DEAR READER,

Most of our arts coverage can be found in its usual place this week, but the film section has moved up a few pages and expanded quite a bit to make room for our guide to the 2016 Independent Film Festival Boston—which as you read this paper is going down at one or more of the area’s historic movie palaces (the Somerville Theatre, Coolidge Corner Theatre, and Brattle Theatre are all playing host). It’s an annual event that the whole staff has come to appreciate with more than 100 films programmed across the festival’s eight days. That means something for every taste, whether you’re a righteous political muckraker or a well-studied music buff.

We got a jump on this year’s program, and you’ll find our hot takes (fresh from the printers!) inside. We were most taken by two gonzo documentaries (one is investigative and the other is observational) about very American fetishists (the first is about a one-percenter with a thing for tickling and the other is about Anthony Weiner). We’ve also got the goods on a handful of other festival selections, as well as the lowdown on the parties and panels happening throughout the week. Further reports from the field will be filed at digboston.com, so stay tuned and tune in often. Consider our guide and reports as a gift to the industrious moviegoer. And if you see us—at a party, or at a panel, or just waiting to get into a movie—then flag us down and recommend a movie right back at us. You’d be returning our favor, and we’d appreciate that!

Jake Mulligan, DigBoston Film Editor

OH, CRUEL WORLD

Dear Woman with Interior Decorator,

I know quite a bit about spoiled, shitty people like you who employ obnoxious interior decorators. Nevertheless, it’s a freaking trip to actually see you in action, at a coffee shop in Back Bay consulting with the woman who you pay to hang trendy garbage around your house.

Do you ever stop to think, There’s nothing more ridiculous than paying somebody to recommend paint colors to you, and yet that is exactly what I’m paying this asshole to do right now? I’ve seen you at the same coffee shop before, and I’m thinking about angling for us to become friends. With any luck, you’ll invite me to your spectacular home, and I will have the perfect opportunity to lift the back of your toilet and turd in the tank.