The 8th Annual Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) takes place in Boulder, Colo., Feb. 16-19, and kicks off Thursday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. with an Opening Night Red Carpet Gala and screening of Darling Companion, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics, directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Darling Companion tells the story of the bond between a woman and her dog, who she loves more than her husband. Kasdan and producer Anthony Bregman will be in attendance for a Q&A session after the screening.

BIFF will also feature “A Conversation with William H. Macy” on Friday, Feb. 17, at 7:15 p.m. and the Closing Night Film and Awards Ceremony featuring the Colorado premiere of acclaimed new film Chasing Ice on Sunday, Feb. 19. Special guest Martin Sheen, critically acclaimed actor, will be honored with the “Master of Cinema Award” on the afternoon of Saturday, February 18.

Film highlights from the festival include:

“Chasing Ice”

Produced in Boulder by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jerry Aronson and producer Paula DuPré Pesmen, this breathtakingly beautiful film follows famed National Geographic photographer James Balog as he deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras throughout the Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

“5 Broken Cameras”.

Soldiers fire into his video cameras and explode them with grenades, but it doesn’t stop Emad Burnat from documenting the courageous and chilling story of the Palestinian village of Bil’in—which famously chose nonviolent resistance against an often-brutal Israeli oppression.

“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”

From Lasse Hallström, the director of Chocolat and the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire comes this inspirational comedy of a visionary sheik with a big dream—to bring salmon fishing to the desert. Starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas.