Life, at least life as far as the 26th annual RoxFilm festival goes, is back big this summer.

“Things were different this year,” RoxFilm director Lisa Simmons marveled. “So many more films came in, we have close to 90 films this year!

“We’ve booked so many because we wanted to shout out and say, ‘This is an important film to see. This is a fun film.’ I think the independent world especially is back and able to navigate. It’s been a cool year.”

Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts RoxFilm begins with a mini concert and screening of “Luther: Never too Much,” a new documentary on the R&B singer extraordinaire Luther Vandross.

“We are really excited to grab this doc by Dawn Porter who has done number of amazing documentaries. It just got picked up by OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network) and premieres in July.”

Closing night stars recent Oscar nominee Colman Domingo in the prison drama “Sing Sing” and concludes with a panel discussion.

“We are doing that a little differently this year,” Simmons said. “This film is about the importance of programs in prisons. Because it predominantly shows people of color in this Rehabilitation Through the Arts program in Sing Sing, it is about the importance of music and theater for people in prison. The actors in the film are from the RTA program.”

RoxFilm is back at Hibernian Hall with youth-produced films. “Those screenings,” she noted, “are free. At MassArt which we haven’t been to in 15 years, we’re back there with ‘Riverbend,’ a Fifties-style Western that’s been restored. It was made in 1989 near Dallas, Texas and challenged the status quo about Black people in the town.” After a brief theatrical run “Riverbend” virtually disappeared — until this restoration.

The documentary “gOD-Talk,” directed by Kim Moir, comes via the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture. “It’s millennials of color talking about their faith and an interesting conversation about where faith lies within the millennial generation.”

Simmons also noted, “We are doing something fun this summer – bringing back the double feature!  We’re doing that with two local films, ‘Money Game’ and ‘Ugly Sweater” at Hibernian Hall, with popcorn and two shorts in-between the features.”

The Daily Script Reads, Simmons said, “is one of my favorite parts of the festival. They have SAG actors read the script between 12 and 1 with a half-hour reading and then feedback.”

RoxFilm remains a hybrid with in-person screenings and RoxFilm@Home, a curated virtual festival for those who prefer to see the films at home.

“We’ve programmed a number of films in the festival and others that are online only,” she said. “The Pass for $165 gets you into all the things that are going on in the festival. That’s workshops, parties in different places. The online ROX Pass at Home is $50.”

The 26th ROX Film Festival runs June 20-July 6. For complete information visit www.roxfilmfest.com

Luther Vandross, seen here at “The 7th Annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards” in 2001, is the subject of the documentary “Luther: Never Too Much,” screening at the Roxbury Film Festival. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.