8 must-visit film festivals happening this fall

As the weather turns colder, there’s no better time to hunker down, grab a bucket of popcorn, and watch a great film. This fall, there are many festivals screening thought provoking films around New England, and you may wish to expand your horizons by taking a trip to a film screening. Whether you choose to explore a different culture or immerse yourself in a fantasy world of its own, there’s bound to be something for your taste.

From the Boston Jewish Film Festival to the Boston International Kids Film Festival, Greater Boston has a plethora of offerings. We rounded up a guide to fall film festivals, what’s playing, where to watch, and noteworthy bonus features—like discussions moderated by Globe journalists.

Bright Lights Film Series

Since September, Emerson College has been hosting the Bright Lights Film Series on Thursday nights, which will continue to screen films through December at the Paramount Center on 559 Washington St. The series, which is free and open to the public, strives to create community through cinema and foster a dialog. Upcoming films screenings include “Subject” which focuses on the responsibility and ethics inherent in documentary filmmaking.

Boston Palestine Film Festival

Now in its 16th year, the Boston Palestine Film Festival will hold live and virtual screenings, celebrating “Palestine-related cinema, narratives, and culture.” The event will be held from Oct. 14 through 23 at venues such as MFA Boston, ArtsEmerson, and Coolidge Corner Theatre. Watch opening film “Farha,” a story about a young girl living in a village whose life changes while trying to escape violence in 1948 Palestine. You may also wish to check out “Huda’s Salon,” a thriller about a blackmail case in Bethlehem, or the closing film “The Stranger.”

GlobeDocs Film Festival

The 8th annual GlobeDocs Film Festival will feature documentary film screenings “followed by engaging conversations with Globe journalists and filmmakers.” From Oct. 12 through 16, viewers will be able to see movies either virtually or in person at The Brattle and Coolidge Corner Theatres. The centerpiece film is “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues,” an intimate look at the musician known as one of the founding fathers of jazz. Tune in to “Good Night Oppy,” the story of a rover sent to Mars for a 90-day mission that features the bond between a robot and her humans.

Boston Asian American Film Festival

Under the theme “Rising Together,” the Boston Asian American Film Festival aims to empower Asian Americans by showcasing Asian American experiences. In-person screenings will run from Oct. 20 through 23 at The Brattle and ArtsEmerson, while some titles will be shown online from Oct. 24 through 30. According to a press release, BAAFF director Susan Chinsen, the festival will open with “humor and heart,” in the showing of “Dealing with Dad” and “Reyna,” while closing with “a moving time capsule of life during COVID” in “Bad Axe.”

Boston Jewish Film Festival

The 34th annual Boston Jewish Film Festival will celebrate “the richness of the Jewish experience” with 14 features — nine fiction films and five documentaries. From Nov. 2 though 9, movies will be shown live, at venues such as The Brattle, West Newton Cinema, and Orchard Cove, while from Nov. 10 through 13, they will be screened online. “Farewell, Mr. Haffmann” is a thriller about a Jewish jeweler in Nazi-occupied Paris, while the closing night film “The Art of Silence,” sheds light on Marcel Marceau, the beloved French mime.

Arlington International Film Festival

Showing films at Capitol Theatre from Nov. 3 through 6, the Arlington International Film Festival has been celebrating culture through independent filmmaking since 2010. Titles include “Not a Tame Lion,” which follows an openly gay Yale professor whose work helped pave the way for marriage equality, and short documentary film “Becoming Black Lawyers,” which features the experience of five Black lawyers facing adversity as they pursue law degrees.

Boston Turkish Documentary and Short Film Competition

From Nov. 11 through 24, the Boston Turkish Documentary and Short Film Competition gives filmmakers a platform for their movies to reach an international audience, screening films at the MFA and online. “Love, Deutschmark, and Death” examines the “unknown music of emigrated Turkish guest workers and their grandchildren in Germany,” while viewers may also enjoy “Mimaroğlu: The Robinson of Manhattan Island,” the story of an electronic music composer and his spirited wife.

Boston International Kids Film Festival

A weekend of family-friendly films, professionally and student-made, come to the Boston area from Nov. 18 through 20 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown and online for the Boston International Kids Film Festival. The festival endeavors to enable “the next generation of filmmakers to realize the power and potential of media.” Hands on workshops make this a memorable event for young filmmakers of all ages.