
By Brian Goslow
Boston, MA – The Sixth Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF) takes place October 27 through 30 at the Capitol Theatre in Arlington, Mass. Founded by J. Alberto Guzman, the event’s organizer, AIFF’s goal is to provide its community with a cross-cultural education experience “by promoting understanding of the many cultures represented in our town and beyond” through its movie screenings.
This AIFF is partnering with The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy for the official Kick-Off for this year’s Festival this Friday, September 23 at 7 p.m., with a special screening of international shorts on The Rose Kennedy Greenway, Dewey Square, Boston. Prior to this week’s event, artscope’s managing editor, Brian Goslow, exchanged questions with AIFF executive director April Ranck to learn more about the festival and Friday’s opening events. Artscope Magazine is proud to be a 2016 AIFF sponsor.
BRIAN GOSLOW: TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ARLINGTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (AIFF) …
APRIL RANCK: The mission of AIFF, now in its sixth year, is to foster appreciation for different cultures by exploring the lives of people around the globe through independent film — to nurture the next generation of filmmakers.
In keeping with the mission, AIFF has three distinct components, one being the annual poster contest where the winning poster becomes the face of the festival, the High School Filmmaker’s Competition that was registered this year with UNESCO, and its master component, that of the film festival that showcases some of the finest and most creative cinematic works in the world, those of independent filmmakers.
We are proud to have screened films that have been recognized world-wide, chosen to tour internationally with the State Department, participants of the Cannes Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival in Italy, Berlin Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival, purchased by HBO and PBS and nominated for Academy Awards.
YOU’RE STARTING WITH A “SHORTS PROGRAM” SCREENING ON THE GREENWAY. WHAT WILL BE SHOWING AND WHAT MAKES THIS A SPECIAL EVENT?
AIFF takes great pride in its collaborations and its commitment to building vibrant partnerships with organizations, businesses, educational, arts and cultural institutions in New England. It is an honor for AIFF to partner with The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy for the official Kick-Off of this year’s Festival featuring a special screening of international shorts on The Rose Kennedy Greenway, Dewey Square, Friday evening, September 23, at 7 p.m.
Our program will take you around the world beginning with “Sensorium” and “Perpetual Motion,” two shorts by the late award-winning animator, Karen Aqua, a Bostonian, who joined forces with her musician husband, Ken Field. The results are imaginative, experimental films exploring the relationship between music and image.
“Wedding Cake” is an amination from Germany by director Viola Baier where two marzipan figures come to life on top of a wedding cake and begin to sculpt the perfect marriage out of cake icing. With evolving day-to-day routines, lack of effort and disappearing interest in one another, this perfect marriage is hijacked.
A comedic parody, “Yo Presidenta,” by Spanish director Arantxa Echevarria, is a commentary on the social issues of our time. Chaos reigns as elections take place in Europe; they need to find a leader quickly. Through a psychological study, it is shown that the most gifted to lead the nation is a person who has the most friends on Facebook.
Official Selection of the 2015 Venice Film Festival, “The Baby” by Iranian/Italian director Ali Asgar tells the story of Narges and her friend who have just a few hours to find someone to take care of her baby for a few days; her family is coming to visit her at university unexpectedly.
“Mee,” by German director Letty Felgendreher, is a special story of an international adoption told through the art of animation.
United States director C. Whitehead is the creator of the three-minute animation, “FALLT.” A farmer struggles to keep his land when Mr. Falt’s fault finding goes too far. Gravity must be found and a judge must question his judgement. A humorous commentary on law.
“The Missing Scarf” is an animation by Eoin Duf, a director from Ireland. A black comedy exploring some of life’s common fears: fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of rejection and finally the fear of death. Narrated by George Takei and short listed for the 2014 Oscar Short Animation award.
“O Atelier” by Brazilian director Edgar Duvivier is a witty narrative about art…the value, legitimacy, creativity, ethics and appropriation of art. The creative experience meets the temptation of fraud.
WHAT’S THE VALUE OF AN EVENT LIKE THIS IN GETTING WORD OF THE FESTIVAL OUT?
It provides us the opportunity to connect with a wider audience that otherwise might not know about AIFF. We love sharing these amazing independent film creations and invite everyone to come to this year’s festival at the Arlington Capitol Theatre October 27– 30.
HOW CAN PEOPLE LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL AND WHAT DO THEY NEED TO KNOW IN TERMS OF PURCHASING ADVANCE TICKETS?
Festival Passes are on sale through the end of this month and can be purchased on our website, www.AIFFest.org. They will be available for purchase at the AIFF table in the theater lobby on October 27. Individual tickets will be available for purchase online or at the box office closer to the date of the Festival.
(Early Bird Festival Passes for this year’s AIFF are now available for $65; for more details and to purchase tickets for this year’s screenings, visit the Arlington International Film Festival website at AIFFest.org.)