On Wednesday evening, the Ivy Film Festival unveiled the line-up for the upcoming 2025 festival, which includes “Anora” director Sean Baker and “BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg, among others.
The festival — which is slated to take place from April 14 to 20 — is the “largest student-run film festival in the world,” according to the organization’s website. The weeklong event is set to include guest speakers, screenings of upcoming films, appearances by numerous Brown alumni and an exhibition of student work.
Last year’s festival was impacted by budget cuts for student organizations by the Undergraduate Financial Board, The Herald previously reported. But this year, the increased budget for IFF allowed the organization “to spend more of (the) year actually planning the festival, instead of trying to get money,” according to IFF co-director Maiya Jannah ’25.
The lingering effects of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes are still impacting the festival, resulting in fewer film screenings this year compared to previous years, according to Speakers and Screeners Department Co-Coordinator Lulu Cavicchi ’25.
An advance screening of “Outerlands” — which was previously shown at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas — will kick off the festival at 3:30 p.m. on April 14, followed by an advance screening of the A24 film “Friendship” at 7 p.m. Both films — along with all subsequent advance screenings — will be shown in the Granoff Martinos Auditorium.
On April 15, there will be a conversation with Emmy-nominated writer and producer Raphael Bob-Waksberg — best known as the creator of the hit dark comedy show BoJack Horseman — at noon. Brown alum documentary filmmaker Kirsten Johnson ’87 will speak to attendees later that day at 5 p.m. Closing out Tuesday’s events is an advance screening of the upcoming action film “The Accountant 2.”
On April 16, festival attendees can tune in to a 7 p.m. advance screening of “The Wedding Banquet,” a comedy film starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone and Youn Yuh-jung, among others.
Animator and filmmaker Hyungjin Lee ’24, a former member of IFF, will host a screening and talk on April 17 at 3:30 p.m. The conversation will be followed by a 7 p.m. screening of “Secret Mall Apartment” and a talkback with artist Michael Townsend, a previous resident of the real-life apartment nestled inside the Providence Place Mall. The next day, actress Yaya DaCosta ’04, known for her role as April Sexton on “Chicago Med,” will hold a talk at 2:00 p.m.
On April 19, Justin Kuritzkes ’12 — writer of “Challengers” and “Queer” — will host a speaker event at 3 p.m., while "Anora" director and four-time Academy Award winner Baker will make an appearance at 7 p.m.
Saturday’s events include a live screenplay reading at noon in the Granoff Kooper Studio and the all-day New Media Exhibition in the Granoff Englander Studio.
Twenty-two student films will be screened throughout the weekend, selected from over 160 student submissions from 31 countries this year, according to IFF Programming Coordinators Lynn Nguyen ’26, a former staff writer, and Isabel Hahn ’26, a former Herald arts and culture editor.
These student productions were categorized into three categories based on their themes, according to Nguyen. These categories, termed official selection blocks, were kept abstract, but were based on common themes including coming-of-age and achieving goals, Hahn said. The official selection blocks — “Growing Pains,” “Currents” and “Pursuit” — will be screened at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively.
On April 20, the 24th annual IFF will wind down with a campus-wide Easter egg hunt at 2 p.m. and an awards ceremony for the student productions in the Granoff Martinos Auditorium that evening.
Manav is a junior from Indiana, concentrating in International and Public Affairs. In his free time, he likes attempting the daily Connections puzzle or falling down Wikipedia rabbit holes.
