
Closing Night: May the Lord Watch (co-presenting with BAMS Fest)
Q&A to follow. Then join us a post-film closing night party - location TBA!
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Q&A to follow. Then join us a post-film closing night party - location TBA!
Film lineup:
New York Tough
Lyrical
Easy Money
Acceptance
Billy Somethin
Black Business
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
Pow!
Hadu
Fou
SATURDAY
15 Lines
Way Back Home
Chocolate With Sprinkles
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
Patrick Kelly: The American in Paris
What Ascends from Ashes
Take 290
Ikhaya
Naudline Pierre: A Place Other Than Here
Howardena Pindell: Inner Circle
Weree
Q&A to follow.
Q&A to follow.
Join us for a special afternoon of honoring Frank Silvera, a pioneer in Black Cinema with a screening and conversation. Frank Silvera’s daughter, Linda Silvera will also be in attendance.
Film lineup:
Beyond the Headlines: The NABJ Journey
Chrisman Blues
Redline Narratives: The Lost Cultural Hubs of Boston
Never Cried
The Brunch
Q&A to follow.
Join us for a special screening of shorts focused on our global communities. Seats are limited and not guaranteed! This event is not included in the festival pass; you must RSVP separately.
Film lineup:
Boston Carnival
Kluskap Meets Summer
Janke
Kanenon:we - Original Seeds
The Last Dance
Film lineup:
Taper
Jean & I
Boat People
Ya Hanouni
Dream Weaver
Never Can Say Goodbye
Superman Doesn't Steal
BELIEF
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
UNCAGED
Tyler
Emascipation
Escaping The Stigma
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
SOUL OF THE CITY
Don’t Judge Me
Massissippi
Blood On Our Shoes Docu-Film
Q&A to follow.
Join us for our 2nd annual Senior Lunch Screening! Boxed lunches will be provided. Q&A to follow.
Q&A to follow.
Dinner and A Movie is back! Join us for a special screening focused on Black maternal health followed by an intimate discussion. Seats are limited! This event is not included in the festival pass; separate tickets must be purchased.
Film lineup:
The Last Dance
El Colmadon
Four Women of Gulu Town
Poetry is Not A Luxury
Q&A to follow.
Q&A to follow.
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
Transference
Go Get Harry
The Bet
Night Way Home
Desired
The Streetlight
Fan Death
Introducing Mimi
Cruella
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
You Worry Too Much
Don't Talk to Strangers
If Heaven Comes Back
Hollow
Divinity 2
The Elephant Gun
In The Silence
The Gift and The Curse
Omelet Sunday
Hey Guys, How Are We On The Writing Process?
Untitled Artist
From The Moon To Her Sun
Inside the Mind
My Black Is…
Until Daylight Comes
Supernova
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
The Acolytes of the South Bronx
Long Hast Thou Stood
AfriCOBRA & Nelson Stevens: Art for the People
Hear Me
Redefining Legacy
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
ALLURE
Not A Typical Alien
New Treasure
Ketchup & Watermelon
Taper
Soleá
KARMA
Q&A to follow.
Film lineup:
Reclamation- This is My Country, This is My Land
FearLess (Nirbhaya)
Bridged Together
Donde comienzas tú
In Living Memory
Love of A Lifetime
Sea Charm
Q&A to follow.
Q&A to follow. Then join us at LUCIE for a post-film opening night party!
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.
For additional updates, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of the page.
SONGS FROM THE HOLE
Directed by Contessa Gayles.
Through clear-eyed narration and lyrical journal entries, incarcerated musician James “JJ’88” Jacobs reveals his innermost struggles as a person who has both committed and experienced violent harm. While serving a double-life prison sentence, he searches for healing and peace as he comes of age in this documentary-musical odyssey composed behind bars.
In a unique creative process, director Contessa Gayles collaborated with protagonist/writer JJ’88 and producer/music producer richie reseda to interweave the collective storytelling of the film’s non-fiction participants, with imagined memories, dreams and spiritual dialogues set to JJ’88’s original music. The result is a powerful mix of truth-telling and dreaming that reveal the potential for healing and liberation within us all.
Co-presented by Roxbury International Film Festival. Sponsored by Salem Human Rights Coalition, Oh Snap! Photo Booth Studio, Titlecard Music & Sound, and Sonesta Select Boston Danvers.
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.
For additional updates, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of the page.