INAUGURAL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF BOSTON

INAUGURAL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF BOSTON IS A HUGE SUCCESS

By Dan Klipp

Anticipation was high for the newest film festival on the block in the Boston area and by all accounts it exceeded most expectations. The Independent Film Festival of Boston, a first-year film festival run by an all-volunteer staff , made its debut on the evening of May 1st at the Somerville Theater with the East Coast premiere of Academy-Award winner Adrien Brody?s new film, DUMMY, co-presented by the Boston Jewish Film Festival. Festival Media Director Joanna Horn worked the local radio stations, papers, and television stations hard prior to the festival and it paid off immediately with a crowd of 500 people for the opening night event. Director Greg Pritikin and actress Illeana Douglas (“CAPE FEAR”, “TO DIE FOR”) were in attendance for the screening and did a bit of a stand-up routine for the enthusiastic crowd afterwards as part of their Q&A. When asked about a theatrical release for their film, Pritikin replied “We?re going to start small by opening in Newton, then if it does well we may expand into Worcester”. Illeana then chimed in, “ Then we?re taking it to Lynn, but we might skip over Lowell. It?ll go over their heads.”

That irreverence set the tone for the weekend as film buffs enjoyed a diverse mix of films and got the opportunity to meet most of the filmmakers up-close and discuss their work with them. “One of our goals was to create an atmosphere where the casual filmgoer and the more critical festival-goer would have an equally enjoyable time and I think we achieved that” said Festival Director Jason Redmond. Over the weekend, filmmakers from most of the films could be found everywhere you looked in Davis Square, Somerville and Harvard Square. Harvard alum Joe Brewster had the East Coast premiere of his latest film, THE KILLING ZONE, and received a very positive response and Maine native Dana Packard had nearly a full house at the Brattle for the world premiere of his mysterious thriller MR.BARRINGTON, but the local filmmaker who made the biggest splash over the weekend was Peter Masterson with the East Coast premiere of his very personal drama, WEST OF HERE, starring Mary Stuart Masterson and Josh Hamilton. The film?s first screening was standing room only and the crowd voiced their support for the film throughout the weekend.

The local filmmakers weren?t the only ones to have triumphant screenings though. Charles Burmeister?s documentary THE KING OF SIXTH STREET had its world premiere to a full house and was followed by a special performance by Gerry Van King, the eccentric musician who is the focus of the film. King proceeded to sell 40 CDs and numerous autographed 8x10 glossies of himself to the new fans he had in the audience. Boris Mojsovski traveled from Canada to see his film, THREE AND A HALF, have two crowded screenings and receive gushing praise for his visual sensibilities, as well as to see fans of the film stealing his posters off the walls of the theater. Huge crowds also poured in to see Sam Neave?s CRY FUNNY HAPPY, Bernard Rose?s IVANS XTC., Paul Devlin?s POWER TRIP, and Jesse Moss?s two vastly different, but masterful documentaries CON MAN and SPEEDO. The size of the crowds grew as the weekend went on and it all culminated at the Somerville Theater for the Sunday night screening of MELVIN GOES TO DINNER. The theater was sold out and ten extra people were allowed to stand in the back. Outside the theater, a line of over 100 people had to be turned away. Luckily for them, director Bob Odenkirk, who has a strong cult following thanks to his sketch comedy program MR.SHOW which aired on HBO for three years, came outside and personally shook the hands and greeted everyone who couldn?t make it into the screening. “We were very happy with both the turnout and the response to the films. It was tremendous and more than we could have hoped for in our first year” said Program Director Adam Roffman.

The films weren?t the only events worth being at over the raucous weekend. On Saturday there were a series of well-attended panel discussions moderated by local filmmaker and Past Forward film series curator Ellie Lee (REPETITION COMPULSION, DOG DAYS) that included actor Robert Vaughn (THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.), actress Melissa Martinez (OUR SONG), 14-year old documentary director Chaille Stovall, as well as indie directors Todd Graff (CAMP), Michael Almereyda (NADJA, HAMLET), and Alexandre Rockwell (IN THE SOUP, FOUR ROOMS) among others.

The real hotspots though, were the nightly parties. Festival passholders were allowed past the velvet rope in front of the Alpha Omega store in Harvard Square on Friday night for a chance to mingle with all the filmmakers and actors. A number of the visiting filmmakers took the opportunity to shop as well, such as Ed “Speedo” Jager, the demolition derby champion of New Jersey and subject of the documentary SPEEDO. Jager bought a flame-covered watch to match his flame-covered shirt, jacket, and hat.

Saturday night?s party was preceded by the festival awards ceremony at the Tremont Boston hotel. Beautiful blown glass trophies were given out to the Grand Jury Prize winners, IVANS XTC. (Narrative Feature), SPEEDO (Documentary Feature), and THOTH (Short Film) and framed certificates were handed to the Special Jury Prize winners SOFT FOR DIGGING (Narrative Feature), THE KING OF SIXTH STREET (Documentary), and MET STATE (Short). Along with the awards prizes valued at over $20,000 were handed out. Local sound mixer Anton Gold accepted the award for SOFT FOR DIGGING on director JT Petty?s behalf , as Gold was his college roommate when Petty was writing the film. At the after-party, festival-goers were treated to a rocking live performance by local band WELL (www.wellband.net) as well as a special funkified performance by Gerry Van King, including a special birthday song for Ed “Speedo” Jager.

Sunday night?s party at the Nine Zero hotel?s Spire restaurant was where all of the filmmakers and the festival staff really let loose and praise for the festival was heard in every corner.

“Definitely one of the best-run festivals I have been to. Most fests are slap-dash efforts; no one seems to be in charge, stuff is breaking right and left. But I was honestly surprised to find out this was the first Independent Film Fest of Boston, they seemed to have been at it for years”. said Bob Odenkirk of MELVIN GOES TO DINNER, the Audience Award winner for Best Narrative Feature. Lee Miller, director of REAL TIME, gushed “It was the best festival. These guys had their act more together than folks who’ve been running things for 10 years. The film selection was great and the filmmakers were treated so well. It really makes up for our suffering. The best part was watching my film in the theaters I went to growing up. I’m married now but I have three ex-girlfriends who used to live in Somerville. I always thought the town was plagued and cursed but thanks to this festival, I don’t hate it anymore”. “A lot of festivals, including Sundance, don?t always take care of the filmmakers the way they have here,” said Charles Burmeister, the director of THE KING OF SIXTH STREET. “I felt like everything was taken care of for the whole weekend, down to having a free subway pass, which is not even about the money. It?s the fact that I don?t have to think about it and buy one. It?s thoughtful”.

Greg Pritikin, director of DUMMY was among the festival?s biggest supporters. “It was such a pleasure to play at the IFFB. Having been to over two dozen festivals with films I’ve had much experience with both the big fests and the not so big. Boston, even in its inaugural year, was right up there. I look forward to bringing my next film to Boston-whenever that may be. Illeana had a great time too ---a really positive experience. We had such a blast”.

With such glowing praise from the filmmakers, audiences, and press alike, it seems certain that the Independent Film Festival of Boston is destined to grow and catch the attention of people around the world.

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