The Roxbury International Film Festival continues to showcase and honor the works of emerging filmmakers of color as well as established filmmakers, and has become the largest festival in New England dedicated to this genre.
Info
Venue
Virtual Event
On Demand Streaming JUN 28 @ 10AM ET- JUL 2 @ 11:59PM ET
Single ticket purchase window closes JUN 30 @ 11:59PM ET
Dates
Jun 28, 2023 - Jul 02, 2023
Details
$10 per registration
Viewing window closes JUL 2 @ 11:59pm
Films
The HoneyMoon
Directed by Bianca Issac
1:49:00 | Ages 16+ | South Africa, 2022
When Katya gets dumped the night before her wedding, her two best friends rally together to make good use of her honeymoon – but will their friendship survive a wild time in Zanzibar?
Cambridge MA resident Lewis “Doc” West is moving out of his apartment and into a new place across town. He’s blind, Black, and a blues musician. He lives with the power of Jesus, with faith that the Lord will provide and see him through life’s challenges.
Cara Romero: Following the Light
Directed by Kaela Waldstein
27:09 | All Ages | USA, 2022
A documentary on contemporary fine art photographer Cara Romero. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero was raised between contrasting settings: the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, CA and the urban sprawl of Houston, TX. Romero’s identity informs her photography, a blend of fine art and editorial photography, shaped by years of study and a visceral approach to representing Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and lived experiences from a Native American female perspective.
Charles Gaines: Systems and Structures
Directed by Directed by Ian Forster, Sue Ding
10:39 | All Ages | USA, 2022
A pivotal figure in the field of conceptual art, Charles Gaines investigates the production of knowledge and culture by using rule-based systems to create paintings, drawings, musical compositions, and sculptures. Culminating in the completion of Moving Chains (2022), a 100-foot-long public sculpture on Governors Island in New York City.
Dancing Diplomat
Directed by Andrew Eldridge
20:00 | All Ages | USA, 2022
Meet Aysha Upchurch. Dancer. Educator. Diplomat. Peacemaker. Aysha is a force of nature, but it’s her gift for inspiring students that truly makes her shine.
Azikiwe Mohammed is a Guy Who Makes Stuff
Directed by Brian Redondo
9:37 | All Ages | USA, 2022
“The word artist is a little funky … I would self-describe as a ‘guy who makes stuff.’” Rejecting the cult of the genius artist, Azikiwe Mohammed embraces the modest, the eclectic, and above all the helpful.
The Mural Master
Directed by Andrew Eldridge
20:00 | All Ages | USA, 2023
A Roxbury iconoclast whose work defined hip-hop’s golden age, Rob ‘ProBlak’ Gibbs made his name with murals but became a legend by giving a voice to the unheard.
Directed by Ivan Madeira
1:15:00 | Ages 16+ | Canada, 2022 | Content Warning: Maternal death – Trauma
It’s 5 months after the death of Curtis’ partner Mia due to post-birth complications. As the initial fog of grief starts to lift, he is at a crossroads of how he wants to raise their daughter Salome.
How to Cure Insomnia
Directed by Khiam’e L.F.
18:57 | Ages 16+ | USA, 2023
Seventeen years of life. Eight years of braces. Two years of diapers. Seven hours of labor. A lifetime of waiting and worrying if today will be the day that he won’t come home. Welcome to motherhood. There is no cure.
Directed by Keith Heyward, Jennifer Berglund, Gange Anita Yeti Enomenga, Obe Beatriz Nenquimo Nihua
1:45:00 | All Ages | Ecuador, 2022
Steeped in the long oral tradition of Waorani storytelling, Gange Yeti shares her own coming-of-age story as a young Waorani woman living deep within the Amazon rainforest. Following Gange and her community for over 11 years, the film captures her transition from a quiet teenager into a confident young mother at a critical turning point for her culture and rainforest. As the granddaughter of one of the last Waorani elders that lived in complete isolation before outside contact, Gange is determined to capture her grandmother’s unique experience while she still can — balancing school, motherhood, and tradition along the way.
Ohke Kah Nippi Mehquontamūonk (Earth and Water Memory)
Directed by Mar Yael Parrilla
21:41 | All Ages | USA, 2022
Ohke Kah Nippi Mehquontamūonk (Earth and Water Memory) is a site-specific dance theater piece that explores three Indigenous artists’ relationship to earth, water, and memory.
Directed by Valerio Ciriaci
1:10:00 | All Ages | USA, 2022
“Stonebreakers” chronicles the conflicts around monuments that arose in the United States during the George Floyd protests and the 2020 presidential election. As statues of Columbus, Confederates and Founding Fathers fall from their pedestals, the nation’s triumphalist myths are called into question. By exploring the shifting landscapes of American monumentality, the film interrogates the link between history and political action in a nation that must confront its past now more urgently than ever.
Higher Power
Directed by Dewey Ortiz
1:03:43 | Ages 16+ | USA, 2022
Higher Power is a feature-length documentary exploring Washington, D.C.’s fight for cannabis legalization as part of a larger push for self-governance and statehood. Part advocacy doc, part travelog and celebration of Black Washingtonian culture, Higher Power highlights local residents looking to create prosperity and nab a piece of the American Dream while trapped in a political system that denies its citizens the fundamental right to self-rule.
Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land
Directed by Eternal Polk
1:35:40 | All Ages | USA, 2022
In just a few decades after the end of enslavement, Black Americans were able to amass millions of acres of farmland. Today approximately 90% of that land is no longer in Black hands. Various factors have been employed to take Black land including violence, eminent domain and government discrimination. But it is a little-known issue – Heirs’ Property – which has had a devastating effect on Black land ownership.
Directed by Yvan Iturriaga, Francisco Nuñez
1:31:00 | All Ages | USA, 2022
Iconoclastic bluesman Fantastic Negrito faces his demons as he records his third Grammy-winning album. Digging deep into his turbulent past, he searches to answer the question: in a sick society, how do you keep from going crazy?
Boston House Music Dance Doc
Directed by Fres C.
37:07 | All Ages | USA, 2023
During the 80s / early 90s in Boston House Music Dance & House Parties Era, We saved old party flyers, DJs radio station tapes and VHS tapes from collecting throughout the years to bring you this doc.
Directed by Mark Parry
58:00 | All Ages | USA, 2022
He never sought public recognition. He never ran for office. He was not interested in gaining media attention or being a household name, so…Who is Watson? As an African American born during the great depression, Bernard Watson always knew he would have to work harder, but he had a plan.
The Big Idea: Birth Without Bias
Directed by Sarah Klein, Tom Mason
23:53 | All Ages | USA, 2023
Motivated by her own harrowing birth experience, journalist Kimberly Seals Allers is disrupting the hospital system to transform Black maternal health outcomes in the U.S. Her app turns reviews from Black and Brown birthers into a powerful tool for hospitals to change their practices — but are they ready to listen?
Team Dream
Directed by Directed by Luchina Fisher
17:20 | All Ages | USA, 2022
TEAM DREAM follows friends Ann and Madeline on their journey to the National Senior Games, where they compete in the swim events, and nothing — not age, race or history — will stand in their way.
A Great Day in Roxbury’s Highland Park
Directed by Bithyah Israel
30:53 | All Ages | USA, 2023
On November 6, 2021, seventy-seven Elders of Roxbury’s Highland Park neighborhood gathered for a photo shoot with esteemed photographer Hakim Raquib to commemorate their resilience and success in making the neighborhood a vibrant and enduring one.
The Price of Hope
Directed by Caroline Josey Karoki
1:00:00 | All Ages | USA, 2023
In the remote settlement of Kimana, Kenya, girls show strength and resilience amid inconceivable trauma after being rescued from FGM and child marriage by Dorcus and John Parit
How to Cure Insomnia
Boston House Music Dance Doc
The Big Idea: Birth Without Bias
Team Dream
A Great Day in Roxbury’s Highland Park
The Price of Hope
