Boulder International Film Festival celebrates 20 years

Boulder International Film Festival is 4-days jam packed with a whole range of films that will appeal to every audience. The festival has earned a reputation as one of the most innovative film festivals in the nation. This year, BIFF will feature 74 films from 25 countries, two special community events, and the return of many festival favorites.

"I'm most excited about the fact that we have 50 filmmakers coming into town to visit us and see our audiences, and we're just really excited we're getting so many filmmakers to come," said Robin Beeck, co-founder of BIFF.

BIFF kicks off on Thursday, February 29 with the popular CineCHEF 2024 competition. Eight Colorado chefs create dishes inspired by their favorite classic films and then compete for the votes of those in attendance. For the third year, Scott Feinberg of the Hollywood Reporter will be in Boulder with his Awards Chatter podcast. Feinberg will be bringing a special celebrity guest for the recording.

"We're really excited that Laura Linney will be coming with her latest film called "Wildcat." It's a film about the writer Flannery O'Connor. It's directed by Ethan Hawke. She's going to come with the film, we're going to present her with our Vanguard Award, and then we're going to do an interview with her after the screening," said Kathy Beeck, co-founder of BIFF.  

Opening Night is always a Red Carpet Gala with two parties going on, one at the Hotel Boulderado and the other at Rembrandt Yard. The 5280 Brass Band will lead attendees "second line" style from the parties to the Boulder Theater.

"We're opening with a film called 'Ezra' featuring Robert De Niro. We like to say we're starting with Hollywood royalty, and it's a wonderful film with Robert and Bobby Cannavale about a father/son relationship. It's a dramedy, and it's incredible," said Robin Beeck. "We're closing with a film featuring real royalty called "The Cowboy and The Queen," about a California horseman who had a great relationship with the Queen of England. She was his biggest fan and it's so heartwarming. What a wonderful story."

BIFF is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, so there is some special programming to thank the community.

"We've had so much support over the many, many years, and we want to give back. We're going to be doing some free screenings at e-Town Hall of some classic films from BIFF. We're going to show some celebrity clips from over the years before our films, and we're also going to do birthday cake on the Pearl Street Mall. Who doesn't love birthday cake?" said Cathy Beeck.

Some other highlights of this year's BIFF include an adventure film pavilion, the singer/songwriter showcase, and the teen short film competition. You can expect four world premieres, five U.S. premieres, and 18 films made by Colorado filmmakers.

LINK: For Tickets and Information for the Boulder International Film Festival

BIFF runs from Thursday, February 29 to Sunday, March 3, 2024.