BSFC 2023 Awards for Repertory Cinema and Commendations

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Best Film Series

“Med Hondo and the Indocile Image” at The Harvard Film Archive

“Sight and Sound Summer Vacation” at The Somerville Theatre, presented by the Independent Film Festival Boston

“The Dirty Stories of Jean Eustache” at The Brattle Theatre

“Ruth E. Carter Repertory Series” at The Coolidge Corner Theatre

“Silents, Please!” at The Somerville Theatre

Best Rediscoveries

Space Is the Place [1974, John Coney] (in “Projections: Science Fiction from the Art House”) at The Coolidge Corner Theatre

Werckmeister Harmonies [2000, Béla Tarr] at The Brattle Theatre

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin [2003, Nancy D. Kates & Bennett Singer] at The Harvard Film Archive

A.K.A. Doc Pomus [2012, William Hechter & Peter Miller] at The Regent Theatre

The Bad Seed [1956, Mervyn LeRoy] (in “The Fifties at Warners”) at The Brattle Theatre

Retrospective of the Year (awarded in memory of David Pendleton)

“The Complete Yasujiro Ozu” at The Harvard Film Archive

Commendations

To the Independent Film Festival Boston for achieving its 20th anniversary as the premiere film festival in the Greater Boston area, with not only the official festival in April, but also the Fall Focus, copious member screenings, and repertory programming including this year’s Sight and Sound Summer Vacation series.

To the Boston Asian American Film Festival, a co-production of the Asian American Resource Workshop and ArtsEmerson, upon its 15th year of celebrating the work of artists from across the Asian diaspora at the annual festival in October and at events throughout the year.

To the Boston Palestine Film Festival, for more than15 years of independent film and cultural programming, with special recognition for the extraordinary efforts undertaken in October 2023 to pivot to an online format when rapidly unfolding world events coincided with the timing of this local festival. We commend the organizers for their flexibility, resiliency, and steadfast commitment to sharing diverse stories and viewpoints with Boston audiences through these difficult and tumultuous times, knowing that this is precisely when they most need to be heard.

To the Salem Film Fest for 16 years of outstanding programming, for fostering and encouraging young and emerging filmmakers within their own community, and for their tireless and unwavering commitment to the documentary form.

To the Roxbury International Film Festival for its revival showing of “Squeeze” (1997), a milestone Boston-made work of African-American cinema, and for its tribute to Robert Patton-Spruill and Patti Moreno, the filmmakers.