Embassy Theater hosts first Mass Honors Film Festival this weekend

The first-ever Mass Honors Film Festival brings a diverse selection of films to the Embassy Theater this weekend, including a limited U.S. screening of the Chinese film “The Shadow’s Edge,” a student-produced film created through a camp for middle and high schoolers, and other attractions. 

Isaac Carlen, an award-winning filmmaker, led the effort to organize the film festival after the idea first took shape about a year ago. Throughout his 20 years working in the film industry in Los Angeles, Carlen said he has seen plenty of awards programs recognizing categories such as directing, cinematography and writing.

“There are so many other performing arts elements that go into filmmaking that don’t really get their shine,” Carlen said. 

This weekend’s festival aims to recognize often overlooked crafts in film making, including dance choreography and music supervision. One category honors martial arts. 

Young filmmakers take the screen

“The Shadow’s Edge”(捕风追影) is a 2025 Chinese-language action thriller directed by Larry Yang and starring Jackie Chan. The film follows a retired surveillance expert brought back to help police track a mysterious criminal known as “The Shadow.” 

The film received a limited U.S. theatrical release beginning Aug. 22, 2025, but remains difficult to access domestically, with no major U.S. streaming service currently offering it. 

Carlen said the film played briefly in Los Angeles and its limited release surprised him given its success overseas. In China, the film topped the box office for multiple consecutive weeks and grossed $177 million in the mainland market. 

Carlen said he was struck by Chan, now in his 70s, continuing to perform demanding fight sequences and stunts. 

“It’s a great crossover of traditional films and the new age films that are coming here,” Carlen said. 

Carlen said organizers wanted to showcase the film for Greater Boston’s Chinese community while also introducing local audiences to Chinese-language cinema. He coordinated the screening with CMC Pictures. 

Other Sunday programming includes short films from the Netherlands and Germany, music videos and “Splinter”, a psychological thriller starring Academy Award-winning actress Debbie Allen and directed by Rio Contrada. Carlen was a producer on the film.

Smaranda Albeck, owner and operator of the Embassy Theater, said the festival fits with the theater’s evolution from a traditional cinema into a hybrid theater and performing arts center. 

“I want to see a thriving community center where film, classes, workshops, camps and events blend together in a well-integrated mix of performing arts events, skills and things that people can come and immerse themselves in,” she said. 

Young, young talent

On Saturday, Aug. 29, at 1 p.m., the festival screens films made by participants from the Boston Film Academy camp at the Embassy Theater. The campers range from preteens to teenagers. 

David Broyles, the academy’s founder and director, said campers experience different parts of filmmaking, from developing stories to working on costumes, props and special effects. 

On Wednesday afternoon, one camper still had fake blood on his arm and hand after filming a scene for “The Finger Man,” the group’s latest production, involving a character who lost his finger in a mill accident. 

The campers will walk the red carpet when they premiere the three short films they made, followed by a question-and-answer session.  

“It just kind of naturally happened,” Broyles said of launching the camp at the Embassy. “It’s been a lot of fun.” 

The two-day Mass Honors Film Festival runs Saturday, Aug. 29, and Sunday, Aug.30, at the Embassy Theater at 16 Pine St. “The Shadow’s Edge” screens Sunday at 5 p.m. Tickets are available here.