Boulder International Film Festival Celebrates 10th Anniversary

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) – The Boulder International Film Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend bringing thousands of people to the city.

Sisters Robin and Kathy Beeck are the duo behind the film festival.

"We started out as popcorn girls, Kathy and I," said Robin.

Filmmakers themselves, the sisters started the festival with a small but respectable 5,000 attendees.

"It's grown steadily every single year, so we are really excited about that," said Kathy.

Now in its 10th anniversary they'll have more than 25,000 people attending.

"We do four days of films, workshops, panels and parties," said Kathy.

This year the program has 58 films, six of which have already achieved Academy Award nominations.

"The thing we look for when programming is great storytelling," said Kathy.

Among the films this year is "The Current," a film about adaptive sports and overcoming obstacles.

"We are going to have folks from the film come to speak after the film, including the great Missy Franklin," said Kathy.

To help celebrate the 10-year anniversary this year is a career achievement award for a special celebrity guest.

"We really can't think of a better guest for our 10th anniversary than Shirley MacLaine," said Kathy.

The creators hope that from here the film festival continues to get bigger and bigger.

"It's a real community feel and we are just so excited that this town has been so supportive," said Robin.

The Boulder International Film Festival runs through Sunday.

LINK: Get Tickets To The Boulder International Film Festival

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