Even with record ticket sales this year, the founders of the 21st Boulder International Film Festival could read the writing on the screen.
“Boulder is tough place to hold events because there’s so dang many of them that you really can’t move into the summer, and you can’t move into the fall either,” said festival co-founder Kathy Beeck, who runs the event along with sister Robin.
Before the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival makes its Boulder debut in 2027, the Beecks have decided to push their 22nd event back to make room for Sundance’s January takeover. BIFF, as the Beecks’ festival is called, has been programmed in March for the past decade or so, and before that took place in February.
Now the festival is shifting into what the Beecks consider one of the only quiet periods in Boulder’s public calendar — April 9 through April 12, 2026 — even if Kathy admitted there could very well be “two feet of snow on the ground” at that time. (The Front Range’s wettest months are usually mid-spring to early summer, according to Colorado State University.)
“A little bit of a shoulder never hurts for film festivals,” Kathy said.
The announcement arrived with a call for submissions for 2026’s BIFF. The festival exhibits new and recently premiered short films, features, documentaries, animation, adventure films, and student films in competition for a number of awards. In March, that included Emmy-winning comic and actor Jane Lynch receiving hers before 600 people at The Boulder Theater, fashion designer Kenneth Cole in attendance with a documentary about his work, Devo co-founder and film composer Mark Mothersbaugh, and others.
The 2025 BIFF, which took place March 13-16 this year, featured 68 films from 18 countries, “many special appearances,” according to Beeck, and a 20% increase in ticket sales, with 16 sold-out screenings. She declined to name specific revenue numbers, ticket sales or attendance, but said more than 25,000 attended in total. She also said that film submissions and films that programmers sought out for the fest increased 14% over last year.
That’s a sign that Sundance, at least at the moment, hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for what has long been the city’s biggest film festival. If anything, the attention from the Sundance announcement in March has drawn more film interest to town, Kathy said.
“(BIFF) is attracting more and more filmmakers who are feeling like it’s really the place to screen, so we’re excited about the next year,” she said. “This year was our best year for everything — like, wow! — and frankly, we’ve continued to build due to a lot of word of mouth from filmmakers who attend.
“We just hope that we can get the word out with the date change, and that people will continue to come to BIFF even if it’s a little bit later,” she added.
Find information and entry deadlines for festival submissions at biff1.com/filmmakers.
Originally Published:
