Boulder International Film Festival brings in thousands; Guest Alec Baldwin talks Rust documentary
It's Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) weekend, and every year, co-founder Kathy Beeck helps bring in dozens of movies from around the world.
"Lots of sellouts already. We've got lots of excellent films, lots of fantastic parties," Beeck said, "This film festival is built by and for the community, and everybody comes out to support it."
Hundreds of fans lined the Boulder Theatre on Friday as thousands come to festival screenings at the venue every year. BIFF says they've already had record ticket sales in 2026.
Angel Harris says she's volunteered at the festival for 18 years and was one of the first in line for a Q&A event with Alec Baldwin on Friday.
"[BIFF] just created such a sense of community that doesn't exist in anything else," she said.
Another fan, Michael Aisner, said, "I've probably been to BIFF, maybe eight or nine times. Sundance, 12 times. I just love movies and movie festivals."
For 22 years, people have been coming to the Boulder Theater to celebrate BIFF, and as the festival grows, so does its star power. Marking his third appearance at the festival, this year's honored celebrity guest is Alec Baldwin.
"I love coming here. I love this town. It's so beautiful. And the college, the whole vibe here is just great," he said.
Baldwin sat down to chat about his career as the festival screens a documentary about his trial over the accidental shooting on the set of the film "Rust."
When asked about his reaction to the festival screening of the trial documentary "The Trial of Alec Baldwin" and its impact on festival goers, he said, "We're in the middle of a civil trial against the state of New Mexico and against Santa Fe County. We're suing them for what happened. So hopefully, that will elicit the same response from a jury down the road, I think. But it's been, it's been just unreal. It was unreal to me. It was really just a lot of bad piled up. So hopefully we'll be able to row our canoe away from that now."
The festival creators say conversations around these films are a big part of the festival. And this year, thousands of people have already bought tickets to be a part of it.
Aisner added, "Festivals give you an opportunity to get access to the best of what people are creating in film."
This year, BIFF is collaborating with Sundance as both work to bring more films to this festival city. This includes BIFF screening some of this year's Park City films.
When asked if he would return for Sundance, Baldwin said, "If I get invited. But who cares about that? I want to get invited back here [to BIFF]."
Tickets for BIFF are still available as films, events and even parties continue through Sunday.