For the past 26 years, the Roxbury International Film Festival has brought conversation and community to Boston area movie lovers. Artistic/Executive Director Lisa Simmons has been a part of it since day one.
“RoxFilm focuses on celebrating people of color around the world,” a busy Simmons said on a phone call between meetings and making last-minute arrangements ahead of the festival. “We want to uplift voices, individual stories and organizations that really impact the Black and brown community. The wonderful thing about all of the different film festivals in the Boston area is that they have niche, specific audiences, yet they also appeal to a larger audience. It really serves as an opportunity to learn about and be inspired by stories that you don’t always see in mainstream media.”
Offering 10 days of film screenings, panel discussions, live script readings and filmmaker hangouts, this year’s RoxFilm runs from Thursday, June 20 through Friday, June 28 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Northeastern University, MassArt and Dudley Street’s historic Hibernian Hall, with additional online screenings available from Thursday, June 27 through Tuesday, July 2, in case you can’t get there in person. RoxFilm@Home was a COVID-19-era necessity that Simmons decided to make permanent. “We still think that’s an important part of the festival. It makes things accessible to people who otherwise would not have been able to come out for some reason.”