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The Independent Film Festival Boston Must Go On

Dozens of arts and cultural events have been canceled or postponed because of the Marathon bombings, but the Independent Film Festival Boston will open Wednesday night as planned. Filmmakers from all over the world have been sending messages of concern to the organizers since the bombing.

Festival director and founder Adam Roffman said it reminds him of the outpouring that brought about the Tribeca Film Festival in the wake of 9/11 to help get New York back on its feet. “We’ve already been doing this for 10 years and this was already coming up — so this isn’t in response to that," Roffman said, adding, "but we are happy that we are giving the city something to look forward to this soon after these events.”

All 80 filmmakers who were planning to attend the weeklong festival still are, according to Roffman. About 12-15,000 ticket buyers are expected to fill the seats, but Roffman admits he’s worried about low turnout.

This year's programming schedule is packed: 105 shorts, feature-length and documentary films will be screened between Wednesday April 24 and Tuesday April 30. The venues are the Somerville Theatre, the Coolidge Corner Theatre, the Brattle Theatre, Theatre 1 at the Revere Hotel, and UMass Boston.

The Independent Film Festival of Boston is a homegrown event, now in its 11th year and it's run by a mostly volunteer staff.

Kaj Wilson reviews three of this year's films.

Erin Trahan reviews the shorts programs.

This program aired on April 24, 2013. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Andrea Shea

Andrea Shea Correspondent, Arts & Culture
Andrea Shea is a correspondent for WBUR's arts & culture reporter.

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