The first-ever Jamaica Plain Film Festival highlights voices from the neighborhood

“The first Jamaica Plain Film Festival will take place Sept. 5-7 at the Loring Greenough House, showcasing dynamic works by filmmakers with neighborhood ties.

Festival founder Alice Hutton moved to Jamaica Plain in March 2020 from London. In 2021, she joined the Loring Greenough House, where she serves as co-director of programs. The community-centered, evening events invite locals and food trucks to gather in the garden and grounds of the 18th-century Sumner Hill former residence; this year, it runs through October.

Hutton was encouraged by the Thursday series’ popularity to organize the three-day film festival, with the help of co-founder Yenaba Sesay Davies. Films are ticketed and will be screened on the property’s lawn; attendees are asked to bring their own seating, such as blankets or low-seat, folding chairs…

Saturday evening will feature “Dawnland,” directed by local filmmakers Ben Pender-Cudlip and Adam Mazo. The 2018 feature-length documentary won an Emmy award for Outstanding Research and centers on an investigation into the history of Native American children being forcefully displaced by state child welfare authorities in Maine.

Upstander Project — a Boston-based organization that produces impact-centered documentary films, including “Dawnland,” and likewise educational and advocacy work — will speak prior to the screening, with Mazo, who lives in JP, joining for a Q&A following. The North American Indian Center of Boston will also present at the pre-screening Beer Garden reception to educate attendees about the status of Native American rights in Massachusetts. “Because of our work with ‘Dawnland,’ I’ve grown very connected to making sure that we’re being better neighbors and collaborating with folk from the Massachusetts tribe at Ponkapoag,” said Mazo. “[That we’re] learning and teaching those stories, as well, which is really critical to the work that we do.”

Continue reading at The Boston Globe.