Sad news for Boston cinephiles: Brian Tamm, executive director of the city’s largest film festival, the Independent Film Festival Boston, or IFFBoston, announced on Friday that the festival has been postponed indefinitely thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Originally scheduled for April 22 to 29, the festival will hopefully be able to occur in the coming months. This is one of many local cultural institutions that have been forced to shut their doors or operate at a reduced capacity for the next several months, and we hope you’ll continue to patronize them in whatever capacity that you can.
Here’s the full text of Tamm’s announcement:
“Due to the public health concerns posed by COVID-19 (Coronavirus), it is with a heavy heart that we have made the difficult decision to postpone the upcoming IFFBoston, previously scheduled for April 22-29, 2020.
The long term well-being of our community is our highest priority. Our continuing mission will be to celebrate stories and storytellers when an appropriate time and plan has been determined.
Until that time, the most important thing is for everyone to remain safe, so please continue to follow the suggested guidelines regarding frequent hand washing, covering your mouth when coughing, not touching your face, and responsibly choosing to stay home if you exhibit signs of illness.
As of this writing, The Somerville, Brattle, and Coolidge Corner Theatres are open. If you are going out, please consider patronizing these local businesses. If you prefer to stay in, please consider buying a gift card or placing a donation to support these important cultural institutions at such a difficult time.
We hope to see you all again soon at the movies.
Sincerely,
Brian Tamm
Executive Director, IFFBoston”
And here are links to the donation or gift-card-purchasing pages for each of the theaters listed above — The Brattle, The Coolidge, and The Somerville — for you to do your part. You might also want to support IFFBoston itself, which you can do here.
We’ll keep you posted as any more information becomes available. Stay safe, everyone.