Tickets on sale now at www.biff1.com

BOULDER, Colo. (Jan. 24, 2013) — The 9^th Annual Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF), named “one of the coolest film festivals in the world” by MovieMaker Magazine, today announces a preview to its action-packed program, which features 47 films from around the world. The Festival takes place in scenic Boulder, Colo., Feb. 14-17, and will bring films, filmmakers and international fans together for a four-day celebration of the fine art of filmmaking.

“From workshops and forums to the films themselves, we celebrate the art of storytelling through cinema, and we toast the incredibly talented people who make it all happen,” said Kathy Beeck, Festival Director. “The diversity of our program offers audiences an opportunity to travel to the depths of a Nazi concentration camp, to the heights of K2, or to be surrounded with the soulful sounds of Muscle Shoals and the high falsettos of the ‘80s rock band, Journey. Simply put, BIFF is a film lover's film fest.”  

BIFF will commence with an Opening Night Red Carpet Gala and a screening of the documentary Muscle Shoals, directed by Colorado’s own Greg “Freddy” Camalier, on Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at the Boulder Theater. Making its world premier at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Muscle Shoals unearths a gold mine of American music during the most incendiary period of racial hostility, the 1960s, when white and black artists came together in a small recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Ala., to create timeless music that has influenced multiple generations. Participating artists featured in the film include Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Bob Dylan, Bono, the Rolling Stones, the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Simon & Garfunkel.

“We have an outstanding lineup of films, some coming straight from this year’s Sundance,” said Robin Beeck, Festival Executive Director. “BIFF is a fantastic opportunity to experience new films from around the world—films exploding with music, cultures, ideas and adventures.” 

The BIFF Closing Night Awards Ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. will feature a presentation of the “Pinnacle Award” to Peter Fonda, two-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner. After the presentation, BIFF special event producer Ron Bostwick will conduct a sure-to-be unforgettable interview with the actor, whose credits include Easy Rider, The Limey, Outlaw Blues, The Laramie Project, Ulee's Gold, 3:10 to Yuma, among many others.  

Tickets are on sale now at www.biff1.com and are also available in person or by calling the Boulder Theater at (303) 786-7030. Individual film tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors 65 and older. All-access Festival passes can be purchased $450.

Film highlights from the festival include:

Defiant Requiem

This powerful film recreates the incredible story of the Nazi concentration camp, Terezin. It depicts how prisoner and conductor, Raphael Schächter, formed a choir of Jewish prisoners who used music and opera to endure their suffering, performing numbers such as Verdi’s fantastically difficult chorale, “Requiem,” to many Nazi audiences. Several Terezin survivors will share their story during a Q&A after the film. View trailer

On the Road

Based on Jack Kerouac’s cult novel that was to change American counterculture, this film follows the journey of three young people in the late 1940s as they barrel into a restless, supercharged frontier of unlimited freedom. It is punctuated by outsized encounters with jazzmen, hobos, workingmen, poets, muses and more. Co-stars global superstar Kristen Stewart. View trailer 

The Summit

Direct to BIFF from Sundance 2013, The Summit explores the deadliest day in mountain climbing history when, in August 2008, 11 mountain climbers were killed on K-2. It features astounding found footage and re-enactments on K-2 itself. Director Nick Ryan will share his experience during a Q&A following the film. View trailer 

Don't Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey

This film shares the real life rock and roll fairy tale and incredible rise to fame of Arnel Pineda, an aspiring Filipino singer who was discovered on YouTube to become the new lead singer of Journey. View trailer 

Flicker

This hilarious, rapid-fire comedy follows the middle-class population of an entire Swedish town as they are sucked into a vortex of wildly funny, humiliating, embarrassing absurdities, all of which are triggered by a simple power outage. Director Patrik Eklund, a 2009 Oscar Nominee for Instead of Abracadabra, will answer questions during a Q&A after the film. View trailer 

War Witch

Nominated for a 2013 Academy Award, War Witch tells the story of Komona, a 14-year-old girl forced into civil war in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her tale begins at age 12, when she was abducted, and the film follows her life over the course of two years as she fought using a Kalashnikov assault rifle in an army of rebel warriors. Actress Rachel Mwanza is amazing in this complex, deeply disturbing yet magical film. View trailer 

New this year:

• Two Opening Night Red Carpet Galas: Feb. 14 at the Hotel Boulderado and Rembrandt Yard
• Youth Pavilion and CU Student Pavilion: Screenings of short films by teens, ages 10-18
• e-Town Hall: New, state-of-the-art film venue 

And be sure not to forget the Closing Night Awards Ceremony, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.