For 25 years now, the Roxbury International Film Festival (RoxFilm) has been highlighting diverse voices in local independent film and beyond, and the 2023 edition is no different. Taking place both in-person and online, with streaming available via RoxFilm@Home courtesy of ArtsEmerson from June 28–July 2, this much-anticipated showcase for narrative features, documentaries, shorts and animation kicks off June 20 from 3–10 p.m. in Roxbury’s Nubian Square with a Silver Anniversary Celebration that includes outdoor performances and indoor screenings of youth films. Also that night, a cocktail reception and presentation of honors to local luminaries takes place beginning at 6 p.m. at Hibernian Hall that boasts a showing of the Boston-filmed 1997 classic Squeeze. Opening night at the Museum of Fine Arts on June 22 at 5 p.m. presents a double feature of a documentary about the new Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King memorial on Boston Common entitled Welcoming the Embrace (pictured) followed by the South African comedy The Honeymoon, while closing night on June 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Northeastern University’s Blackman Auditorium shares a blast from the past with a showing of the 1997 Samuel L. Jackson-starring drama Eve’s Bayou, complete with a post-film talk with director Kasi Lemmons. In between, expect plenty of script readings, panels, workshops and more, so get your passes now and join the many thousands of audience members who have experienced unique discoveries at RoxFilm since its debut in 1999.
