Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters Named Centerpiece of 69th SFFILM Festival

Boots Riley brings I Love Boosters home to Oakland for its West Coast premiere at SFFILM.

Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters Set as Centerpiece for 69th San Francisco International Film Festival

Fresh off SXSW, Boots Riley’s latest feature I Love Boosters is heading home.

SFFILM has announced that Riley’s new film will serve as the Centerpiece selection of the 69th San Francisco International Film Festival, marking its hometown and West Coast premiere at Oakland’s historic Grand Lake Theatre. Riley will attend the April 28 event in person for an onstage conversation following the evening screening.

The Festival runs April 24–May 4 across San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland, with the full program set to be announced April 1.

SFFILM Executive Director Anne Lai praised Riley’s Bay Area roots and revolutionary voice, noting that his “larger than life presence and revolutionary perspective emanates through his art.” The organization has long supported Riley’s work. His feature Sorry to Bother You served as the Festival’s Centerpiece in 2018, while his Amazon series I’m A Virgo closed the Festival in 2023.

SFFILM Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks emphasized Riley’s continued role in the organization’s creative ecosystem, calling his work “brave, bold, and wildly unexpected,” and highlighting his use of satire and surrealism to critique capitalism, institutional racism, and economic structures.

Riley himself expressed excitement about premiering the film in Oakland at the Grand Lake Theatre, a venue he’s attended since childhood, calling I Love Boosters his “best work” and noting the special resonance of screening a Bay Area-set film at home.

About 

I Love Boosters

Written and directed by Riley, the film follows a fearless crew of inventive young women who transform shoplifting into a radical act of defiance. Led by Corvette (Keke Palmer), the group moves through Oakland boosting coveted goods as both survival tactic and protest against systems of exclusion and excess.

Their exploits escalate when viral attention and a personal feud with fashion mogul Christine Smith (played by Demi Moore) push them toward one final audacious heist. With unexpected allies wielding supernatural powers and time-bending technology, the Boosters find themselves on the brink of igniting revolutionary change.

Described as bursting with eye-popping visuals and razor-sharp social commentary, I Love Boosters continues Riley’s signature blend of satire, surrealism, and political bite.

Screening Details

The Centerpiece program takes place Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at the Grand Lake Theatre (3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland).

• 6:30 pm screening followed by moderated conversation

• 9:30 pm screening with moderated introduction

Tickets go on sale to SFFILM Members on March 2 at 10 am, with general public sales opening March 4 at 10 am via sffilm.org. General Admission tickets are $35 ($30 for Members; $32 for senior, student, and ADA), plus a $1.50 service fee.

The Centerpiece presentation is supported by NEON.

Boots Riley has never been subtle. Bringing I Love Boosters back to Oakland feels less like a premiere and more like a statement.