Ridgefield Independent Film Fest Features 55 Films

The second annual Ridgefield Independent Film Festival returns May 19 to 21, showing 55 short and feature-length films from 19 countries, as well as student programs, parties, master classes and meet-and-greets, at five locations in this Fairfield County town.

Festivities begin at 2:30 p.m. on May 19 and run through 4:30 p.m. on May 21 at Ridgefield Library, 472 Main St.; Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 258 Main St.; Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge; Prospector Theater, 25 Prospect St.; and Keeler Tavern Museum, 132 Main St.

Among the films is a long-form music video “Let Me Get What I Want,” with James Franco. It will be shown May 20 at 2:45 p.m. at The Aldrich.

Shorts will accompany most of the feature films. Many of the directors will be present. An awards ceremony and closing party will run from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Keeler.

Here’s the feature-film lineup. For details about additional programming, and to buy tickets, visit riff.website.

Friday: At 4:15 p.m. at the library, “The Chocolate Case,” a Dutch doc about child labor in the chocolate industry. It will be followed by an opening reception at the Aldrich, starting at 7 p.m. “Horror Night” begins at 10 p.m. at the Keeler, with “Dead Sunrise,” an Australian thriller about zombie children. It will be shown with a program of horror shorts.

Saturday: At 10:45 a.m. at the Aldrich, “Hoda’s Story,” a doc about an injured Palestinian girl, will be shown; followed at 12:30 p.m. by “The Descendants,” an Iranian story of a missing youth. At 11 a.m. at the library, the film is “Robert Shaw: Man of Many Voices,” a doc about the symphonic conductor; followed at 1 p.m. at “Forgotten Farms,” a doc about New England dairy farmers. At 11 a.m. at the Playhouse, the film is the doc “The Buddy System,” by Megan Smith-Harris of Wilton, about assistance dogs and children with autism. It will be followed at 1 p.m. by “Two Worlds,” a Polish doc about a hearing girl with two deaf parents.

At 1 p.m. at the Prospector, the doc is “The Green Standard,” about the battle to legalize marijuana. At 2:45 p.m. at the Playhouse, the title is “Cold Breath,” an Iranian story about class and gender; followed at 4:30 p.m. by “Alvin’s Harmonious World of Opposites,” a surreal story about an Australian man with a sheltered life; and then “What Children Do,” a comedy about estranged sisters, at 7 p.m. At 4 p.m. at the library, the film is “Written Off,” a doc about one man’s opioid addiction.

Sunday: “One Big Home,” a doc about gentrification on Martha’s Vineyard, will be shown at the library at 11 a.m. “Once There Was a Girl,” an Israeli drama about a lonely woman, will be shown at the Playhouse at 11 a.m. The Prospector will show “The Ides of Childhood,” a doc about people in Kashmir, at 12:25 p.m.