudy Hypolite’s documentary about Roxbury’s Madison High School basketball team and their coach, PUSH: MADISON VS. MADISON
- Boston filmmakers Steven Ascher & Jeanne Jordan (RAISING RENEE), Jeff Silva (IVAN & IVANA), Benjamin Brewer (BENEATH CONTEMPT), and Ian Cheney (THE CITY DARK) will have their hometown debut
- Music documentaries include Kerthy Fix’s WHO TOOK THE BOMP?: LE TIGRE ON TOUR, Gorman Berchard’s COLOR ME OBSESSED: A FILM ABOUT THE REPLACEMENTS, and Don Argott’s LAST DAYS HERE
There will be several panel discussions during the festival. All panel discussions will be free to the public and will take place at the Somerville Theatre and the Massachusetts College of Art. Panel topics and guests to be announced soon.
There will be numerous parties during the festival. The opening night party will take place at Orleans in Davis Square, Somerville. The Friday night dance party and the Sunday night awards party will both take place at the Liberty Hotel, official hotel sponsor of the 2011 Independent Film Festival of Boston.
Among the awards to be given out on Sunday May 1st will be the 2nd annual Karen Schmeer Award for Excellence in Documentary Editing. This award was created to honor the memory of beloved Boston documentary film editor Karen Schmeer who was tragically lost in a hit-and-run accident in January of 2010. The Karen Schmeer Award is presented by Avid.
The narrative feature Grand Jury Prize winner will receive a camera package rental worth $60,000 furnished by Panavision.
Other award sponsors include JetBlue Airways and Modulus Studios.
INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF BOSTON 2011 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Narrative Features
13 ASSASSINS directed by Takashi Miike
BELLFLOWER directed by Evan Glodell
BENEATH CONTEMPT directed by Benjamin Brewer
THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM directed by Todd Rohal
CIRCUMSTANCE directed by Maryam Keshavarz
FANNY, ANNIE & DANNY directed by Chris Brown
THE FUTURE directed by Miranda July
GREEN directed by Sophia Takal
LITTLEROCK directed by Mike Ott
THE MULBERRY TREE directed by Mark Heller
OLIVER SHERMAN directed by Ryan Redford
ON THE ICE directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
SAHKANAGA directed by John Henry Summerour
THE SALESMAN directed by Sebastien Pilote
SEPTIEN directed by Michael Tully
STAKELAND directed by Jim Mickle
SUBMARINE directed by Richard Ayoade
TERRI directed by Azazel Jacobs
THE TRIP directed by Michael Winterbottom
THE TROLL HUNTER directed by Andre Ovredal
THE WHISTLE BLOWER directed by Larysa KondrackiDocumentary Features
BEING ELMO directed by Constance Marks
THE BENGALI DETECTIVE directed by Philip Cox
BETTER THIS WORLD directed by Kelly Duane & Katie Galloway
BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD directed by Liz Garbus
BUCK directed by Cindy Meehl
BURMA SOLDIER directed by Nic Dunlop, Ricki Stern, & Annie Sundberg
THE CHINESE ARE COMING TO TOWN directed by Ronja Yu
THE CITY DARK directed by Ian Cheney
COLOR ME OBSESSED: A FILM ABOUT THE REPLACEMENTS directed by Gorman Berchard
CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP directed by Rodman Flender
CONVENTO directed by Jarred Alterman
CRIME AFTER CRIME directed by Yoav Potash
CULTURES OF RESISTANCE directed by Iara Lee
DRAGONSLAYER directed by Tristan Patterson
EL BULLI: COOKING IN PROGRESS directed by Gereon Wetzel
GOD WILLING directed by Evangeline Griego
GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR directed by Pamela Yates
HEAVEN + EARTH + JOE DAVIS directed by Peter Sasowsky
HOT COFFEE directed by Susan Saladoff
HOW TO DIE IN OREGON directed by Peter Richardson
IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT directed by Marshall Curry
IVAN & IVANA directed by Jeff Silva
LAST DAYS HERE directed by Don Argott & Demian Fenton
MAKE BELIEVE directed by J. Clay Tweel
PAGE ONE: A YEAR INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES directed by Andrew Rossi
PROJECT NIM directed by James Marsh
PUPPET directed by David Soll
PUSH: MADISON VS. MADISON directed by Rudy Hypolite
RAISING RENEE directed by Steven Ascher & Jeanne Jordan
SONS OF PERDITION directed by Jennilyn Merten & Tyler Measom
SUPERHEROES directed by Michael Barnett
WE STILL LIVE HERE directed by Anne Makepeace
WHO TOOK THE BOMP?: LE TIGRE ON TOUR directed by Kerthy Fix
WINDFALL directed by Laura IsraelShort Films
8 directed by Daniel Laabs & Julie Gould
AFTER YOU LEFT directed by Jef Taylor
ALL DAY YEAH directed by Charlie Anderson
BABY directed by Daniel Mulloy
BOB AND THE TREES directed by Diego Ongaro
THE BOWLER directed by Sean Dunne
BOY directed by Topaz Adizes
CHAINSAW FOUND JESUS directed by Spencer Parsons
THE CONTRACT directed by Lina Mannheimer
DEEPER THAN YESTERDAY directed by Ariel Kleiman
THE DENTIST directed by Alex Mallis
FLYING ANNE directed by Catherine Van Campen
FRACTURE directed by Nicolas Sarkissian
ICE HOCKEY directed by Larry Cohen
ICH BIN’S HELMUT directed by Nicolas Steiner
IRMA directed by Charles Fairbanks
JUPITER ELICIUS directed by Kelly Sears
LITTLE HORSES directed by Levi Abrino
MR. HAPPY MAN directed by Matt Morris
NEGATIVIPEG directed by Matthew Rankin
PIONEER directed by David Lowery
POSTER GIRL directed by Sara Nesson
PROTOPARTICLES directed by Chema Garcia Ibarra
THE STRANGE ONES directed by Christopher Radcliff & Lauren Wolkstein
TATOOINE directed by Eric Power
WE’RE LEAVING directed by Zachary Treitz
YOUNG BIRD SEASON directed by Nellie KluzThe Independent Film Festival of Boston will reach a diverse audience by incorporating a number of venues in the greater Boston community including:
- Somerville Theatre in Davis Square
- Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square
- Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline
- The Stuart Street Playhouse in downtown Boston
All festival venues are easily accessible by MBTA Public Transportation and all located near area parking.
Film-only and Chrome All-Access passes are available on the festival website now at http://www.iffboston.org/buypasses.
Individual film tickets and the festival schedule will be available on the festival website in early April.
the iffboston people at the somerville theater act like a real creeps. they wouldnt sell me a ticket because I was late.. people were coming and going from the theater to buy beer and this was not a problem as far as interrupting the movie yet they wouldn’t let me in…makes no sense. I know the ditector of ‘color me impressed’ and went there to support and congratulate him. and to celebrate independent filmmaking…. instead I have to deal with these clowns who are apparently in charge