The Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) is back in downtown Boulder from March 2 – 5 for the 19th year running. This year is on track to be the best festival yet, with a jam-packed program featuring prestigious films, a red carpet gala, parties, a live podcast with Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter and more. Kathy Beeck, BIFF’s director, sat down with 303 Magazine to discuss why this year’s festival is so exciting.
The festival features 66 films from 25 countries, including 13 from Colorado. While it is an international festival, spotlighting local talent is essential. “Robin (Beeck’s sister, the executive director of BIFF) and I were local filmmakers before we started the festival. We went to a lot of film festivals all over and really enjoyed it. Then we saw this opportunity to bring a great festival into town. As filmmakers, we really feel like it’s important to showcase local films. We have filmmakers from Boulder, Denver and the rest of the state,” Beeck explained.
A complete film guide and tickets are available here.
“We have a great film, Ride: A Brutal Fairytail, about a BMX racer, and it is outstanding. They are world champion BMX racers, and they are coming to the festival. Over 45 filmmakers or film subjects are coming to the festival this year. You get to meet these people, talk to them, see their films and be inspired and entertained by them. It promotes great conversation and dialogue,” Beeck said, reflecting on some of her favorite films showing at the pavilion this year.
The Events:
Thursday: CineCHEF 2023
On Thursday, March 2, seven Colorado chefs go head to head in this movie-based food competition. “We bring restaurants together. They cook food based on a movie. Then the attendees vote on their favorite. It’s a really fun way to kick things off,” Beeck explained.
Find additional information on CineCHEF here.
Friday: Opening Night Red Carpet Gala and Film
Opening night kicks off with two parties held at Hotel Boulderado and BIFF’s private festival party space in the Crystal Building. The parties will feature food, drink and a Guerrilla Fanfare Brass Band performance. Attendees will then visit the Boulder Theater for a screening of Immediate Family, where there will be a Q&A held after, hosted by Ron Bostwick of 105.5 with director Denny Tedesco, executive producer Dan Braun and band members Russ Kunkel and Steve Postell.
Tickets are available here.
Saturday: Live Podcast with Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg returns for the second year to record his podcast, Awards Chatter, live at 5:45 p.m. The podcast will be a career introspection with a surprise celebrity guest.
Sunday: Closing Night Film and Awards Ceremony
The annual BIFF award ceremony will conclude the festival with live music by Chella and The Charm before a showing of Still Working 9 to 5, a documentary on the making of hit film 9 to 5 starring the closest thing America has to a Queen, Dolly Parton. Beeck talked about what makes the screening of the documentary a special presentation, “We have the director and producer, which is a pair of twins named Garry Lane and Larry Lane. They are coming out to do a Q&A after the film, and that’s going to be a really fun night. It’s a great movie and one of my favorites in the festival.”
More details and tickets for the closing night found here.