The Boston Film Festival (BFF) will celebrate its 41st season September 18 – 22, featuring a dynamic and diverse program that spotlights some of today’s most groundbreaking filmmakers with a live program that includes four highly-anticipated World Premieres.

Adding to the captivating lineup is the International Premiere of the Opening Night feature film, ‘The Fallow Few,’ from Massachusetts native, director Joshua Rappaport. Rounding out the remarkable slate of features is the Closing Night screening of ‘Ambleside,’ making its World Premiere. Documentaries making their World premiere include ‘Hidden: The Kati Preston Story,’ ‘Remembering Big: Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez Story’ and ‘Heart of a Lion.’

Reflecting a wide range of current affairs and newsworthy topics, this year’s movies shed light on unique people, crucial social issues and extraordinary stories that move, inform and inspire. Question-and-answer sessions with film creatives will follow all live premieres.

The Boston Film Festival will also present Clare Staples, the founder of Skydog Sanctuary and star of the feature documentary ‘Blue Zeus,’ with the Humanitarian Award for her dedication and tireless efforts to rescue wild mustangs and burros.

Also attending the 41st Boston Film Festival are: Alina Mogollon-Volk (‘Remembering Big: Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez Story’); Arielle Kebbel (‘Site,’ ‘Blue Zeus,’ ‘John Tucker Must Die’); Bradley James (‘The Fallow Few,’ ‘Merlin’); Christopher Bonwell (‘The Fallow Few’); Clare Staples (‘Blue Zeus’);  Daniel Matmor (‘Hidden: The Kati Preston Story’); Dr. Bob Ruin (‘The Last Dive’); Cody Sheehy (‘The Last Dive,’ ‘Make People Better’); Grace Kuhn (‘Blue Zeus’); Jamie Baldanza (‘Blue Zeus,’ ‘Wild Lands, Wild Horses’); Jake Seal (‘The Fallow Few’); Jason Eric Perlman (‘Site’); Jody Glover (‘Hidden: The Kati Preston Story’); Jeff Hogan (‘Heart of a Lion’); Joe Pontecorvo (‘Heart of a Lion,’ ‘Kingdom of Elephants’); Joshua Rappaport (‘The Fallow Few,’ ‘Jaunt’); Julia Govinden (‘Ambleside’); Kati Preston (‘Hidden: The Kati Preston Story’); Luka Bazeli (‘The Fallow Few’); Maria Govinden (‘Ambleside’); Marisol Gonzalez (‘Remembering Big: Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez Story’); Mark Elbroch (‘Heart of a Lion’);  Medhi Debhi (‘Ambleside,’ ‘A Most Wanted Man’); Miki Ishiwaka (‘Site,’ ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’); Mitch Jenkins (‘Ambleside,’ ‘A Million Days’); and Rocky Romano (‘Blue Zeus,’ ‘Gangsta Gardner’).

“As the Boston Film Festival marks 41 remarkable years, we extend our deepest gratitude to the filmmakers whose creativity and vision have made this a premier showcase for exceptional features, documentaries, shorts, and animation,” said Robin Dawson, Executive Director of the festival. “For more than four decades, the Boston Film Festival has not only entertained and enlightened, but also elevated vital voices and sparked conversations that matter. It has been a force in shaping Boston’s creative identity, firmly establishing our city as a vibrant artistic hub.  We applaud the filmmakers, casts and crews, and thank our generous sponsors for making this celebration of the finest in cinema possible.”

Presenting sponsor for the 41st program is free streaming service Kanopy. The ad-free platform joins the Boston Film Festival in inspiring students to discover, discuss, and celebrate the art of cinema.

Special partnerships for the season’s Boston Film Festival Animation Program includes a first-time collaboration with FAN EXPO Boston that features a generous $500 prize to the Animation Shorts Program winner and invitation to screen their prize film at FAN EXPO Boston 2026, offering a unique platform to reach thousands of fans, creators, and industry professionals. Professional 2D animation bitmap technology-based software giant TVPaint will also award the winner with a special software package. 

The special live animated shorts program will be shown on Saturday, September 20 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Mass College of Arts.

The live shorts program will be featured on Sunday, September 21 from 1:30 – 4:00 p.m. at Mass College of Arts. Selected from more than 500 submissions, the cinema program celebrates new and established filmmakers from a variety of genres.

Warner Bros. Television, one of the entertainment industry’s most prolific producers of original programming, will host a special College Day with a panel of an upcoming WBTV series at Emerson College. In keeping with WBTV’s commitment to providing valuable educational opportunities for aspiring media professionals across the United States, the studio continues its partnership with the long-running film festival in an effort to support student filmmakers.

The Boston Film Festival will also present a robust virtual program of feature, documentary, animated and short films, extending the number of films offered and providing film enthusiasts the opportunity to view from the comfort of their homes. The virtual program will be presented on Eventive.

Sponsors of the 41st Boston Film Festival include Kanopy, Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport, Boston Harbor Studios, Meet Boston, FAN EXPO Boston, TVPaint, Sip Wine Bar, Dream Alley, Emerson College, Boston Public Library and Shalin Liu Performance Center.

For full festival schedule, virtual program, tickets and information on BFF parties and Q&A sessions visit BFF’s official website, as well as its Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter pages.