The Boulder International Film Festival will have a high-profile, celebrity guest programmer this year: Alex Baldwin.
Baldwin, who last attended the festival in 2010, will return to Boulder this year as the event’s first “Special Guest Programmer,” a new role that involves Baldwin selecting the three films that had the greatest impact on him; those three films will be screened at the festival, which runs March 3-6 this year.
Baldwin chose: “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb,” “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” and “Julia.” After each film, he’ll do a brief question-and-answer session with writer Lisa Kennedy, explaining why he selected each movie and what each one means to him. Baldwin has won three Emmy awards, three Golden Globe awards and seven Screen Actors Guild awards; he’s also been nominated for an Oscar and a Tony.
Festival participants can also watch and listen as Baldwin answers questions on March 5 at 6 p.m. at the Boulder Theater. He’ll be interviewed by the festival’s special event producer Ron Bostwick, who has chatted with other special festival guests like Martin Sheen, Alan Arkin and Shirley MacLaine. Tickets for “A Conversation with Alec Baldwin” are $60 or free for festival pass holders.
“This is our first year to have a BIFF Special Guest Programmer, and it’s wonderful to feature Alec Baldwin, who is a friend of the festival and very knowledgeable about film,” says festival director Kathy Beeck. “In addition to being an actor and writer, he has a podcast called ‘Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin’ and served as a host of ‘The Essentials’ on Turner Classic Movies, a series presenting some of the most essential films ever made to TCM viewers. We’re honored that this year Alec will be taking on this important role and sharing some of his favorite films with BIFF.”
More broadly, the festival’s entire program will be announced Feb. 11; tickets are also available on that date. The four-day festival celebrates the art of cinema and has been taking place since 2004. It attracts more than 20,000 filmmakers, movie buffs and industry members to Boulder each year.
Opening night on March 4 includes a red carpet gala and a showing of the film “The Duke.” Tickets are $95 or free for festival pass holders.
Back by popular demand this year is CineCHEF, an interactive event on March 3 that involves chefs creating film-inspired dishes for guests to enjoy. There’s also music, wine pairings, local wine and desserts, all set against the backdrop of the Rembrandt Yard Art Gallery & Event Center. Tickets are $100.
