Boulder International Film Festival Celebrates Thirteen Years of
Great Films and Huge Attendances
BOULDER, Colorado. (March 2-5, 2017) — The city of Boulder buzzed with film enthusiasts and filmmakers from March 2-5 during the 13th Annual Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF), with attendance again numbering over 20,000 attendees.
The four-day festival featured 51 films and a variety of unique events including a CineCHEF food event, a Virtual Reality Pavilion, 8 films directly from Sundance Film Festival and 4 films nominated for an Academy Award.
“We had such a great weekend celebrating our second decade of film in Boulder,” said Robin Beeck, BIFF’s executive director. “A fabulous group of filmmakers, film lovers, sponsors and volunteers – they all make the festival possible.”
Opening Night Red Carpet Gala —Attendees hopped between two great parties at the Hotel Boulderado and Rembrandt Yard Event Center & Art Gallery — kicking off this year’s festival with delicious food from four different Big Red F group restaurants, wine from Francis Ford Coppola Winery, local beers from Boulder Beer and Post Brewing, and a circulating cast of classic film characters. Partygoers posed for Red Carpet photos and danced to live music before joining our ‘second line’ procession over to the Boulder Theater for the evening’s Opening Night pre-release screening of ‘Their Finest,’ starring Gemma Arterton, Bill Nighy, Sam Clafin and Jeremy Irons.
CineCHEF— Boulder proved yet again why Bon Appetit magazine crowned us ‘America’s Foodiest Town,’ as top local chefs from Oak at Fourteenth, River and Woods, Jax, Riffs and more prepared movie-themed small plates for an enthusiastic crowd of over 250 people. Paired wines, local beers, music and a screening of ‘Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table’ rounded out this festival favorite event.
Virtual Reality Pavilion— As technology evolves, so too does the way we tell our stories. BIFF 2017 brought technology and the art of filmmaking together—giving people the opportunity to experience the future of storytelling firsthand. Our carefully-curated VR content included the world premiere of ‘My Beautiful Home,’ the Colorado premiere of
‘Chasing Coral: The VR Experience’, and the first-ever VR film to be nominated for an Academy Award, ‘Pearl.’ Over 1,000 people were able to view these amazing films throughout BIFF weekend.
Closing Night— BIFF celebrated the best of the fest by awarding our winners their Vielehr sculptures. Then, straight from its Audience Award-winning premiere at Sundance 2017, BIFF’s Closing Night featured the stunning new documentary ‘Chasing Coral,’ from Boulder-based director Jeff Orlowski. Orlowski, producer Larissa Rhodes, and a distinguished group of scientists and environmentalists featured in the film were on hand for a fascinating post-film discussion—a great ending to another great BIFF!
The 2017 Boulder International Film Festival award winners:
Best New Filmmaker – Score: A Film Music Documentary
CineCHEF Winner – 24 Carrot Bistro
Best Short Film – Nocturne in Black
Best Short Documentary – Dodo’s Delight
Best Call2Action Film – Chasing Coral
Best Music Documentary – Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
Best Documentary – Chasing Coral
Best Feature Film – Glory
People’s Choice Award (Short Film) – La Femme et la TGV
People’s Choice Award (Feature Length Film) – Chasing Coral
