In 2008, MovieMaker Magazine named IFFBoston among "The Top 25 Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee".
Special guests of the festival in its first six years included Steve Buscemi, Chris Cooper, Sir Ben Kingsley, John Waters, Will Arnett, Lili Taylor, Illeana Douglas, Melvin Van Peebles, Noam Chomsky, Michael Almereyda, Robert Vaughn, Bill Pullman, Dylan Baker, Famke Janssen, Mary Stuart Masterson, Project Runway's Jay McCarroll, Todd Graff, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Ted Hope, Bob Odenkirk, Bernie Worrell, Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden, Alexandre Rockwell, Eliza Dushku, Danny Huston, Jesse Eisenberg, Doug Pray, Albert Maysles, Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen, the Daily Show's Rob Corddry and Michael Cera.
Films shown at the festival in the first six years included Half Nelson, Murderball, The Corporation, The Proposition, The Saddest Music in the World, Ivans XTC, Lonesome Jim, The Puffy Chair, Fay Grim, Hannah Takes the Stairs, Mutual Appreciation, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Transsiberian, My Winnipeg, Medicine for Melancholy,[1] Ballast, Encounters at the End of the World, The Story of the Weeping Camel and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster as well as the U.S. premier of Azumi.
- Ty Burr, Boston Globe[2] "IFFBoston has redefined the term 'filmmaker friendly' for every producer, director, editor, cinematographer, composer and actor that has been lucky enough to experience the festival.
IFFBoston's focus on presenting dynamic, quality films and treating each screening as an event both meets and exceeds those expectations."