This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
For the third year, Longmont Museum's Stewart Auditorium will host the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) on February 23-25. An Opening Night Reception is scheduled for Friday, February 23 at 5 p.m.
"Named one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals” in the world by MovieMaker Magazine, the Boulder International Film Festival brings films and filmmakers from around the world to Boulder for a four-day celebration of the art of cinema," according to the Longmont Museum's website.
"The Festival attracts more than 25,000 film enthusiasts, media and industry each year and has been proud to host and celebrate some of film’s most talented artists."
This year the museum will have screenings for eight BIFF feature films and three shorts programs.
Pricing for the event is $14 general/$13 seniors. Links to buy tickets are in the ticket descriptions below.
** A note about purchasing tickets: Online ticketing is currently only available through computers (not mobile). If you don't have access to a computer, please call the Museum's box office at 303-651-8374 to purchase tickets.
This year's BIFF films screening at the Longmont Museum:
FACES PLACES
Friday, Feb. 23, 3 pm
France, Feature Documentary, 2017, 90 min
One of the leading figures of the French New Wave, 89 year-old Agnès Varda, and acclaimed 33 year-old French photographer JR teamed up to co-direct this enchanting road movie. Together they travel around French villages in JR’s photo truck meeting locals, learning their stories and producing epic-size portraits of them. The photos are prominently displayed on houses, barns, storefronts and trains revealing the humanity in their subjects, and themselves. Faces Places documents these heartwarming encounters, as well as the unlikely, tender friendship formed between the filmmakers along the way. This film is far more than a charming buddy movie, it's a major collaboration between two of Europe's greatest artists and is being heralded throughout the world. Subtitled
Directed by Agnès Varda and JR
SHORT FILMS 1
Friday, Feb. 23, 7 pm
Portugal
Short Film, 2017, 8 min
An elusive stranger pays Bimbo, a scruffy terrier, a visit in the dead of night to deliver a vital message.
Directed by Gonçalo Almeida
Les Animaux domestiques (Domestic Animals)
France, Short Animation, 2016, 22 min
Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, a rich, idle couple, successively adopt a dog, a cat, a fly, a toad and a moth. But they don’t know anything about animals. Subtitled
Directed by Jean Lecointre
Schoolyard Blues
Sweden, Short Film, 2017, 17 min
It's John's first day at school, and his big brother Mika shows up to follow him to assembly. Mika sees it as his mission to teach John the hard facts of the world, starting with the merciless demands of the schoolyard. Subtitled
Directed by Maria Eriksson
My Nephew Emmett
USA, Short Film, 2017, 20 min
In 1955, a 64 year-old preacher tries to protect his 14 year-old nephew, Emmett Till, from two racist killers out for blood. Based on true events.
Directed by Kevin Wilson Jr.
Danny MacAskill’s Wee Day Out
Scotland, Short Documentary, 2016, 7 min
Want to see what Danny MacAskill does on his day off?
Directed by Stu Thompson
SHORT FILMS 2
Saturday, Feb. 24, 10 am
Facing Mecca
Switzerland, Short Film, 2017, 25 min
Roli comes to Fareed’s aid when the Syrian refugee in Switzerland is faced with the burial of his Muslim wife, who died of cancer. The cemetery's graves are not facing Mecca, and they cannot possibly bury her within 24 hours. Together, they find a beautifully simple answer. Subtitled
Directed by Jan-Eric Mack
Negative Space
France, Short Animation, 2017, 6 min
I always watched my father pack. He was amazing.
Directed by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
Watu Wote (All of Us)
Kenya/Germany, Short Narrative, 2017, 22 min
A bus is taken over by terrorists near Mandera, Kenya in 2015. With guns pointed at their heads, the Muslims and Christians aboard will help decide their own fates. Based on a true story. Subtitled
Directed by Katja Benrath
Imagination
USA, Short Film, 2017, 4 min
We’ve all been that kid sitting in the back seat of our family car, wishing we were somewhere else. Watch day dreams come to life as Tom Wallisch shreds the snowy streets of Nelson, British Columbia.
Directed by Dave Mossop
Fluffy
Serbia/Canada , Short Film, 2016, 24 min
A family of three is packing to emigrate to Canada from Belgrade when Fluffy, a gigantic prize teddy bear, turns up at the door. The daughter is delirious with joy, but the parents sense a looming travel nightmare. Subtitled
Directed by Lee Filipovski
Two Trains Runnin'
Saturday, Feb. 24, Noon
USA, Feature Documentary, 2016, 82 min
In the 1930s, two giants of the Delta blues, Skip James and Son House, made records that changed America's popular music forever. Then they disappeared. But in 1964, during the folk-song revolution on college campuses, two separate groups of college-age musicians set out for Mississippi—with recording equipment—to find them. At the same time, hundreds of other college students were heading there as Freedom Riders. Finally, in June 1964, the groups converged, as ugliness and fury of the resistance to black voting—the violence, beatings and murders that white authorities unleashed against it—shocked America. But this convergence turned civil rights into a national cause, and spawned the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act. It also launched a resurrection of some of the greatest American music of all time.
Directed by Sam Pollard
Ceasefire
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2 pm
France/Belgium, Feature Narrative, 2016, 103 min
Shot in lush style by Clint Eastwood’s favorite cinematographer, Tom Stern, this gorgeous period romance follows Georges, post-trauma-stressed from his horrific experiences in the trenches in the Great War, as he struggles to gain back his sanity. He escapes to the vast territories of French Equatorial Africa, where he travels with, and learns from, a famous griot (African storyteller), Diofo, also a veteran of the War. Guilt-ridden, Georges returns to France to take care of his family—his elderly mother and deaf-mute war-veteran brother, Marcel. With the help of Hélène, his brother's sign language teacher, with whom he will have a tumultuous relationship, Georges will finally try to heal the wounds, both his family’s and his own. Subtitled
Directed by Emmanuel Courcol
Pick of the Litter
Saturday, Feb. 24, 4:30 pm
USA, Feature Documentary, 2018, 81 min
Pick of the Litter is a wonderful reminder of the extraordinary relationships we have with our dogs. The film follows a litter of puppies from the moment they’re born and begin their quest to become guide dogs for the blind. Cameras follow these pups through an intense two-year odyssey as they train to become dogs whose ultimate responsibility is to protect their blind partners from harm. Along the way, these remarkable animals rely on a community of dedicated individuals who train them to do amazing, life-changing things in the service of their human. The stakes are high, and not every dog can make the cut: Only the best of the best, the pick of the litter.
Directed by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy
The Farthest
Saturday, Feb. 24, 6:45 pm
Ireland, Feature Documentary, 2017, 121 min
In 1977, America launched the greatest exploration in human history. In 2017, after 40 years and 12 billion miles of photographing the outer planets. Voyager 1, with its’ Golden Record bearing recordings and images of life on Earth, left the solar system and the scientists who designed it and cared for it for 40 years are ecstatic. They wanted Voyager 1 to map four planets, but Nixon would only fund two. So they did the unthinkable in 1977; they built the onboard computer, (which only had the circuit power of a modern hearing-aid) to be reprogrammable from EARTH. After orbiting Jupiter, Saturn and Titan, they reprogrammed the spaceship to slingshot out to Neptune and Uranus and beyond the solar system. It will now orbit our galaxy once every 100,000 years. The Farthest is an enduring testament to the ingenuity of humankind and the untapped limits of the imagination. This visually stunning film absolutely must-be-seen on the big screen.
Directed by Emer Reynolds
Michelin Stars: Tales from the Kitchen
Sunday, Feb. 25, 10 am
Denmark, Feature Documentary, 2017, 82 min
All chefs dream of a Michelin star, and those who have one (or more), work tirelessly to keep this distinction. Michelin Stars goes behind the scenes to see how the stars are awarded, to talk to the chefs who work tirelessly to maintain their status, and to view the impact that the little red book has on the world of award-winning cuisine. Michelin Stars is a thoughtful and elegant meditation on creativity and the art of perfection, in one of the most creative and dynamic industries in the world. Subtitled
Directed by Rasmus Dinesen
Bye Bye Germany
Sunday, Feb. 25, Noon
Germany/Luxembourg/Belgium, Feature Narrative, 2017, 102 min
Based on the author's own, often funny, family history of Jews left behind in Germany after the war, this film is full of Yiddish-isms. It features David Bermann, a dapper, smooth-talking former trader, fresh from the camps who is soon training a crack team of fellow camp survivors as door-to-door salesmen of “fine French bed linens.” Because Germany's retail networks have been destroyed, German widows scoop up the linens, and the motley sales force becomes quite successful. (All they want is to get the hell out of Germany.) But could Bermann have collaborated with the Nazis? The smart and attractive US officer Sara Simon conducts the secret interrogations. She wants to get to the heart of Bermann’s wartime memories, but his quick wit and wild tales are a challenge for Simon’s prosecutorial patience. Subtitled
Directed by Sam Garbarski
40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie
Sunday, Feb. 25, 2:15 pm
USA, Feature Documentary, 2017, 99 min
We all have that perfect time in our lives when the songs we heard stick in our brains forever. For famed TV director Lee Aronsohn ("Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory") that perfect time was the Boulder, Colorado revolution in the ‘70s, and that perfect band was Magic Music. These guys were the real deal, living in teepees, cabins and converted school buses in the mountains outside of Boulder. With their original songs, acoustic instruments and tight harmonies, Magic Music seemed headed for stardom…then they disappeared. Aronsohn embarks on an audacious journey to find the original members and bring the band together again. But they left no trace. What happened to one of Boulder's most beloved bands?
Directed by Lee Aronsohn
Itzhak
Sunday, Feb. 25, 5 pm
US/Israel, Feature Documentary, 2017, 82 min
Itzhak Perlman, the greatest living violinist, takes us on a personal journey through his music and one year of his life. Filmmaker Alison Chernick gains privileged access to Perlman with his family, friends and colleagues. Wheelchair-bound from childhood polio, he recounts stories of overcoming obstacles with his talent and humor. We follow him in eclectic settings, from performing with Billy Joel, to visiting his native Israel, to a long conversation with his friend Alan Alda, who is also a polio survivor. The film offers a portrait of a brilliant, amiable artist seeking to bridge the future through his students.
Directed by Alison Chernick
Short Films 3
Sunday, Feb. 25, 7:15 pm
In a Nutshell
Switzerland, Short Animation, 2017, 6 min
From a seed to war, from meat to love, from indifference to apocalypse: This film is an attempt to capture the world in a nutshell. Subtitled
Directed by Fabio Friedli
Retouch
Iran, Short Film, 2017, 20 min
Maryam’s husband has just had a bad accident at home, and now she has a big decision to make. Subtitled
Directed by Kaveh Mazaheri
The Driver is Red
USA, Short Documentary, 2017, 15 min
Set in Argentina in 1960, this exciting true-crime film follows secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he searches for a mysterious man named Ricardo Klement. What he discovered in the remote outskirts of Buenos Aires would send shock waves around the world.
Directed by Randall Christopher
Two Strangers Who Meet 5 Times
UK, Short Film, 2017, 12 min
Two strangers meet at five key turning points over the duration of their lives.
Directed by Marcus Markou
The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler
Germany, Short Film, 2017, 29 min
East Germany, 1987: The great East German investigator Mr. Mahler, rumored to have psychic abilities, works desperately to solve the case of a missing 6 year-old boy before this issue blows up his country's fragile detente with the West. Subtitled
Directed by Paul Philipp
Bob
Germany, Short Animation, 2009, 3 min
A hamster is chasing his true love around the globe. Will he get her?
Directed by Jacob Frey and Harry Fast
For more information about BIFF, visit www.biff1.com.
