Another week of important cinema is nigh!
Wednesday, April 22 marks the beginning of Independent Film Festival Boston‘s 2015 fest.
Per usual with UTG, we wanted to let our readers know what films we are most excited for in the upcoming fest. Just under 100 films are playing between April 22 and 29. Unfortunately, we cannot attend all of them. You know, unless you have a magical time machine we can borrow from you.
Anyway, might as well get into the thick of it while I have your attention, right?
The Keeping Room
Indie darling Brit Marling (The East, Another Earth) stars in this high-concept western with hints of revenge. Directed by Daniel Barber — the man who made the underrated 2009 Michael Cain thriller, Harry Brown — The Keeping Room follows a trio of women who must protect their homestead from two rogue soldiers at the end of the Civil War. The trio is made up of Marling, Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), and Muna Otaru while it is rumored that one of the rogue soldiers is played by Sam Worthington (Avatar).
Screens April 26 @ Somerville Theater: 8:30pm — Tickets
The Look of Silence
Documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer’s follow-up to the devastating and critically-acclaimed The Act of Killing is The Look of Silence. The Look of Silence is executive produced by Werner Herzog and Errol Morris and covers the Indonensian killings of 1965-66. The killings were part of a genocide that occurred after a failed coup. The Look of Silence follows a family that must confront the men who killed one of their brothers. If you didn’t know by now, Oppenheimer makes beautiful and morally devastating docs sure to make the viewer think critically about the source material.
Screens April 26 @ Brattle Theater: 6:00pm — Tickets
The Tribe
The Tribe is a Ukranian film coming hot off of crazy buzz from previous screenings at Sundance, Cannes, and Fantastic Fest. Miroslav Slaboshpitsky’s narrative directorial debut follows a new arrival to a boarding school for the deaf. The school deals in organized crime including looting and prostitution. A ripple is caused when one of the male students falls for one of the girls he is assigned to pimp. I’ve heard from other film critics that the feature is a disturbing and exhausting trip into experimental film making.
Screens April 24 @ Somerville Theater: 9:15pm — Tickets
The End Of The Tour
Coming hot off some really positive buzz from Sundance, director James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour follows journalist David Lipsky’s experiences with author David Foster Wallace on Wallace’s promotional book tour. Lipsky is portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg (who starred in The Double, which screened at IFF 2014) and Wallace is played by Jason Segel. Even though A24 has already picked up the film and will be releasing it on July 6, IFF will be showcasing it on opening night! Word of mouth is strong with this one as I’ve heard multiple people praise Segel’s performance as Wallace, even though the official Wallace Literary Estate did not endorse the film. James Ponsoldt also directed The Spectacular Now, which is, you know, spectacular. Also, Ponsoldt and Segel will be in attendance.
Screens April 22 @ Somerville Theater: 7:30pm — Tickets
Call Me Lucky
Bobcat Goldthwait, actor from the Police Academy films and director of World’s Greatest Dad, returns with a passion project of his. Call Me Lucky is his documentary on Barry Crimmins, an American political satirist who took no prisoners akin to the rants of Lenny Bruce. Goldthwait is known for his rapid-fire dark comedy and I can think of no better subject to study than Barry Crimmins having known about Goldthwait’s cinematic predilections. As a plus, Goldthwait will be in attendance at the screening of the film at IFF.
Screens April 25 @ Somerville Theater: 7:00pm — Tickets
Slow West
As you may have noticed by the first film on this list, I have a bit of a crush on everything in the Western genre. Slow West is no exception. The story follows a 16-year-old boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee of The Road, Let Me In) as he traverses 19th century America in the search for the woman he loves. Naturally, he’s accompanied by the deadly and mysterious Silas (Michael Fassbender). Slow West also co-stars Rory McCann (Game of Thrones) and Ben Mendelsohn (Killing Them Softly), who is always a devious pleasure to watch. The film garnered positive buzz at Sundance and is sure to whet the appetite of any Western genre lover who pines for some shoot-em-up violence in the old west. Slow West hits DirecTV on April 16 and limited theatrical release on May 15. Might as well see it early, right!?
Screens on April 23 and 25 @ Somerville Theater: 7:15pm and 7:30pm, respectively — Tickets
