The Independent Film Festival Boston (IFFBoston) has announced the lineup for its 6th annual Fall Focus Film Festival. This year’s virtual festival runs from October 20th to November 02nd, 2020, and showcases “a dynamic selection of the most anticipated films of the coming season.”
Year after year, the Fall Focus Film Festival’s excellent programmers curate a must-see collection of the season’s standout films. Last year’s event featured buzzworthy titles such as Marriage Story, Waves, The Wild Goose Lake, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire. This year’s virtual line-up is no exception to the event’s stellar track-record and features another intriguing collection of acclaimed titles.
I’ve had the privilege of screening several titles on the list, so I’m confident that this year’s (virtual) festivalgoers are in for a treat.
IFFBoston Fall Focus Film Festival Line-up
MINARI (courtesy of A24)
* OPENING NIGHT FILM *
Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Scott Haze, with Yuh-Jung Youn and Will Patton
A tender and sweeping story about what roots us. MINARI follows a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, MINARI shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
In English and Korean w/English subtitles.
SOUND OF METAL (courtesy of Amazon Studios)
* CENTERPIECE FILM *
Directed by: Darius Marder
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Almaric
The life of an itinerant punk-metal drummer begins to unravel when he suddenly loses his hearing, and with it, his identity.
MLK/FBI (courtesy of IFC Films)
* CLOSING NIGHT FILM *
Directed by: Sam Pollard
Based on recently declassified files, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Pollard explores the US government’s surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King, Jr.
FAREWELL AMOR (courtesy of IFC Films)
Directed by: Ekwa Msangi
Starring: Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Zainab Jah, Jayme Lawson, Nana Mensah, Joie Lee, and Marcus Scribner
Reunited after 17 years apart, an Angolan immigrant welcomes his wife and daughter into his tiny Brooklyn apartment. Now strangers, they find common ground in their shared love of dance.
In English and Portuguese w/English subtitles.
FREELAND
Directed by: Kate McLean and Mario Furloni
Starring: Krisha Fairchild, Frank Mosley, Lily Gladstone, and John Craven
An aging pot farmer (KRISHA’s Krisha Fairchild) suddenly finds her world shattered as she races to bring in what could be her final harvest, fighting against the threat of eviction as the impact of the legalization of the cannabis industry rapidly destroys her idyllic way of life.
LITTLE FISH (courtesy of IFC Films)
Directed by: Chad Hartigan
Starring: Olivia Cooke, Jack O’Connell, Soko, Raúl Castillo, David Lennon, and Carmen Moore
As a memory loss virus runs rampant, one couple (Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell) fights to hold their relationship together before the disease can erase all memory of their love in this sweeping sci-fi romance from Chad Hartigan (MORRIS FROM AMERICA, THIS IS MARTIN BONNER).
NEW ORDER (courtesy of Neon)
Directed by: Michel Franco
Starring: Naian González Norvind, Diego Boneta, Mónica del Carmen, Fernando Cuautle, Eligio Meléndez, and Darío Yazbek
In this riveting, suspenseful dystopian drama from Mexican director Michel Franco, a lavish upper-class wedding goes awry in an unexpected uprising of class warfare that gives way to a violent coup d’etat.
In Spanish w/English subtitles.
NIGHT OF THE KINGS (courtesy of Neon)
Directed by: Philippe Lacôte
Starring: Koné Bakary, Steve Tientcheu, Rasmané Ouédraogo, Issaka Sawadogo, Digbeu Jean Cyrille, Abdoul Karim Konaté, Anzian Marcel, Laetitia Ky, and Denis Lavant
A young man incarcerated in a prison in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire must spend the whole night recounting a story if he hopes to survive.
In French, Dioula, and Nouchi (Ivorian slang) w/English subtitles.
UNDINE (courtesy of IFC Films)
Directed by: Christian Petzold
Starring: Paula Beer, Franz Rogowski, Maryam Zaree, and Jacob Matschenz
The life of a historian lecturing on Berlin’s urban development takes a turn toward the mythic when she falls in love with a diver in the latest film by Christian Petzold (TRANSIT, PHOENIX, BARBARA).
In German w/English subtitles.
ZAPPA (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Directed by: Alex Winter
Featuring: Frank Zappa, Gail Zappa, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, David Harrington, Mike Keneally, Scott Thunes, Ruth Underwood, Steve Vai, and Ray White
An intimate and expansive look into the innovative life of the iconic—and iconoclastic—musician Frank Zappa. Culled from over a thousand hours of mostly unseen material from Zappa’s personal vault by director Alex Winter and his team.
Tickets for FALL FOCUS events will be available for purchase at iffboston.org on or about October 22.
