The Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) is held annually in March in Boulder, Colorado. BIFF features films by new and emerging filmmakers, as well as industry directors, writers, producers, and actors. There are 25,000 attendances annually.

History The Colorado Film Society (CFS) was founded by filmmakers and sisters Kathy and Robin Beeck. The CFS became a 501C3 nonprofit organization in May of 2004. In 2005, the CFS launched the Boulder International Film Festival, implemented an educational outreach program, and partnered with many nonprofits. In the years since, with a team of 500 volunteers, the CFS initiated a Call2Action Program which has included 175 nonprofit organizations, a Senior Outreach Program, a Youth Program and Teen Short Film Competition, a Singer/Songwriter Showcase, an Adventure Pavilion, a film program at Longmont's Stewart Auditorium, and a popular CineCHEF event during the Festival.

2005 The festival's inaugural season showcased more than 50 films from around the world. Among the highlights were documentaries such as Seoul Train, Mardi Gras: Made in China and The Liberace of Baghdad, the regional premiere of Danny Boyle's Millions, a short by Jason Reitman, and The Real Old Testament, from Curtis and Paul Hannum.

2006 Special guest artists during BIFF 2006 included Maria Bello, Patrick Warburton, Eric Roberts and screenwriter Amy Fox. Director Andrew Quigley received a Special Jury Prize for his documentary Diameter of the Bomb.

2007 BIFF 2007's guests included filmmaking duo Michael and Mark Polish, screenwriter John August, the Denver Slam Poetry Team, and a contingent of air-guitar masters, the latter in conjunction with the documentary Air Guitar Nation.

2008 BIFF 2008 included Helen Hunt's directorial debut, And Then She Found Me, Alex Gibney's Taxi to the Dark Side, which won the Oscar shortly thereafter; concertizing by local performers including Hazel Miller and Otis Taylor; an offsite showing of Alexander Nevsky, accompanied by the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra playing the original score; and a closing night featuring the documentary Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains.

2009 Chevy Chase opened the 2009 Festival at the Boulder Theater. Chase received an Award of Excellence in Comedy which was followed by a film retrospective honoring his work. Chase participated in a Q&A session hosted by BIFF executive producer Ron Bostwick. That year, BIFF was voted one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals” MovieMaker Magazine.

2010 Closing Night of BIFF 2010 was a tribute to Alec Baldwin, which included a film retrospective of his work followed by a question and answer session hosted by Ron Bostwick. Three weeks following BIFF, Baldwin co-hosted the 2010 Academy Awards ceremony with his It's Complicated co-star Steve Martin.

2011 BIFF 2011 featured guest stars Oliver Stone and James Franco. Other features included the festive opening-night feature "Troubadors", a showing of The Last Circus, an examination of the controversial legacy of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Crazy Wisdom, a look into film preservation in These Amazing Shadows, and a showing of Freedom Riders. After Freedom Riders, BIFF had a post-screening conversation with John Lewis.

2012 William H. Macy and Martin Sheen were honored at the 2012 BIFF, with both actors participating in a Q&A session. Producer Anthony Bregman and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan were also honorary guests.

2013 Peter Fonda was BIFF's closing-night guest in 2013. BIFF partnered with educational outreach programs such as the Youth Pavilion, CU @ BIFF (BIFF's college-level program in association with the University of Colorado), and expanded workshops and panels.

2014 Shirley MacLaine received the Career Achievement Award during her tribute at BIFF in 2014. For the first time, BIFF's fundraising FOOVIE (food and a movie) sold out and raised $15,000 for year-round BIFF programming. In addition, 2014 saw the release of an open-source Call 2 Action Toolkit that film festivals across the globe can use to adopt the festival's Call 2 Action program, joining the movement to harness the power of film for positive social change. Nathaniel Rateliff appeared at BIFF after his film Austin to Boston.

2018 The four-day festival featured 72 films and 14 programs, including a screening of Borg vs McEnroe, as well as a Denver vs. Boulder CineCHEF. In addition, BIFF had a special screening of Humor Me with Elliott Gould, an Augmented Reality film program, a Virtual Reality Pavilion, and a Singer/Songwriter Showcase.

Josh Walker, Rodes Rollins and Dallas Thornton performed at the 2018 BIFF Singer-Songwriter Showcase in Boulder, Colorado.

2019 BIFF 2019 was held from February 28 to March 3. The four-day festival featured 24,200 attendances, 55 films and three celebrity red carpet events which included David Crosby, Emilio Estevez, and Jakob Dylan.

2020 BIFF 2020 featured 88 films from 24 countries, a new Adventure Film Pavilion, an XR Experience, and the CineCHEF foodie competition. International Women's Day fell on festival weekend, Sunday, March 8th. There were over 20,000 attendances for BIFF 2020.

Robbie Robertson was in-person on Opening Night for a Q&A after the film Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band; Jesse Eisenberg made a special appearance on the red carpet with a Q&A after the screening of the film Resistance; and Jeff Orlowski discussed The Social Dilemma. In addition, Cheryl Strayed appeared at the Adventure Film Pavilion. BIFF hosted two Disney Animation executives at the XR Experience.

The COVID-19 pandemic closed down the country shortly after the 2020 Festival. Because of this, BIFF started a Drive–In Theater at the Boulder Airport in place of a traditional gathering. The Drive In featured local musicians, who gave live performances. BIFF offered free car passes for low-income families and collaborated with the city of Boulder on the drive-in screening.

2021 BIFF moved the festival from March to June for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic did not stop BIFF itself, which continued to see attendance. Many events sold out, including the first in-person screening of Summer of Soul, the Closing Night film Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times directed by Louie Psihoyos, and Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain directed by Morgan Neville, who received the Career Achievement Award in Documentary Filmmaking at the screening. 2022 The Boulder International Film Festival 2022 was March 3-6 and featured 18,000 attendances, 55 films, 40 filmmakers and subjects, a sold-out CineCHEF event, a free Singer/Songwriter Showcase, the BIFF at Home! virtual film program, and appearances by Javier Bardem and Alec Baldwin.

2023 BIFF 2023 was March 2-5 and featured 67 films, 45 filmmakers, a CineCHEF event, a free Singer/Songwriter Showcase, a virtual cinema platform, the BIFF at Home! virtual program, a celebrity appearance by Oscar-winning actor F. Murray Abraham, and nearly 20,000 attendances.

2024 The 20th anniversary of BIFF was Feb 29-March 3, 2024 and featured appearances by award-winning actors Tony Goldwyn and Laura Linney. In honor of the festival's 20th anniversary, BIFF provided free virtual films pre-BIFF and hosted a Free Community Day during the Festival on Saturday, March 2, at eTown Hall, with free in person screenings of five award-winning films from BIFF's first 20 years.

Festival Winners

BIFF 2022

Category Winner Outstanding Performer of the Year Javier Bardem Best Feature Film Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea Best Feature Documentary Bernstein's Wall Best Music Documentary Stay Prayed Up Best Adventure Feature Film Exposure Best Adventure Short Film Learning to Drown Best Short Film On My Mind Best Animated Short Film Yellowstone 88–Song of Fire Best Documentary Short Film 1-2-3 The Len Barry Story BIFF Impact Award Refuge Peoples Choice Award - Short Film Breaking Trail Peoples Choice Award - Feature Length Film This is [Not] Who We Are CinneChef Linda Hamsten Fox, The Bindery

BIFF 2021

Category Winner Career Achievement Award in Documentary Filmmaking Morgan Neville Best Short Documentary Welcome Strangers Best Short Film The Present Impact US Kids Best Adventure Film Godspeed, Los Polacos! Best Music Film Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Best Documentary Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free Best Feature Film Asia Peoples Choice Award - Short Film The Incredible Lamont Peoples Choice Award - Feature Length Film Godspeed, Los Polacos! BIFF Service Award Jim Palmer

BIFF 2020

Category Winner Best Cinechef Becca Henry Executive Chef, ChoLon Modern Asian – Stapleton Best Short Documentary LIV Best Short Film Nefta Football Club Best Animated Short Film The Bird and the Whale Best Adventure Short 8000+ Best Social Impact Film The Social Dilemma Best Documentary I Am Not Alone Best Feature Film The Personal History of David Copperfield Peoples Choice Award - Short Film LIV Peoples Choice Award - Feature Length Film I Am Not Alone GRAND JURY PRIZE BEST SHORT FILM $3,000 Nefta Football Club GRAND JURY PRIZE FEATURE LENGTH FILM $10,000 Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band

BIFF 2019

Category Winner Best Cinechef Linda Hampsten Fox from The Bindery Best Cinechef City Denver Best Short Documentary Little Fiel Best Short Film Fauve Best Animated Short Film Hybrids Best Call2Action Film The Weight of Water Best Music Documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name Best Documentary Biggest Little Farm Best Feature Film Styx Peoples Choice Award - Short Film The Encirclement Peoples Choice Award - Feature Length Film Skid Row Marathon GRAND JURY PRIZE BEST SHORT FILM $3,000 Little Fiel GRAND JURY PRIZE FEATURE LENGTH FILM $10,000 Biggest Little Farm

BIFF 2018

Category Winner Best Cinechef 24 Carrot Bistro Best Documentary Becoming Who I Was Best Feature Film The Insult Best Animated Short Film Garden Party Best Call2Action Film The Devil We Know Best Music Documentary 40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie Best Live Action Short Film The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler Peoples Choice Award - Short Film Watu Wote (All of Us) Peoples Choice Award - Feature Length Film Won't You Be My Neighbor?

BIFF 2017

Category Winner Best Cinechef 24 Carrot Bistro Best New Filmmaker Score: A Film Music Documentary Best Documentary Short Film DoDo's Delight Best Short Film Nocturne In Black Best Call2Action Film Chasing Coral Best Music Documentary Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World Best Documentary Chasing Coral Best Feature Film Glory Peoples Choice Award - Short Film La Femme et la TGV Peoples Choice Award - Feature Length Film Chasing Coral

BIFF 2015

Category Winner Career Achievement Award Alan Arkin Best Cinechef Bradford Heap, Chef, Salt the Bistro and Colterra Best Documentary Short Film Our Curse Best Short Film Orbit Ever After Best Music Documentary Austin to Boston Catalyst Award Racing Extinction Best Documentary Call Me Lucky Best Feature Film A Borrowed Identity Best Animated Film Home Grand Prize Being Evel Peoples Choice Award Lion

BIFF 2014

Category Film Director People's Choice Award Keep On Keepin' On (a work-in-progress) Alan Hicks Best Feature Film Le Week-End Roger Michell Best Documentary Finding Vivian Maier John Maloof and Charlie Siskel Catalyst Award Alive Inside Michael Rosato-Bennett Best Short Film Saturday Girls Emilie Cherpitel Special Jury Award for Documentary Film Mistaken for Strangers Tom Berninger Best Colorado Film High and Hallowed: Everest 1963 David Morton and Jake Norton Best Call 2 Action Film Documented Jose Antonio Vargas Best New Filmmaker Keep On Keepin' On (a work-in-progress) Alan Hicks Best Editing No No: A Dockumentary Jeffrey Radice

BIFF 2013