Just as surely as robins, crocuses and construction crews on Memorial Drive, spring brings with it the beginning of film festival season. From Cannes to Sundance to Tribeca, filmmakers across the world take to the screens with their latest and greatest in hopes of capturing audiences’ imaginations (or, at the very least, a distributor). Here in the Bay State, the preeminent festival is the Independent Film Festival Boston, which kicks off Wednesday. For the next seven days, IFFBoston will bring dozens of documentaries, narrative features, and shorts to the Brattle Theatre and the Somerville Theatre, before closing the following Wednesday across the river at the Coolidge with a screening of Olivia Wilde’s new dramedy “The Invite.” The program is so rich that it’s tough to go wrong, but the sheer scope of the offerings can be a bit intimidating to the casual moviegoer. With that in mind, here are our picks for some of the most intriguing titles from this year’s festival.
1. “I Love Boosters”
Director Boots Riley had already made a name for himself as the mastermind of the ’90s cult hip hop collective The Coup before making his directorial debut in 2018 with the inventive dystopian satire “Sorry to Bother You.” Eight years later, Riley returns to the screen with his follow-up, which has been tapped as IFFBoston’s opening night selection. Drawing inspiration from a 2006 Coup song of the same name, “Boosters” stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie and Taylour Paige as a trio of fashion-forward thieves who take aim at a famous designer (the re-ascendant Demi Moore). “Boosters” promises to extend Riley’s signature blend of outrageous humor and razor-sharp satire, with a killer supporting cast (including LaKeith Stanfield, Don Cheadle and Will Poulter) and eye-popping costumes from “Everything Everywhere All at Once” designer Shirley Kurata. Riley will be in the theater for the show Wednesday, April 22, 7:30 p.m. at Somerville Theatre.
2. “I Want Your Sex”
The latest film from pioneering New Queer Cinema filmmaker Gregg Araki (“The Doom Generation,” “Mysterious Skin”) is a characteristically outrageous look at contemporary gender rules and sexual mores. Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) plays a young naïf who takes a job as “assistant” to a provocative artist (Olivia Wilde), only to find himself drawn into a web of psychosexual head games. Araki has been enjoying a wave of new admirers in recent years thanks to a Criterion box set of his most celebrated works, as well as a society that has caught up with his films’ defiantly queer outlook. In “I Want Your Sex,” Araki in turn casts an eye toward a new generation which, while more progressive than those who have come before, has developed a somewhat queasy relationship with sex. One thing seems clear: Gregg Araki has lost little of his power to shock. (Friday, April 24, 8:30 p.m., Brattle Theatre)
3. “School for Defectors”
Following last year’s delightful New England-set documentary “Secret Mall Apartment,” director Jeremy Workman travels across the world to focus on a different set of iconoclasts. Discrimination runs rampant in South Korea toward defectors and refugees from the neighboring North Korean regime. In “School for Defectors,” Workman sits in on the tiny Jangdaehyun School in Busan, whose total of 20 students are all the children of defectors. Made with a rare level of access and collaboration with his sources, Workman shines a light on an often-overlooked community. (Saturday, April 25, 5:30 p.m., Brattle Theatre)
4. “Remake”
The festival’s centerpiece documentary selection comes courtesy of Ross McElwee, whose 1986 film “Sherman’s March” was a hugely influential blend of narratives historical (the story of General William Tecumseh Sherman’s famous march to the sea) and personal (McElwee’s own romantic troubles while making the movie). McElwee’s latest film, “Remake,” again plumbs this territory, contrasting McElwee’s attempts to work with Hollywood on a narrative remake of “Sherman’s March” with the death of his son Adrian and how it has affected his work. A great documentarian explores not just the subject at hand, but the ways in which their chosen medium interacts with their message. In this respect, McElwee is one of the best. (Saturday, April 25, 7:30 p.m., Somerville Theatre)
5. “Blue Heron”
Canadian filmmaker Sophy Romvari is among the most acclaimed directors to have not yet released a single feature; her shorts, particularly 2020’s “Still Processing,” have made her a cause célèbre among cinephiles, netting the director her own showcase on the Criterion Channel. Romvari’s long-awaited feature debut, “Blue Heron,” extends the intimacy of her shorts, telling the semi-autobiographical story of a family of Hungarian immigrants making a home on Vancouver Island in the late ’90s. The film has already drawn acclaim at the film festivals in Toronto and Locarno and is likely to be one of the most talked-about debuts of the year. (Sunday, April 26, 8:00 p.m., Brattle Theatre)
Bonus: Local Filmmakers!
IFFBoston collects films from around the world, but it would be remiss if it did not recognize the bustling film scene right in its backyard. This year’s locally grown features include “Marblehead Morning: 50 Years in Harmony” (Sunday, 12:00 p.m. at the Brattle), about North Shore music legends Mason Daring and Jeanie Stahl, and “The Big Cheese” (Sunday, 7:00 p.m. at the Brattle), a documentary about an ambitious American cheese monger (you read that right!) directed by Harvard alum Sara Joe Wolansky. On the short film end, Sunday at noon sees the long-running Boston Open Screen program set up shop in the Somerville Theatre’s Microcinema, while the Student Film Showcase graces the Somerville’s main screen with work from the film programs at Tufts, Lesley, Fitchburg State, and more. While it may not have the glamour of Hollywood or the grit of New York, Boston is a great film city, and it’s always a thrill to see what your neighbors have been cooking up.
The Independent Film Festival Boston runs Wednesday, April 22 through Wednesday, April 29 at Brattle Theatre, Somerville Theatre, and Coolidge Corner Theatre. For complete showtimes and ticket info, check out IFFBoston’s official website.
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