The Independent Film Festival Boston launches tonight in Somerville with The Hollars, a comedy directed by Newton native and The Office alum John Krasinski with a cast including Charlie Day, Anna Kendrick and Margo Martindale. It's one of 25 feature films, nearly 40 documentaries, and over 50 short films that will screen over the next week at the Somerville Theatre, the Brattle, UMass Boston and the Coolidge Corner Theatre.
And with more than 100 movies to choose from, it can be a bit daunting to narrow down the selections. We've been sifting through the lineup here at Vanyaland HQ, and have come up with a handful that should make for a good starting point.
Folk Hero & Funny Guy
Somerville Theatre (Screen 3) Saturday, April 30 at 7 p.m.
Described as a music-infused spin on the road-trip buddy comedy, Folk Hero & Funny Guy tells the story of Paul (Alex Karpovsky) and Jason (Wyatt Russell), old friends who have drifted apart as they’ve reached their 30s. Jason is a good-looking and free spirited singer-songwriter whose career is taking off while Paul is a struggling stand-up comedian whose once promising trajectory is now in decline. The pair reunites when Jason passes through town and a night of drinking leads to Jason offering Paul the opportunity to be the opening act for his upcoming solo tour. What Paul doesn’t know is that Jason has booked the tour in order to win back the heart of an old flame. Jason hopes that having Paul on his “last hurrah of singledom” will resuscitate both his friend’s comedy career and lovelife mojo.
Folk Hero & Funny Guy was inspired by the music of Boston’s Adam Ezra, who also composed original music for the film.
Director Jeff Grace will be in attendance at the Saturday screening.