 There are also nightly parties for guest filmmakers and passholders as well as weekend panel discussions.The Independent Film Festival Boston was named "one of the top five film series in Boston" by the Boston Society of Film Critics in the festival's inaugural year of 2003 and was the only film festival on that list.The book "The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide" named the festival "the premier film festival in Boston" and the festival has since been recognized by the "Boston Globe", "Boston Herald", "Boston Phoenix", "Boston Magazine", "Indiewire", and countless filmmakers as "the premier film festival in Boston".