47 {Iranian Program}

Alireza Ataollah Tabrizi and Ahmad Otraghchi

IRANIAN PROGRAM - Sponsored by Super Vanak International Food Market & Café
80 min | 2020 | Iran | East Coast Premiere

The directors tell 3 separate stories that become rivetingly interwoven, illustrating the difficulty of being a woman alone.

Official Selection: Fajr Int’l FF, Red Sea Int’l FF, Iranian FF - San Francisco.

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GANDO

Teymour Ghaderi

8 min | 2020 | Iran | Boston Premiere

Girls in Sistan and Baluchestan provinces of Iran are tasked with going to the pond to bring water to their villages which can be quite a distance to walk. Most ponds are inhabited by the Iranian crocodile, the Gando and the saying and belief is that where there is a Gando so there is water. They will attack; thus, it is not uncommon for these children to lose a leg or hand to these creatures. This doc tells the story of a 9-year-old girl, Hawa and her experience with a Gando.

Official Selections: Inclús - Barcelona Int’l Disability FF, Scout Winter FF Vermont, Providence Children’s FF, IMFF Maine.

POLITICS

Fardin Zarei

2 min | 2021 | Iran | World Premiere

The story of a carton of eggs and one egg that emerges as a leader.

Jack London's Martin Eden

Jay Craven

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE - Sponsored by Vinotta Restaurant
105 min | 2021 | USA | Boston Premiere

Filmed exclusively on Nantucket during the pandemic, director Jay Craven mystically takes you back in time to the turn of the century and introduces you to Martin Eden, a poor and unschooled sailor who unexpectedly meets a magnetic young woman of means and education. Based on Jack London’s autobiographical novel, this dynamic film captures the socio-economic class distinctions of the time.

Official Selection: World Premiere – Nantucket FF

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THE YELLOW KITE

Yousuf Khan Noor
7 min | 2021 | Bangladesh | US Premiere

Two children…a kite. One a schoolboy, the other a garbage collector and for a few moments they forget that they are on different paths in life.

Official Selection: Peace Film Festival – Dhaka, Bangladesh

Salesmen

Luke Jarvis

OUTSTANDING LOCAL FILMMAKER - Sponsored by High Output
84 min | 2021 | US | World Premiere

We celebrate the screening of this film that was shot in Boston, MA and draws heavily on New England’s rich talent pool. This comedy follows three door-to-door salesmen as they struggle to get by while pursuing an analog profession in a digital world. They unwittingly begin selling propaganda for a cult, whose popularity sweeps the city, leaving the salesmen as the only people who can undo the damage.

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FROM UP ABOVE

León Boltvinik

12 min | 2021 | Mexico | US Premiere

From the interiors of middle-class apartments of Mexico City, everyday scenes are interrupted by the presence of people flying outside the window. We follow the daily routine of high-rise window cleaners, their voice-over shows us their perspective about risking their life every day, an observational documentary on inequality.

SOAP AND WATER

Francesco Cocco

15 min | 2019 | Spain | East Coast Premiere

Alicia puts make-up on her face after yet another special night. The intimacy of her world is broken by the doorbell ringing. On the other side of the door there's Ida, her mother, with some flowers as a birthday gift and her face strained by the gravity of what she's about to confess.

SHEEP WILL DEVOUR US

Mostafa Rostampour and Atefeh Rezayan

10 min | 2019 | Iran | US Premiere

The story of Tahereh, a victim of a premature marriage has just heard of the wedding arrangements being made for her younger sister. Tahereh is obsessed to protect her from the fate she is living.

DANS NOS VEINES - DEEP ROOTS

Luc Godonou Dossou

15 min | 2019 | Switzerland | US Premiere

Inside the cockfighting pits in Thailand, in Philippines and the ones in Guadeloupe, Aod, Edgar and Dolores are preparing their roosters for an upcoming fight in front of a public of bettors and aficionados. For the Thais, the Filipinos and the Guadeloupeans, this ritualized sport runs through their veins meanwhile it is a tradition that seems meant to disappear.

FOR YOUR SAKE

Ronja Hemm

38 min | 2019 | Germany/Nepal

Nepal is facing a generational change. Two daughters of a Tamang family are preparing to study abroad. Their hopes for a better life are high, but the price is immeasurable. They must leave behind what is most treasured, their family. A beautiful intimate window into the lives of women still living traditionally and the younger women who are encouraged by their mothers to reach for more.

SIN CIELO

Jianna Maarten

25 min | 2019 | US | East Coast Premiere

A beautifully captured story of a young boy in a Mexican border town who hustles any way he can to help his family but learns some very cruel realities when the girl he likes gets 'disappeared'. Based on true stories from La Frontera.

HARBOR

Paul Marques Duarte

25 min | 2018 | France | East Coast Premiere

When Adèle, an english teacher, spontaneously lets a young 15 years old migrant, illegally board a ferry for England with her class, she is far from grasping the importance of her gesture and its consequences on this overnight trip.

HENET WARD

Morad Mostafa

23 min | 2020 | Egypt | US Premiere

Halima, a Sudanese henna painter goes to Basma's, a young Egyptian bride to prepare her for her wedding. Under the eyes of her daughter Ward, the encounter between the two women grows from complicity to suddenly unveiled tensions.

LIKE A LADY

Mahmood Pouyandeh

14 min | 2019 | Iran | US Premiere

A young mother is invited to a birthday party in the affluent area of northern Tehran with the traditional and religious trends that live alone with her 10 years old son. In the middle of a birthday party, the mother noticed behaviors from her son who had not met before, and the mother had to leave the party.

WIDOWS

María Guerra

13 min | 2018 | Spain

A comedy in the Spanish tradition…after the sudden death of Alvaro, Julia "his widow", watches over him in their home when she is surprised by an unpleasant visitor, Susana, Alvaro’s first wife who has come with the legitimate intention of saying goodbye to him.

AMALGAMA

Alejandra Wills

13 min | 2019 | Colombia | New England Premiere

A story of sadness and tragedy that has taken a toll on many peasants in the Colombian countryside after being caught up in the on-going conflicts that have plagued the country. This film follows a peasant woman and a young man, an unlikely relationship considering how their paths have crossed.

LOCKS

Pedro del Río

15 min | 2019 | Spain |  US Premiere

A homeless woman finds a set of keys, tries to find out which apartment they belong they will open and takes on a new identity.

REA

Joanna Bielinski

23 min | 2019 | Germany | East Coast Premiere

A tale of domestic abuse, life begins to spiral out of control after the birth of their son. Rea’s depression escalates as well as her abuse against Oliver. Their life in shambles, his job is in jeopardy, Rea fakes a suicide attempt and when the police are called to the apartment, the evidence is determined by outdated gender roles.

NOVEMBER 1ST

Charlie Manton

25 min | 2019 | UK | US Premiere

Traveling to witness the execution of her son’s murderer, a mother is torn between retaliation and reconnecting with her estranged daughter. 

LUGAR ALGUM - NO PLACE

Gabriel Amaral

23 min | 2019 | Brazil |  East Coast Premiere

When Nego discovers that the cacao farm he lives and works on is going to be sold, he must face not only the loss of his home and job, but also the daily contact he has with the land he cherishes so much.