Boulder International Film Festival Brings World Renowned Filmmakers To Colorado
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) – The Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) brings films and filmmakers from around the world to Boulder for a four-day celebration of cinema. It was started 18-years ago by sisters, Robin and Kathy Beeck.
"Well, Kathy and I actually started out as 'Popcorn Girls' here in Boulder. We each worked at a different theater in town, so we were able to go see as many movies as we wanted for free," Robin Beeck explained.
That sparked the their love of film, which led them to making their own short films, including a documentary about the frozen dead guy in Nederland.
"And so we got a lot of play on that and we thought, "Why isn't there a great festival here in Boulder?'" Robin said.
From there, BIFF was born. This year, the festival kicks off with a Red Carpet Gala and the featured film, "The Duke" starring Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent.
"It's an uplifting, fun film about an art heist in 1961. We think it's a perfect mood for opening night. We have two parties and we get a second line band from those two parties to kind of parade over to the Boulder Theatre, so it really makes a wonderful evening," Robin explained.
The key to the success of BIFF is that it brings together film lovers with the subjects that captivates them. This season they're featuring a film called "Stay Praying Up", which is about a gospel singing group in North Carolina that has been around for 50 or 60-years. There are seven people from the group coming to the festival.
"It is a fabulous film, but they're also going to be here and there's going to be some performing, and it's going to be unbelievable," said Kathy Beeck.
The festival has a an adventure film pavilion, which includes 21 films and 15 filmmakers and film subjects coming in. The topics are anything from skiing and snowboarding to slacklining and backpacking.
"So that's going to be a lot of fun. We have a great documentary about something called the 'Auto Map' that people might be familiar with, but it was out east many, many years ago. It's a great historical, fun, little documentary with Mel Brooks in it, and just all kinds of fabulous people. So that's a nice, nostalgic ride, so we love that one too," Kathy Beeck told CBS4.
BIFF is requiring vaccinations. They'll be checking vaccination cards, and they'll issue bracelets that allows you access to the entire festival.
Alec Baldwin will be the Festival's first ever Guest Programmer.
"We had him here many years ago, at the festival and everybody just loved it. It was one of our most memorable interviews, and so people around here are super excited to have him back," said Kathy Beeck.
As Guest Programmer he picks three of his favorite films and then talks about why he likes them after they show. Alec Baldwin picked "Dr. Strangelove" from 1964; "Julie", about Julie Child; and "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.
"They're three incredible films and we can't wait to hear from Alec why he picked those particular films," Robin Beeck said.
There will also be a conversation with Alec Baldwin on March 5th, in which Ron Bostwick will interview him about his career and film preferences.
LINK: For Tickets and Information about the Boulder International Film Festival
The BIFF runs from March 3rd – 6th. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 11th.