Independent Film Festival Boston (IFFBoston) announced its 2018 festival lineup Tuesday, with highlights including a documentary based on a pioneering children’s TV show host and a new film directed by a local comedian who first rose to fame in high school thanks to his inventive and hilarious music.

The yearly festival will bring more than 100 films to the Boston area, mostly to Somerville Theatre, from April 25 to May 2, as well as filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions, and post-screening parties.

Two films likely to attract the most attention when tickets go on sale later this month are “Eighth Grade” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” the opening and closing films of the festival, respectively.


“Eighth Grade” is a coming-of-age film about Kayla (Elsie Fisher), a social wallflower who is just trying to survive. The film, which has received almost universally positive reviews after screenings at Sundance and South by Southwest, was directed by Hamilton native Bo Burnham, who some may remember for his creative and profane original songs that made him an early YouTube celebrity while still a student at St. John’s Prep in Danvers. The film will open the festival on Wednesday, April 25, at Somerville Theatre, and Burnham will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A.

Another Sundance standout, “Won’t You Be My Neigbhor?” is a documentary about Fred Rogers, whose show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” originally aired from 1968 to 2001 on PBS affiliates nationwide. The film will close the festival on Wednesday, May 2, at Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline.

Tickets for the festival will go on sale for IFFBoston members on April 9, and for the public on April 11. To see a full list of movies at the festival, visit the IFFBoston website.