Boots Riley’s new film I Love Boosters hits theaters May 22, but the Bay Area gets to see it early. The Oakland director’s comedy-thriller about a high-fashion heist will have its West Coast premiere at the 69th annual San Francisco International Film Festival, with two back-to-back screenings April 28 at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater.
Set in the Bay Area, I Love Boosters stars Keke Palmer as the leader of an all-woman shoplifting ring, which faces off against a villainous, bob-sporting mogul played by Demi Moore. The stylish trailer promises snappy dialogue, fast-paced action scenes and plenty of food for thought about class and capitalism. The film gets its name from a 2006 song by Riley’s hip-hop group, The Coup, where Riley raps: “This goes to all them hard working women / Who risk jail time just to make them a living.”
Riley has a long history with SFFILM, the organization that produces the San Francisco International Film Festival. SFFILM grants supported his earliest forays into directing, and his 2018 debut feature film Sorry to Bother You, a dark, surrealist comedy about climbing the corporate ladder, was the San Francisco International Film Festival Centerpiece program in 2018. I’m a Virgo, his series about a giant and his friends who take on a nefarious crime-fighting “hero,” closed out the festival in 2023.
“I’m hyped as hell to bring I Love Boosters to SFFILM since they were the first organization to recognize me as a filmmaker and to support me in my filmmaking journey,” Riley said in a statement. “It’s going to be extra special to premiere in my hometown at Grand Lake Theater I’ve been going to since I was a kid. This film is my best work and it’s going to be special to see this movie, which is set in the Bay Area, play here.”
