Roxbury film fest takes on international name, flair

The movies series formerly known as the Roxbury Film Festival is back for the 12th year with revised nomenclature. Its tweaked name — the Roxbury International Film Festival (RIFF) —and its new slogan —“Local Ties, Global Reach”— signal an expanded focus anchored by fidelity to roots.

 “We are very excited about this year’s festival with a new name and a new logo,” said Lisa Simmons, RIFF co-producer. “We embrace a global community of filmmakers celebrating people of color coupled with our continued commitment to local filmmakers. The Roxbury International Festival gives us the best of both worlds and an array of work that showcases the vision, voice, and vitality of people of color here and abroad.” 

New England’s largest film festival dedicated to celebrating people of color, RIFF premieres next Thursday (July 29) and runs through Sun., Aug. 1.  Presented by The Color of Film Collaborative and ACT Roxbury, a program of Madison Park Development Corporation, RIFF will screen more than 50 films including features, shorts, documentaries, and youth-produced works over those four days.

Festival highlights include Asian and Cape Verdean-themed pictures as well as films by local Afro-Americans.  For example, “Children of Invention,” a 2009 Sundance Festival selection and winner of 16 festival awards, marks the debut of writer-director Tze Chen. Two young children are left to fend for themselves in Boston when their hard-working mom disappears after getting embroiled in a pyramid scheme. Chen based this semi-autobiographical movie on his memories of being home alone in Boston when his own mother got mixed up in a direct marketing Ponzi scheme.

Independent filmmaker Guenny Pires explores overlooked aspects of the African Diaspora in his docudrama, “Contract,” filmed on the Cape Verde Islands and in the United States in Portuguese and English (with subtitles and narrative). It tells the compelling story of two African countries (Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe) forever linked by a history of poverty and slavery, and two people forever linked by the unbreakable bonds of family and love.

 “Do It Again” depicts one man’s dedication and passion to reunite one of his favorite rock bands, The Kinks. Directed by Roxbury native Robert Patton-Spruill, and produced by Boston Globe writer Geoff Edgers, this entertaining documentary chronicles Edgers’s quest to bring back together the surviving members of the well known British rock band and get the true story behind their music and breakup. Patton-Spruill, who directed videos for Public Enemy, mixes interviews with Kinks fans such as Sting, Zooey Deschanel, REM’s Peter Buck, and Clive Davis with classic concert clips.

In addition to these screenings, the 12th annual RIFF will offer a dynamic mix of entertainment-career networking and community-based programming for families and filmmaking enthusiasts. Among the local offerings is the youth-produced short “Mr. President.” Press Pass TV teamed up with Student Director Rene Dongo and incarcerated father Darrell Jones to bring together some of Boston’s most talented Hip Hop and spoken word artists and send an important message to Barack Obama. “At a time when we have our nation’s first Black President, we also have 1 in 100 Americans and 1 in 9 Black men of parenting age in prison.”

About 4,000 people are expected to attend screenings in RIFF’s multiple venues. Some showings are right in the heart of Roxbury in places like Hibernian Hall and the Haley House Bakery Café; others are close by (Museum of Fine Arts, Mass College of Arts, and the Annex Auditorium at Wentworth College).
To purchase festival passes and to find out more information on special guests, panels, awards and other RIFF events, please visit: roxburyfilmfestival.org.