About Our Film Fest

In a spectacular setting 9,600 feet above sea level, the flagship festival takes place in the authentic mountain town of Breckenridge. Each fall, the festival celebrates vibrant fall colors intertwined with spirited personalities and storytelling in an easy-to-access location just 80 miles west of Denver via Interstate 70.

Breck Film Fest was ranked as a USA Today Top 20 Film Festival and continually hits the Top 100 Film Festival list on the FilmFreeway submissions platform. It presents 100+ films in four days with 30+ filmmakers in attendance to engage with audiences, including interfacing with local media professionals. Partnerships with major studios bring high-caliber films and industry guests to Breckenridge throughout the year.

Industry guests from acclaimed outlets such as Pixar, Disney, ReFramed Pictures (Susan Sarandon-operated production company), Laika Entertainment, and more are festival programming highlights. Recently, the festival hosted guests such as Michael Shannon (Shape of Water), Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) and Matthew Glave (The Wedding Singer). The festival strives to connect audiences to film and filmmakers, advancing the art of storytelling and all that goes along with it: composing, music and sound, cinematography, the business of filmmaking/production, directing, and so much more.

“Film matters on so many levels. As an art form, it rounds out the community in which we live. As an affordable art form, film (particularly as presented in our festival) is accessible to everyone. Our free programming provides entry points to film for anyone in the community. We additionally make available film that isn’t available elsewhere.” — Janice Miller, Previous Executive Director

An all-new High School Program engages students across the state in a partner program that has caught the attention of the Colorado Film Office. Selected filmmakers are invited to show their films theatrically at the festival with a feedback luncheon with professional filmmakers following. It complements the long-running Children’s Program, which introduces young children to film with hands-on activities.

In 2019, we shifted our partnership with Keystone Science School‘s Girls in STEM program to feature a Film Fesival Edition, to great success. Girls ages middle school to high school linked with professional and student film mentors to learn the process of filmmaking start-to-finish in a weekend-long overnight course. Participants walked the Red Carpet and posed for the paparazzi before entering the theater to see their stop-motion and live-action productions on the big screen.

The Breck Film Fest’s rich history includes guests such as Alan Arkin, James Earl Jones, Robert Loggia, Marsha Mason, Sydney Pollack, Mary Steenburgen, Donald Sutherland, Eva Marie Saint, Jon Voight, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jon Favreau, Michael York , Jo Beth Williams, Connie Nielsen, Irvin Kershner, Thomas Haden Church, AnnaSophia Robb, and DB Sweeney. A past partnership with the University of Colorado at Boulder presented classic and foreign films with faculty members leading interrelated discussions.

The Town of Breckenridge (est. 1859) is home to an internationally known ski resort providing summer and fall visitors a myriad of recreational opportunities from biking, hiking, sailing and rafting, to fishing, golf, tennis and horseback riding. Today, Breckenridge retains much of the look and historic charm of its prior heyday as a late 1800’s mining town. The town is home to a world-class network of mountain bike trails, a recreation center with redesigned tennis center, acclaimed fly-fishing, and a Jack Nicklaus designed public golf course. The town offers historical tours, art galleries, many shops and fine dining.