Massachusetts Independent Film Festival

D4B1 - 2:10pm

After hearing a scary bedtime story, a young boy and girl become convinced they have monsters under their beds. They may be right...

dir. Todd Slawsby

*Filmmaker will be in attendance

D4B1 - 2:10pm

In 1985, Parker Brothers produced the CLUE VCR Mystery Game for VHS. Filmed in Massachusetts, it would cast a group of unknown actors to portray the iconic CLUE characters such as Col. Mustard and Professor Plum. While most productions were filmed in Hollywood and New York City at the time, Parker Brothers took a chance and broke the mold by filming with New England based talent. At the time, it became the most successful video board game of its time, revolutionizing the medium of VHS and video gaming. A few years later, Nintendo and Sega would hit toy stores across the country and the VHS began to fade away as the gaming industry quickly changed. 30 years later, the cast and crew reunite to tell the tale which many have forgotten. The trail blazers that helped change the toy market and the actors who put Boston back on the map as a destination for filmmaking, each give their personal and professional opinion on the importance of what the CLUE VCR Mystery Game was all about.

dir. Frank Durant and Tim Labonte

D4B1 - 2:10pm

THE MAYOR OF ROCK & ROLL is a full length feature film about music, love, and failure set against the backdrop of the Boston rock scene. 

dir. Mark Phinney

MA Premiere

*Filmmaker will be in attendance

D4B2 - 4:40pm

A young married couple, deeply in love, walk through New York City on a gray morning wrestling with personal tragedy as they face a heart-wrenching decision just as they reach the Brooklyn Bridge.

dir. Amy Leland

World Premiere

Filmmaker will be in attendance

D4B2 - 4:40pm

The Secret Life of Balloons explores the parallel journeys of a boy and his girlfriend at very different stages of existence. Left lost and believing they’ll never connect again, this uplifting short film asks questions about the boundaries of love, life and letting go. Sometimes there’s only one thing left to say and only one way to say it. 

dir. Lauren and Nina Graham

D4B2 - 4:40pm

Mackenzie, a troubled but daring teenage girl, is sent to live with her uncle in Juneau, Alaska. She longs for her struggling, absent mother, but as her mom’s phone calls become less frequent and her uncle’s care is not what it seems, she must flee. Her only thoughts are to escape her uncle’s grasp and contact her mother somehow, but as she plunges deeper into the Alaskan interior she is suddenly helplessly alone. A chance connection with a loner backpacker, Rene Bartlett, proves to be her only lifeline. As Mackenzie shadows Bartlett across the last frontier, she thwarts his efforts to cut her loose until Bart has no choice but to help her survive in the wilderness. Against the backdrop of a spectacular Alaska landscape, they discover the redemptive power of friendship. Mackenzie and Bartlett prove to be the unlikely salve for each other’s scars, until the damage Mackenzie carries with her threatens to destroy her newfound sanctuary. Returning to civilization, Mackenzie is once again at risk of capture by her uncle as he hounds with manipulative calls and messages. When Bartlett finally discovers her alarming secret, he must make a bold choice to take real responsibility for Mackenzie and help her escape her traumatic past and return home.

dir. Frank Hall Green

8:00pm

Tasty Burger

40 John F. Kennedy St, Cambridge, MA 02138