Riff on ROXFILM

Film Screenings presented with Roxbury International Film Fest

The Roxbury International Film Festival is the largest New England festival dedicated to celebrating films by, for and about people of color around the world. The Studios, in conjunction with the festival, presents two films, Come On In by Daniel Callahan and Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond the Mask by Frederick Lewis. Both screenings are followed by talkbacks with the directors.

sponsored by Boston Global Bridge Institute

Film Screening

COME ON IN

Daniel Callahan

Friday, February 7, 7pm

Helmerich Theater

$18, $13 mbrs.

Callahan’s directorial debut centers on a jaded artist who returns home after not making it in the big city, only to find a life empty of meaning and a soul-emptying job. But when he encounters a mysterious voice at work an uncanny journey ensues in which the lines between his reality and fantasy, past and present, dream and nightmare begin to blur.

Film Screening

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond the Mask

Frederick Lewis

Saturday, February 8, 7pm

Helmerich Theater

$18, $13 mbrs.

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond the Mask explores the life of the first nationally renowned African American writer, known for poems like “We Wear the Mask” and “Sympathy.” Highlighting his literary legacy and activism against Jim Crow laws, the film features Maya Angelou and examines Dunbar’s complex navigation of race and art during the turn of the century.

Q&A with the Directors

Daniel Callahan is a multimedia artist, filmmaker and designer. Merging a legion of disciplines including painting, digital photography, film, music, writing and performance, Daniel works to craft immersive experiences incorporating story, ritual, and the human form to explore aspects of resilience and mysticism. Read more →

Frederick Lewis, a writer, director, and professor at Ohio University’s School of Media Arts & Studies, creates award-winning documentaries featured on PBS and screened at venues like the National Gallery of Art. A Presidential Teacher Award recipient, he’s taught globally, including as a Fulbright Specialist in Hungary. Read more →

Films introduced by ROXFILM Board Member Andrea Lyman

Andrea Lyman is honored to be invited to represent ROXFILM Festival at The Studios of Key West “Riff on ROXFILM”. Andrea on the board of Roxbury International Film Festival (RoxFilm Festival). She is currently the New England Local President of SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation Of Television and Radio Artists), a co-director of the Actors Forum of The Secret Society Of Black Creatives and on the Executive Board of the Greater Boston Labor Council. She plays the Leah, the mother, in Daniel Callahan’s award winning film COME ON IN which premiered at RoxFilm Festival. She has enjoyed appearing in several films over the years at RoxFilm Festival and is in a few films that have been submitted for consideration in the upcoming RoxFilmFestival in June 20-July 2, 2025. She can be seen in films currently touring the film festival circuit such as UGLY SWEATER which is scheduled for its first LA screening at the Pan-African Film Festival and the horror film, CROOKED FINGER and romcom PLUS 1’S (premiered at RoxFilm Festival). Andrea has played real life characters in the historical docudrama films HALF THE HISTORY: ELLEN GARRISON: AN ACTIVIST’S STORY playing Ellen Garrison (she also plays Ellen Garrison in a special film created for the upcoming 250th celebration of Concord, MA) and in NEGRO ELECTION DAY playing the Phyllis wife of the King. Andrea truly loves singing and performed in the Boston stage productions of MOMOLOGUES: THE MUSICAL. She performs her one woman musical show BROADWAY LADY. Andrea has performed in Radio City Music Hall’s CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR, ION-TV’s A SNOW WHITE CHRISTMAS.

ROXFILM is a multiple award-winning festival in the heart of Boston, MA. The festival, now in its 27th year, showcases films that celebrate and elevate stories of people of color around the world. The festival is a celebration of creativity and a testament to the power of storytelling, offering a platform for filmmakers to showcase their extraordinary talents and bring us stories that educate, entertain, and move us into action. The festival provides a platform for both emerging and seasoned filmmakers and is a center of cinematic excellence bridging cultures, and uniting individuals from all walks of life using the universal language of film. ROXFILM’s focus continues to be sharing stories so often not covered in the mainstream and even alternative media spaces. Through screenings, conversations, workshops, and hangouts, ROXFILM reminds us that film has the power to inspire us and build connections that go beyond cultural barriers.