This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
The Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) kicked off in Longmont on Friday evening with a special showing of Short Films at 7:00 pm, preceded by a red carpet access to the Museum’s opening night celebration for ticket holders. Film lovers mingled with each other, enjoying live gypsy jazz and swing from Espresso, as well as good cocktail food and drinks, courtesy of Bookcliff Vineyards and Jefe’s Tacos & Tequila.
Longmont’s BIFF program started earlier on Friday with a special showing of The Euphoria of Being, a sub-titled documentary about the return to Hungary of Eva Fahidi, an Auschwitz survivor, and her participation at the age of 90 in a dance celebration of life.
The rest of the BIFF showings in Longmont, are equally beguiling, with a highlight of Friday’s short program being the Oscar-nominated NEFTA Football Club, which included a children’s football (soccer) game in Tunisia and a headphone-wearing donkey. The second Short Films offering on Saturday included The Other Fab Four about the group told by John Lennon “but girls don’t play the guitar”.
The other four Saturday showings were among the pick of the over 90 BIFF movies in the 2020 schedule. They ranged from a documentary on the life and career of Gordon Lightfoot If You Could Read My Mind, to the amazing story from Poland of a released juvenile prisoner who convinces a young local in a remote town that he is a recently ordained priest. Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly describes the art exhibition on Alcatraz Island created by the famous artist and activist to honor his father’s long years in a Chinese labour camp. Finally, On Broadway documents the cyclical ups and downs of the great New York tradition, from A Chorus Line to Hamilton, and included performances by Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters, and Mandy Patinkin.
Sunday’s showings highlighted three feature documentaries, that range from the story of The Dog Doc, who uses alternative medicines along with traditional veterinary medicine to treat his patients, to Henri Dauman: Looking Up, that shares the life of the Holocaust survivor and photographer through his vibrant oeuvre of, it is said, over a million negatives. The UK produced Piano to Zanskar relates the story of 65-year-old piano tuner Desmond O’Keeffe , who decided to attempt the most perilous delivery of his career: transporting a 100-year old classic upright piano from bustling London to a school in the remote heart of the Indian Himalayas. What could possibly go wrong?
The final feature film in the Sunday program was Those Who Remained, a lyrical story of the healing power of love in the midst of conflict, loss and trauma, describing the unlikely relationship between Hungarian camp survivor Aldo and the young Klara, hoping for the return of her parents. And the BIFF program ended in a flourish, with a program of Adventure Short Films. These short documentary films range from Par for the Course, in which Mirna Valerio, a 250-pound African American woman from Brooklyn, takes on a 25-kilometer race in Squaw Valley that encompasses over 1500 vertical meters on exposed ridges, snow fields and massive climbs, to REEL ROCK: United States of Joe's, relating how, in rural Utah, a valley of world-class bouldering is created among a conservative community of Mormons, cowboys and coal miners. After years of antagonism, a ragged band of climbers work with locals to build a harmonious future. Not all of the Adventure Shorts are from the Western Hemisphere, as Aziza from Morocco tells the story of this role model for Moroccan women. Aziza has dedicated her life to long distance racing, balancing home life and overcoming cultural and social challenges to compete in some of the toughest foot races on Earth.
