Salem Film Fest Returns With Fully In-Person Event For 2024

SALEM, MA — The Salem Film Fest will return in 2024 with a fully in-person event for the first time since 2019 aimed at rekindling the festival's original mission of bringing attendees together to learn about and discuss relevant social issues related to documentary film.

The event, which was founded in 2017 and is now the largest documentary film festival in New England, will take place in Salem from March 21 through March 2024 with feature-length and short films, filmmaker Q&As, musical performances and live events where attendees can interact with the visiting filmmakers and engage on their films.

Free events include the student film series Mass Reality Check and Keeping It Real, as well as the Massachusetts pitch competition Doc-a-chusetts Pitch.

The Salem Film Fest has been a combination of in-person and virtual events since the onset of the COVID-19 health crisis but will return fully in-person in 2024 at venues Peabody Essex Museum, Cinema Salem and the National Park Service Visitor Center at Salem Armory.

"Being in person only this year means we’re returning to the foundations of the Film Fest which energizes community members to come together and discuss relevant social issues," said Salem Film Fest Director Joe Ferrari.

Tickets go on sale for five- and 10-ticket packs Friday through the end of 2023 here.

The full film program will be unveiled online and at a special event at the end of February at Cinema Salem.

The 2024 event will once again feature the awards ceremony that includes the Special Jury Award, The Michael Sullivan Award for Documentary Journalism, The American Cinematographer Magazine Award and the Audience Award determined by festival attendees.

SFF is a "filmmaker-friendly" film festival that shares ticket revenue with filmmakers, provides transportation assistance and accommodations, and does not charge submission fees.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)