🎥 Lights. Camera. Roxbury!

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

🎆 PSA: If you’re looking for the ultimate July 4th fireworks viewing spot in Boston, I would highly recommend booking a kayak or paddleboard on the Charles with Paddle Boston. Spots sell out quickly, hence the early nudge!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Harvard is getting bigger

• Cape rentals are v empty

• Foul play

Up first...

ARTS & CULTURE

A local film fest turns 25

The Roxbury International Film Festival kicks off today. Now in its 25th year, this film fest is the largest in New England to celebrate people of color, and it’s all about exposing locals to more diverse storytellers and films. According to the festival’s exec. director Lisa Simmons, the films “uplift important stories, histories, and people while also educating, entertaining, and bringing joy to a wider audience.”

So whether you’re a RoxFilm regular or a first-timer, here’s what to know:

🎥 The festival has a film (and a panel) for everyone. There are narrative and documentary features, shorts, animated, experimental, and youth films, many with local roots — even some by BPS students! There will also be acting workshops, panels, Q&As with filmmakers, and plenty of networking opportunities for aspiring filmmakers. Plus, the public can attend The Daily Read every weekday at noon where local actors read scripts by local writers.

Some notable screenings include …

🤝 “Welcoming The Embrace.” This doc explores the creation and unveiling of new “The Embrace” memorial of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King on the Boston Common. If you’re screening in person, you can stick around for a panel discussing the meaning behind the sculpture and its importance for the city. Watch the trailer here.

🏝️ “The Honeymoon.” Simply put: Kat’s fiancé dumps her the night before their wedding. So her besties convince her to go on her honeymoon to Zanzibar with them. But what was supposed to be “a holiday away from their problems, soon turns to a holiday into their problems.” Watch the trailer here.

🌌 “Blue.” This sci-fi animated short comes highly recommended by Simmons and is about a child named Jules whose NASA scientist mother disappeared a few years earlier. She, too, is fascinated by the stars, and wonders if their exploration is within reach. Watch the trailer here.

✊🏿 “Invented Before You Were Born.” This compelling doc follows a group of people connected through slavery: One side is made up of white descendants of a slave owner, while the other are Black descendants of the people enslaved by that owner. Simmons told the Globe that the film is “really about the legacy of slavery and who gets to tell that story.” Watch the trailer here.

💻 And you can see them all in person (or from your couch). The festival is hybrid this year, with in-person screenings taking place at the MFA, Hibernian Hall, and Northeastern. In-person tix range from $5 to $15 per film, or you can pay $165 for an all-access pass. If you want to watch from home, you can get access to the flicks from June 28 to July 2 for $10 per film block, or $55 for an all access pass.

👀 Want more? You can see the full list of film screenings here.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🏗️ Harvard is about to get much, much bigger. After years of planning, construction is set to begin on Harvard’s Allston research campus this week. The massive development will feature a 17-story apartment building, 440,000 square feet of labs, a 250-room hotel, and more than two acres of public open space, all of which will have underground parking. Plus, a quarter of the 343 apartment units will be affordable to those making between 30% and 100% of the area median income ($44,520 to $148,400 for a family of four), significantly more than normal city requirements.

⛓️ The ‘Slavery in Boston’ exhibit is officially open. The free, two-floor exhibit housed in Faneuil Hall highlights the lives of those enslaved in Boston and confronts how the city upheld the institution of slavery through stories, documents, and objects. Some of the objects include things like sugar molds, pottery, and sewing needles. Even Faneuil Hall, named after Peter Faneuil, who profited from the sale of enslaved people, is a product of the slave trade. Which is exactly why some activists are calling for the exhibit to either move or relocate.

🏡 Cape rentals are surprisingly empty this summer. The Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors says the occupancy rate is 20% percent lower this season than last, and it’s unclear why. Some think it’s because people are flocking abroad for vacation, some think it’s because current rentals are way too pricey (the average daily rate hit $619 this year up from $525), and some think it’s due to a growing rental stock. But the real question is: Can you get a deal? Possibly. Some owners have lowered their prices by as much as 25%. So jump on them while you can.

🎉 Despite the downpours, Juneteenth celebrations carried on. Block parties were buzzing from Roxbury to Brookline; flags were raised; parades were marched in. But these weren’t the only celebrations. On Monday, Black lawmakers noted the gains they’ve made in the State House in recent years. With 24 representatives and senators, the caucus has more than doubled its membership since 12 years ago. And for the first time, the Senate has two Black members — a huge milestone. You can catch some highlights from this weekend’s celebrations here.

POP QUIZ!

🏡 With this new development, how much of Allston does Harvard own?

THINGS TO DO

Weekday plans

🧘 Celebrate the solstice with a free yoga class. In addition to stretching out at this Native Sun Cannabis sponsored event, you’ll also get a free tee, learn some reiki, and see new products from the dispensary.

🍿 Take in a movie on the Greenway (for free!). Coolidge Corner Theatre is kicking off its popular Science on the Screen series with “The Mummy.” 

🍫 Make your own chocolate bar. Cocorico’s exec. pastry chef will show you the bar-making ropes while you indulge in specialty desserts, cocktails, and snick snacks.

🎶 Bop to some tunes on your lunch break. From hip hop to brass bands, the Boston Music Project is bringing a day of music to downtown during the summer solstice. You can see the full lineup here.

🌭 Grab a hot dog from Java with Jimmy. As part of Waterfront Wellness Week, you can catch the talk show host during a free cookout on Carson Beach.

ONE LAST THING

Foul play

Good news: The Red Sox had a killer weekend against the Yankees. Bad news: One Sox fan probably wants to kill his younger brother.

During the third inning of Sunday’s games, a foul ball found its way into the hands of a fan sitting in the left field Coke deck. The fan, feeling generous, handed the ball over to young Charlie Mulligan, who was watching the game with his parents and his older brother, Jack. The perfect Father’s Day Souvenir … Right?

Apparently, not for Charlie.

He promptly threw the ball back onto the field, causing his brother Jack to dissolve into a puddle of tears. And conveniently, the whole exchange was caught on camera (it’s painfully adorable).

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. A Red Sox staffer handed the Mulligan family an autographed baseball and jersey signed by Sox pitcher Kenley Jansen, who saw the scene unfold on TV while watching the game in the dugout.

⚾ Thanks for reading! But when I cry on the jumbotron at Fenway, it’s “concerning.”

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