The 13th Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) announced its program, which includes 58 films from around the world and three Sundance Film Festival award-winning films. This year, the festival will screen four films nominated for a 2017 Oscar. The Festival takes place from March 2-5, 2017.
“We are so excited about this year’s program,” said Robin Beeck, Festival Executive Director. “This is a stellar lineup with award-winning films from the world’s greatest directors and from fresh, new filmmakers just hitting the scene. We’re thrilled to be able to present a feast of the best films today.”
The festival kicks off on Thursday, March 2nd with an Opening Night Red Carpet Gala and screening of Their Finest, a rousing romantic comedy about a female screenwriter during World War II. The film stars Gemma Arterton, Sam Clatlin and Bill Nighy.
Fresh from winning the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary at Sundance 2017, the closing night film, Chasing Coral follows a team of divers, photographers and scientists on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why coral reefs are vanishing around the world. Directed by Jeff Orlowski.
New this year is the VR Pavilion displaying Virtual Reality, an entirely new film language.
Film highlights include Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back and Dean.
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
Jimi Hendrix was proud of his Cherokee grandmother, and Mohawk guitarist Robbie Robertson (The Band) remembers being told in the ‘50s when he started out in rock ‘n’ roll: “Be proud you’re an Indian, but don’t tell anybody.” Rumble is about the role of Native Americans in popular music history, a missing chapter. Winner at Sundance 2017. Directed by Catherine Bainbridge.
Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back
Italian sculptor Maurizio Cattelan has become a superstar in the art world, with a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. His sculptures—for example, an oversized Pinocchio floating face down in a pool—sell for millions of dollars. In this funny, mind-bending and visually beautiful film, Boulder director Maura Axelrod tries to find the “real” Cattelan, a task that is complicated by the fact that the artist is elusive, to say the least.
Writer/director/comedian Demetri Martin stars alongside Academy Award winner Kevin Kline in this comedic and heartfelt tale about a father and son coming to terms with love, loss and everything in between. Both father and son set out on their own paths, as unexpected circumstances and potential new love interests threaten to thwart all plans. A CBS Films release. Directed and written by Demetri Martin