A STORY OF A SHARED LOVE OF BASEBALL

Diamond Diplomacy explores the long and complex relationship between the U.S. and Japan through the shared love of baseball, revealing a moving diplomatic history that spans generations. The film features a cross-cultural lineup of baseball legends, including Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Shohei Ohtani, and Ichiro Suzuki—newly inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame—and makes a powerful case for sports as a conduit for international healing, connection, and resilience.

Q&A with director Yuriko Gamo Romer to follow the screening.

Click here for more event information.

Join us and IFF Boston as we co-present NIGHT FIGHT!

Night Fight

Directed by Khary Saeed Jones

It's been seven years since director Khary Saeed Jones was followed by a vigilante down back roads in rural Canada. During that time, he has sought to document—at first, unwittingly—the emergence of the versions of himself that were born on that day and in the weeks and months afterward. 

Now, as he returns to the town, he begins to wonder whether he wants answers to his many questions or something else. NIGHT FIGHT chronicles Jones’ journey through the shadow life spawned by this encounter and his struggle to share his truth with his young son. The feeling of being hunted is at the center of NIGHT FIGHT—but what does it take to document a feeling?

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Expected to be in attendance at the festival:

Director Khary Saeed Jones, Producer Kendra T. Field, Subject Elizabeth Hinton, Subject Vincent Brown, Subject Kellie Carter Jackson, Subject Gregory Childs, Subject Kerrie Greenidge, Subject Kirsten Greenidge, Subject Patrick Sylvain, and Sound Designer Eric Masunaga

ArtsEmerson presents Shared Stories, a monthly film series in collaboration with the Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF), CineFest Latino Boston, and the Roxbury International Film Festival (RoxFilm) seeking to build community, shared conversation, and experiences through cinema. This pilot series aspires to create a shared space to find commonality across experiences, and encourage the exchange of stories and ideas.

IGUALADA

Directed by Juan Mejia Botero

In Colombia, a nation marred by profound racial and socio-economic disparities, a Black woman from a rural background challenges the status quo by launching a presidential campaign. Reappropriating the term “Igualada,” Francia Márquez, catapults a movement to the upper echelons of power, by refusing to “know her place.” Fifteen years in the making, this documentary peels back the curtain on how unprecedented change can happen. Trailer.

Visit the event page for more information about the filmmakers.

Q&A with the filmmakers to follow.

• Juan Mejia Botero, Director

• Juan E. Yepes, Producer

• Sabrina Aviles, Founder/Executive Director, CineFest Latino

ASSEMBLY

Directed by Rashaad Newsome.

Interdisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome embarks on a journey with a global cast of artists, vogue dancers, and ground-breaking AI to transform a historic military facility in NYC into an Afro-futurist utopia. This once-in-a-lifetime performance captured on screen investigates and re-imagines LGBTQ and Black cultural expression through fresh, decolonized minds.

Wicked Queer Festival:

Founded in 1984 by film programmer George Mansour, Wicked Queer is one of the longest-running Queer film festivals in the world. We are proud to be an all-volunteer organization.

Our mission is to build community and to celebrate Queer storytelling and filmmaking through the uplifting of voices and stories not yet heard and to present and preserve the vibrancy of our histories.

REMAINING NATIVE

Directed by Paige Bethmann

Ku Stevens (17) is a solo runner at his high school with no coach. Living on the Yerington Paiute reservation in Northwest Nevada, he needs to achieve more to be recognized by his dream school, the University of Oregon. As Ku trains, unreconciled emotions unearth the memory of his great-grandfather, Frank Quinn, who ran 50 miles across the desert to escape an Indian boarding school at just eight years old. Frank’s story becomes interwoven with Ku’s journey to run a collegiate qualifying time. Will Ku outrun his history or will he learn to live in parallel with it to achieve his dreams?

Co-presented by Roxbury International Film Festival. Sponsored by Moody's Home & Gifts, Essex's N.Y. Pizza and Deli, Salem Historical Tours, Artemisia Botanicals.

About Salem Film Festival

Since 2007, Salem Film Fest (SFF) has brought the world's best independent documentaries and their makers to Boston's North Shore. Now the largest international documentary film festival in Massachusetts, the event annually presents features, shorts and special events to a loyal audience of thousands. The festival is mostly run by volunteers through a non-profit entity, Salem Community Arts Center, Inc.

The 18th annual Salem Film Film will take place March 27-30, 2025, with filmmaker Q&As, parties, and other special events. The annual Program Reveal took place on March 2, 2025. Tickets for SFF 2025 are on sale beginning Monday March 3, 2025.

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