The heart of our festival is the wide range of films within our lineup, showcasing a selection of feature narratives, documentaries, shorts, special presentations, and more from diverse storytellers.
Here, you’ll find our Opening Night, Closing Night, and Centerpiece Presentations, plus other award honoree screenings, featuring festival honorees and guests.
Dir. Malcolm Washington, 2024
A battle is brewing in the Charles Household. At the center stands a prized heirloom piano tearing two siblings apart. On one side, a brother (John David Washington) plans to build the family fortune by selling it. On the other, a sister (Danielle Deadwyler) will go to any lengths to hold onto the sole vestige of the family’s heritage.
This is our Opening Night Presentation.
Dir. Justin Kurzel, 2024
A series of bank robberies and car heists frightened communities in the Pacific Northwest. A lone FBI agent believes that the crimes were not the work of financially motivated criminals, but rather a group of dangerous domestic terrorists.
This is our Centerpiece Presentation.
A selection of the buzziest titles, festival favorites and award contenders of the year! These popular titles only play once.
Dir. Brady Corbet, 2024
Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Toth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognizes his talent for building. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost...
Presented on 35mm film!
Dir. Jacques Audiard, 2024
Emilia Pérez is an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations. Through liberating song and dance and bold visuals, this odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists Rita (Zoe Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can complete gender reassignment surgery and finally fully live authentically as her true self.
Dir. Marielle Heller, 2024
A satirical film based on the acclaimed debut novel by Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch stars six-time Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams as Mother, who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom. As she transforms from a woman defined by career to one defined by domesticity, her transformation takes a surreal turn. Though dealing with the isolation of young motherhood and a loving but often absent husband, Mother reclaims herself, warts and all. Set in the suburbs of an unidentified city the central characters purposely don’t have proper names; the family members are referred to as Mother, Husband, and Son, ultimately universalizing the experience.
Featuring standout entries vying for prestigious awards, including the Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary, the American Independent Award, and the Krzysztof Kieślowski Award for Best Narrative Feature. These selections showcase innovative voices and exceptional craft, competing for top recognition from our juries and audiences.
Dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios, 2024
It’s the lunch rush at The Grill in Manhattan, and money has gone missing from the till. All the undocumented cooks are being investigated, and Pedro (Raúl Briones) is the prime suspect. He’s a dreamer, a troublemaker, and in love with Julia (Rooney Mara), an American waitress who cannot commit to a relationship. Rashid, The Grill´s owner, promised to help Pedro with his papers to “become legal.” But a shocking revelation about Julia compels Pedro to spiral into an act that will stop the production line of one of the city’s busiest kitchens once and for all. La Cocina is a tragic and comic tribute to the invisible people who keep our restaurants running and our stomachs full, whilst chasing a perhaps unreachable version of the American Dream.
Dir. Jacob Perlmutter & Manon Ouimet, 2024
Born in the hard-boiled Bronx, Joel Meyerowitz is a world-renowned photographer with major exhibitions and 40 books to his name. British-born Maggie Barrett is a talented but less recognized artist and writer. Though still very much in love after 30 years together, there is a knot of unease in their relationship, which is further strained when Maggie (age 75) falls and breaks her leg and Joel (age 84) becomes her caregiver. In the shadow of mortality, each with a long and dramatic life behind them, the hard truths of life together provoke in Maggie and Joel an attempt to find a shared inner peace while there is still time. This documentary’s unique access to the couple’s lives results in a profoundly moving film about living, creating, and loving.
Dir. Shaun Seneviratne, 2024
In hopes of rekindling their relationship, Ben Santhanaraj journeys to Sri Lanka to spend the holiday season with Suzanne Hopper, an American NGO worker. But when Suzanne's boss demands she work during their vacation, their love is tested by a dilemma: desire versus duty.
As Suzanne struggles with the responsibilities of her job, Ben tries everything to keep their reunion from being thwarted. In Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts, the couple’s romantic trip turns unconventional as they embark on a hilarious yet amorous journey across Sri Lanka as New Year’s Eve — and Ben’s departure — looms ahead.
Showcasing every narrative film in the program, regardless of genre. This section is your go-to for discovering a diverse lineup of new and buzzworthy films from acclaimed directors and rising stars alike, offering a platform for storytelling that captivates and inspires.
Dir. Andrea Arnold, 2024
In this coming-of-age story, 12-year-old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan) and older brother Hunter in a squat in heavily working-class, impoverished North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids, especially as he becomes more enamored with a lady friend who has a brood of their own. Dreamer Bailey flits about seeking attention and adventure elsewhere, from her brother and his borderline hoodlum friends to her own rich inner life, including a new friend named Bird. Though eccentric, Bird might be exactly what she needs to survive puberty and a potential shakeup in her family life.
Dir. Adam Elliot, 2024
An animated film for adults, Memoir of a Snail introduces lonely misfit Grace Pudel who has an affinity for collecting ornamental snails and an intense love for books. At a young age, when Grace is separated from her twin brother Gilbert, she falls into a spiral of anxiety and angst. Despite a continued series of hardships, inspiration, and hope emerge when she strikes up an enduring friendship with an elderly eccentric woman named Pinky, who is full of grit and lust for life. This poignant, heartfelt, and hilarious chronicle of the life of an outsider finding her confidence and silver linings amongst the clutter of everyday life reminds us all that a beautiful life is one we make.
Dir. Walter Salles, 2024
As 1971 Brazil faces the tightening grip of a military dictatorship, Eunice Paiva, a mother of five children is forced to reinvent herself after her family suffers a violent and arbitrary act by the government. This epic, sweeping historical drama about a real-life family and the ties that bind is based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's biographical book Ainda Estou Aqui. The film, like the text, shines a light on the truth to help reconstruct an important part of Brazil’s hidden history and the harsh realities of not only surviving but also how many mothers everywhere are the ones forced to pick up the pieces and move on.
This section features a diverse range of powerful documentaries from renowned filmmakers and fresh voices, offering an in-depth look at compelling subjects and perspectives from around the world.
Dir. Yolande Zauberman, 2024
The Belle from Gaza is an in-your-face look at where closed-off systems lead. Based on the urban legend of a trans sex worker who walked from Gaza to Tel Aviv, the film paints a portrait of the lives of trans sex workers in Israel. Though dreamy and hypnotic, this documentary is also grounded in the challenging reality of exactly what those surviving on the margins of society go through to live openly.
Dir. Jeremy Workman, 2024
In 2003, eight young Rhode Islanders created a secret apartment in a hidden space inside the Providence Place Mall, where they lived for four years, filming everything along the way. They snuck in furniture, tapped into the mall’s electricity, and even secretly constructed a brick wall with a locking door, smuggling in over 2 tons of cinderblock. The clandestine space became a deeply meaningful place for all its inhabitants — an expression of defiance against local gentrification, a boundary-pushing work of public/private art, a clubhouse to coordinate their artistic charity, and a 750-square-foot space that sticks it to the man.
Dir. Anupama Srinivasan & Anirban Dutta, 2024
An immersive viewing experience of sound and imagery, Nocturnes weaves together an intricate and poetic tapestry of our world. Ecologist Mansi sets out on a quest to study moths in the lush forests of the Eastern Himalayas where she teams up with Bicki, a young man from the indigenous Bugun community. Night after night, they meticulously put up light screens that transform into a dynamic canvas with moths of varying sizes, designs, and textures, creating a painterly effect with their form, movement, and color. The result is a rare and transformative experience that invites us all to look with more attention and care at the hidden interconnections in nature.
This section celebrates the unique voices and perspectives of Colorado-based filmmakers, offering a platform for homegrown talent to shine on the festival stage.
Dir. Jeff Orlowski-Yang & Sarah Keo, 2024
A meditative exploration of time and mortality, Chasing Time follows photographer James Balog as he returns to Iceland to complete the Extreme Ice Survey project — a 15-year chronicle of the rapid melting of glaciers. Balog’s groundbreaking work paints a stark and stunning portrait of our changing planet. Accompanied by the Emmy-winning team behind Chasing Ice, the film unveils astounding visual evidence of climate change and spotlights the power of intergenerational collaboration in inspiring hope and action toward a sustainable future.
Dir. Ben Sturgulewski, 2024
In the remote mountain villages of Bamyan, Afghanistan, a newfound passion for skiing attracts young athletes to tackle the high peaks. With minimal gear and makeshift skis, young villagers from rival ethnic groups convene for a thrilling mountain race, where they find they have more in common than they may have thought. Champions of the Golden Valley is the uplifting tale of young people learning incredible camaraderie and resilience on the slopes — lessons they must call upon when they experience the shocking collapse of their country and many of the skiers are displaced across the globe as refugees.
Dir. Alexandre O. Philippe, 2024
Chain Reactions revisits the impact The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had on five artists: Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, Japanese film director Takashi Mike, film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, horror writer Stephen King, and American filmmaker Karyn Kusama. Beyond interviews, the film uses never-before-seen outtakes to explore how the low-budget cult classic shaped the art and psyche of these creatives, plus the film’s greater influence on pop culture.
Wild, weird and wonderful; Featuring bold, genre-heavy films that push boundaries, this after-dark section is for thrill-seekers and night owls craving something daringly different. From horror and sci-fi to surreal and avant-garde, these late-night screenings are designed to surprise, shock, and entertain.
Dir. Adilkhan Yerzhanov, 2024
Tamara is searching for her missing son in a small town consumed by riots and violence. In a desperate attempt to get him back, she decides to offer a reward to an amoral former investigator whose methods prove to be sadistic. The two embark on the violent journey of antiheroes, each determined to complete the mission no matter the cost. A neo-western set against the bleak landscapes of Kazakhstan, Steppenwolf is a brutal story directed by a DFF alum, of an unlikely duo who will stop at nothing to find what they are looking for.
Dir. Sander Maran, 2024
With all the elements of a future cult classic, Chainsaws Were Singing is an action-horror-musical-comedy B-movie epic from Estonia. Shot guerilla-style in 2013, this love letter to crowd-pleasing exploitation cinema then spent a modest 10 years in postproduction before being released in 2024. The zany tale of a man on a quest to rescue his new girlfriend from a chainsaw-wielding killer, think Monty Python meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Les Misérables. The film is perfect for those who love over-the-top black comedy, trope-heavy slasher movies, and song-and-dance routines. In short, weirdos welcome.
Dir. Kyle McConaghy & Joe DeBoer, 2024
An ominous, bloody help note makes its way through a Midwestern county and to the desk of a seasoned dead letter investigator at a 1980s post office. Jasper, a skilled "dead letter" investigator, is responsible for investigating lost mail and returning it to its sender. But as Jasper begins to piece together the letter’s origins, it leads him down a violent, unforeseen path to a kidnapped keyboard engineer and his demented business associate. But who has a vested interest in this Dead Mail and who will stop at nothing to retrieve it?
A curated selection of iconic films that have shaped the landscape of cinema.
Dir. John Cassavetes, 1980
When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York. This 1980 thriller returns to the big screen in honor of Gena Rowlands, who died in August 2024. Though Rowlands never won an Oscar®, she introduced some of the most iconic performances ever put on celluloid. Gloria showcases the longstanding partnership between Rowlands and auteur filmmaker John Cassavetes.
Dir. Mel Brooks, 1974
A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle, he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant, and an elderly housekeeper. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather is delusional, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor describes his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind.
50th Anniversary Family Screening!
