by David Redman

April 2003 I attended my first film festival: the Independent Film Festival of Boston. I can’t recall the exact way I found out about IFFB – it may have been a flyer at a coffee shop or an announcement at the International Solidarity Movement for Palestine meetings. Either way, I could never have foreseen how much IFFB would impact the next four years of my life!

It was early 2003 and I had invited Ashley Sabin – my current partner - to see a few films at IFFB. I had also recently returned from China where I was filming my documentary titled Mardi Gras: Made in China (We were editing at the Someday Café and other coffee shops in Somerville and Cambridge). That year the IFFB premiered Power Trip, An Injury to One, and Con Man. Both Ashley and I were amazed by the films and immediately knew we were part of something that we had never experienced. We stayed for all the Q&As, talked to the filmmakers, and collected their contact information. To this day we still remain in contact with Paul Devlin and refer to his film and An Injury to One (by Travis Wilkerson) as two of the most influential documentaries we’ve ever seen.

The combination of the magical atmosphere and knowing nothing about documentary storytelling added to the range of open-ended possibilities after the festival ended. Ashley and I pressed on and continued editing Mardi Gras at local coffee shops in Boston and Somerville. The IFFB had set the framework for the mood and tone in Mardi Gras: Made in China. In 2005 we submitted our film to IFFB, hoping to share it with an audience at the festival that had inspired the completion of it. Later that year I received phone call from Adam Roffman who invited Mardi Gras: Made in China to screen at IFFB; it had finally found a family and home in Boston and Somerville!

I still remember screening Mardi Gras to a sold-out audience next door to the Someday Café – the same coffee shop where Ashley and I had been editing the film earlier in 2003. Indeed, IFFB was the highlight of our year; it was also an emotional and humbling closure to a project that in many ways was conceived and birthed in Boston and Somerville. Now we were part of the family of filmmakers who trusted IFFB to share our film with the public.

The next year, 2006, I enthusiastically accepted Adam Roffman’s invite to jury the documentaries in competition. That year Ashley and I met people who would later influence the storytelling in our films: Michael Tully (Cocaine Angel and Silver Jew), Amanda Micheli (the Director of Photography for Thin), Joe Pacheco (As Smart as They Are), David Tames, and Linas Phillips (Walking to Werner) at IFFB parties. I remember walking up to Mr.Tully and saying, “You don’t know me, but I recognize your face. I read your blog.” Mr. Tully was embarrassed and somewhat taken aback with a self-deprecating look on his face that told me, “So, you’re one of the five people who read my blog?” That same week Ashley and I spent a great deal of time with Mark Becker and Nadine Maleh (Romantico). In fact, Mark and Nadine became official editing advisors for our film, Kamp Katrina, which is screening this year at the IFFB.

The IFFB brings together committed and thoughtful individuals who care about sharing stories and assisting each other. For example, Mr. Devlin encouraged us to stick it out in New Orleans after Katrina; Michael Tully provided extensive feedback for Kamp Katrina; and Mark and Nadine watched about 10 different cuts of Kamp Katrina (they also became our unofficial counselors and advisors after we returned from New Orleans). To this day all of us remain good friends, provide feedback on projects, and even cook meals for each other.

Both Ashley and I love the diverse community of people drawn to IFFB, all of whom celebrate, critique, and discuss films. The staff and volunteers at the IFFBare some of the most caring and committed people we’veever met; and the films we’ve seen over the last four years have significantly aided our frameworks for storytelling and understanding people. Ashley and I have participated in over 40 film festivals. We will always return to the IFFB (with or without a film) because it’s a festival that caters to storytellers, film lovers, filmmakers, the curious and the eager, and those who just want to meet down to earth people.

IFFB stands out among all of the festivals because it brings disparate individuals together who debate, disagree, dance, laugh, and share ideas. Under these circumstances, IFFB has been an invaluable social gathering to create a network of artists, media makers, and support groups. In other words, the Independent Film Festival of Boston has become a surrogate film family. And I am proud to call it my first home.

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