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1890s

Boulder & Cinema History

The first moving images arrive in Boulder (1898)

Cinema History

In 1891 Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, a device through which viewers look through a peep-hole to see a moving image. This invention was stimulated in part by Eadweard Muybridge's 1879 invention, the Zoopraxiscope, which projected a series of drawings made from the plates taken by multiple cameras.

Boulder Cinema

Chautauqua Auditorium (1300 seats) opens on July 4th, 1898; first place in Boulder to show moving images via the Kinetoscope.

Sign of the Times

Boulder's population: 4,000. Horse buggies and saloons line the dirt road known as Pearl Street. The 100-year-flood of 1894 destroys Boulder's "red light district" on what was then called Water Street (and is now Canyon), east of where the Boulder Public Library now stands.

1900s

Boulder & Cinema History

First projected film in Boulder: Hooligans of the West (1906)

Cinema History

Premiering in 1902 in France, Georges Méliès made one of the first science fiction films: A Trip to the Moon

Boulder Cinema

The Temple Theatre (540 seats) was the first place to project a film (Hooligans of the West) in Boulder (1906) for twenty-five cents admission (source). It was located on the third floor of the Masonic Temple Building on the southwest corner of 14th and Pearl. Built in the 1890s, it later burned down on April 5th, 1945. Other venues: The Touvie at 1139 Pearl and The Wonderland at 1638 Pearl, both of which opened in 1909. Mr. C.A. Hartman operated the first motion picture theatre with projectors that were hand cranked.

Sign of the Times

Andrew J. Macky brings the first automobile to Boulder, a 1902 Mobile Steamer. Alcoholic beverages are outlawed in Boulder around 1907, but this doesn't stop the Crystal Springs Brewery and Ice Company (previously known as the Boulder City Brewery)

1910s

Boulder & Cinema History

The Isis (1916)

Cinema History

D.W. Griffith's highly controversial silent film The Birth of a Nation (1915) sparks conflict between white supremacists and civil rights activists. Colorado's biggest silent film stars: Douglas Fairbanks (born in Denver, spent summers in Jamestown), Lon Chaney (Colorado Springs), and Marceline Day (Buster Keaton's co-star in The Cameraman). Harold Lloyd was born in Nebraska, but spent several years growing up in Colorado. Three silent westerns shot in Colorado can still be seen in Hollywood, Colorado Doc: Buck'S Romance, A Matrimonial Deluge, and Pirates of the Plains.

Boulder Cinema

The Isis (607 seats), formerly known as The Rex, became in 1916 the first theatre built specifically for motion pictures and was located at 2022 14th Street. It later became the The Fox on January 13th, 1951, and burned down April 18th, 1960. The Curran Opera House (514 floor seats, 200 balcony seats) became a full movie house around 1913 (opened October 2nd, 1906, as a Vaudeville and Road Show House). Other film venues: The Mission 1348 Walnut (1911) which a year later became The Empress. The Fairyland Theatre (later Savoy), and The Gem (at what used to be Garbarino's Saloon, and is now Old Chicago). Boulder native Eugene O'Brien (born Louis O'Brien) performs in his first silent film, The Lieutenant Governor (screens at Curran Theater in 1915). He later co-starred with Mary Pickford, Norma Talmadge and Gloria Swanson. He did not transition to the "talkies," and left the movie industry in 1928. He is buried in the Green Mountain Cemetery.

Sign of the Times

Boulder population reaches 9,538. Colorado prohibition (1916).

1920s

Boulder & Cinema History

The Jazz Singer (1927) ushers in the talkies

Cinema History

By the end of the decade there were 20 Hollywood studios. The greatest output of feature films in the US occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, averaging about 800 film releases in a year. Today, it is remarkable when 500 studio films are released in a year. Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North, one of the first documentaries, is released in 1922.

Boulder Cinema

The Sink opens in 1924, originally named Somers Sunken Garden. Many decades later (in the 50s) it would provide Robert Redford with a job as a janitor while he attended C.U. on a baseball scholarship (which he then lost due to alcohol-related infractions). State Theatre opens at 1429 Pearl (1926). As of 1927 there were four motion picture theatres: Curran, Isis, Rialto, and State Theater. In 1929: the Curran and Isis add sound equipment. In 1929, voters accept a "Sunday amusement measure" that allows theaters to open on Sundays.

Sign of the Times

End of WWI ushers in the Roaring 20s. 19th Amendment gives women the vote (1920). 200 members of the KKK paraded down Pearl Street (1922), CU President George Norlin denied a known KKK member senate candidate participation in kick-off at Folsom Field (1924).

1930s

Boulder & Cinema History

Curran Opera House reopens as the Boulder Theater (1936)

Cinema History

The first film (a short) in Technicolor was Walt Disney's animated talkie Flowers and Trees (1932). At the end of the decade, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind are released in Technicolor (1939).

Boulder Cinema

In 1935, the Curran Opera House closes. It reopens as The Boulder Theater in January 1936 with The Bride Comes Home and would continue through the 70s with Chuck Norris martial-arts films, Robert Redford titles (e.g., The Great Waldo Pepper), and Sinbad movies featuring the stop-motion magic of Ray Harryhausen - but would close as a dedicated cinema house in 1979. John Fante (born in Boulder, 1909) begins his movie career with Dinky (1935), he would go on to influence Charles Bukowski and many of the Beat Generation.

Sign of the Times

Mining and farming are still the main occupations for Boulder County. The former President of the Womens Christian Temperance Union is arrested for giving "homemade intoxicants" to C.U. students (1930). Electric street cars have their last run (1931). Boulder's courthouse burns down (1932) and gets a new facelift (1933). The first traffic light is installed at Broadway and Pearl (1937).

1940s

Boulder & Cinema History

Drive-in theater opens in east Boulder (1948)

Cinema History

Charlie Chaplin directs his first talking picture, The Great Dictator (1940). Orson Welles' Citizen Kane is released on May 1, 1941. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) and the U.S. enters World War II. The War Department declares movies an essential industry for morale and propaganda. The Nazi menace can be seen in such films as Casablanca and To Be Or Not to Be (both 1942). This is the decade of James Cagney, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and many more. TV makes its way into the living room (1948).

Boulder Cinema

Fire destroys the Masonic Temple Building that was home to the Temple Theater in 1945. The Varsity Theater opens (later becomes The Art Cinema). On October 1, 1948, the Moterena Drive-In opens on East Arapahoe, east of 63rd Street.

Sign of the Times

C.U. alum Glenn Miller's plane disappears over the English Channel (1944). Germans surrender in May of 1945. US bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th of 1945, Japan surrenders on August 15th. World War II officially ends on September 2, 1945. Boulder gets selected as the site for the National Bureau of Standards (1949). Boulder population reaches 13,000. Conference on World Affairs begins (1948). Vandals deface the natural beauty of the Flatirons with graffiti and despite repeated attempts to paint over it and clean it off, the scars can still be seen today.

IFS History

Beauty and the Beast Jean Cocteau

James Sandoe creates University Film Series

Boulder's first film program dedicated to showing films of high merit is born. Stuart Cuthbertson (French Department) initiated film screenings on campus. James Sandoe (English and Theatre department) organized the screenings under the banner of the University Film Series (UFS), and really got the ball rolling. Sandoe had six differrent jobs on campus, including order librarian for Norlin, and he volunteered his time putting together the film series with the help of an informal film committee (later to be known as the University Film Committee). Sandoe programmed films based on film reviews in the Manchester Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other such publications. Sandoe was the first person to stage a play at the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre in 1944, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; its success led to the establishment of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in 1958. This connection helped to facilitate the use of the University Theater for use by the UFS to screen films, which were initially shown only on 16mm. Frank Klein became crucial to the operation as he oversaw the physical and technical aspects of running the show, handling the box office, tickets, ushers, projectionists, shipping, and more.

Projectionists

Claude Klemme, Senior Operator
Relief Operators, Anyone available from the Union Hall

1950s

Boulder & Cinema History

The Flatirons Theater opens on The Hill (1950)

Cinema History

Dalton Trumbo studies at the University of Colorado (1924�1925). In 1947 he (along with nine other writers and directors) is called before the House Un-American Activities Committee as a witness to testify on the presence of communist leanings in Hollywood. Trumbo refuses to talk. After conviction for contempt of Congress, he is blacklisted and spends 11 months in prison.

Boulder Cinema

The Flatirons Theater opens on University Hill (1950). The Holiday Drive-In theatre opens July 9, 1953. The theater serves 650 cars and has the latest in-car sound receiver sets. It features elevated ramps so that the car windshields are in line with the screen. The Boulder Theater installs Cinemascope and a new four-track Stereophonic sound system. Films showing at the Boulder Theater and Isis; Bud Abbott and Lou Costello movies, Francis the Talking Mule and Annie Get Your Gun. At the Varsity: The Thing From Another World. Anthony Mann's The Glenn Miller Story (1954) wins an Oscar.

Sign of the Times

Cold War in effect. Korean War (1950�1953). Boulder-Denver Turnpike opens (1952). Boulder population reaches 32,000 (1957). On July 21, 1959, 76% of Boulder voters approve the historic Blue Line Charter Amendment thanks to Bob McKelvey, Lynn Wolfe, and Al Bartlett. This kept the city from pumping water above 5,750 feet, which helped curb rampant development of the foothills.

IFS History

Breathless Jean-Luc Godard

Forrest Williams

Forest Williams names IFS

Forrest Williams (Philosophy) joins the University Film Committee (UFC) in 1952. At this time there were only five members and their reward was free admission to the films they brought to the UFS. Williams would rename the UFS the International Film Series to accentuate its programming nature. As Williams took on larger roles in programming and fiscal management he would use proceeds from the IFS earmarked for equipment to buy 16mm films, thus building an archive of artistic films that would, over the course of decades to come, eclipse the instructional films previously viewed in classrooms and give film study academic legitimacy. Adding to the rising artistic and academic study of film on the CU Boulder campus was the formation of The Experimental Cinema Program. Also of note: Jim Sandoe and Forrest Williams were both early film scholars with a body of published work.

Projectionists

Claude Klemme, Senior Operator.
Relief Operators: Anyone available from the Union Hall.

1960s

Boulder & Cinema History

Boulder gets 6 new venues

Cinema History

Hollywood announces the first movie rating code: G, PG, R, and X. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho premieres in 1960, David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia in 1962, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968.

Boulder Cinema

April 18, 1960: The Fox Theater, formerly the Isis, burns down. It's rebuilt on The Hill in the old Rialto Theater location and opens in July 1961. Sidney Poitier wins an Academy Award for his performance of Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field (1963). The film is inspired and based on the Convent of St. Walburga located in Boulder. In the spring of 1967 The Village Theater opens on Arapahoe, sharing the shopping center with McGuckin Hardware, and in 1969 the United Artists Regency opens. The Holiday Drive-in moves to a new location on 28th Street and Lee Hill Road. Program Council Film Series begins. David Grusin (born in Littleton, Colorado, 1934) begins a prolific musical career working for the entertainment industry. Dean Reed ("The Russian Elvis") begins his moviemaking career (buried in Green Mountain Cemetery).

Sign of the Times

In 1962, Valverdan Park at 30th and Arapahoe is renamed Scott Carpenter Park to honor the NASA astronaut from Boulder. His Mercury Capsule was named the Aurora 7 for Aurora Avenue, and Aurora 7 Elementary School was named for the capsule. 1961�1967 NCAR designed by I.M. Pei. 1965 IBM comes to Boulder. The last passenger train leaves Boulder Sept 1967. The Astronauts (also named in honor of the local hero) start playing Tulagi's in the early '60s. Boulder voters first in nation to approve a tax on themselves to purchase open space & also approve sale of alcohol after 60 years of being dry (1967).

IFS History

Blow-Up Michelangelo Antonioni

Virgil Grillo

Virgil Grillo founds the film studies program

Film societies across the nation would enjoy healthy attendance for the next two decades. Other theaters in Boulder start to notice that the IFS was getting big crowds for international films and start to follow suit. Some shows are held in the Forum Room of the UMC. In 1963 you could buy season admission for $16. Shows in the Forum Room were a quarter. Shows in the University Theater were 50 cents. A program of Russian film is screened for 35 cents admission and informal lectures and panel discussions are formed to discuss the work of Sergei Eisenstein. A retrospective on American films from the 1930s is put on. Regularly programmed experimental cinema showings begin in 1967. Virgil Grillo joins the Boulder campus in 1968 � he would help program the IFS and was among the first to teach critical studies courses on film. In 1969 admission is bumped up to 75 cents for Forum Room films, and $1 for University Theater shows. Example screening: Susan Sontag's Duet for Cannibals.

Projectionists

J.C. Ancell, Kent Wagner, et al.

1970s

Boulder & Cinema History

Basemar Twin Cinema (1970), BPL film program (1974), Mann Arapahoe Village 4 (1979)

Cinema History

27 year-old Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) and 33 year-old George Lucas' Star Wars (1977) usher in a studio obsession with summer blockbusters. Cable television continues its rapid expansion, showing Hollywood movies without commercials. Home Box Office (HBO) becomes the first premium pay cable station. The VHS market begins.

Boulder Cinema

In 1970, Basemar Twin Cinema opens on Broadway and Baseline in the Basemar Shopping Center. Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973), makes use of NCAR and other Boulder locations. Electra Glide In Blue (1973) starring Robert Blake and directed by Boulder native James William Guercio (who owned the Caribou music ranch and produced such super-bands as Elton John, John Lennon, The Beach Boys, Supertramp, and U2) gets premiere at Cannes. (Guercio also produced a film by Hal Ashby: Second Hand Hearts). The Boulder Public Libary Film Program begins (1974). The Motorena Drive-In closes (1977). In December of 1977, the Village Theater transforms into a 4-plex and opens three more screens. In 1978, Mann decides that the downtown mall could never support a movie theater (take THAT Lebowski!) and The Boulder Theater is sold to Historic Boulder for preservation. Sam Kent books live acts and films. Local filmmaker Jerry Aronson's short film: The Divided Trail: a Native American Odyssey (1978) is nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Shorts Subjects category. The Mann Arapahoe Village 4 opens across the street from The Village (1979). The last film at the current incarnation of The Boulder Theater is The Wizard of Oz, running Thanksgiving week, 1979. Screenwriter Steve Tesich wins an Oscar for Breaking Away (1979), a film about bicycling that took part of its inspiration from bike races in Boulder (e.g., the Red Zinger). (Tesich also wrote the script for The World According to Garp). Larry Linville (studied aeronautical engineering at CU) portrays Frank Burns on M*A*S*H.

Sign of the Times

Boulder passes height ordinance; the Eagles play Tulagi's (71). Naropa comes to Boulder & first gay marriage sanctioned by county clerk and recorder ('74). First Red Zinger Bicycle Classic race held ('75). Danish Plan approved to limit growth to 2% ('76). The Pearl Street Pedestrian Mall is born ('77). Boulder becomes the backdrop for Mork and Mindy, the hit television show starring comedian Robin Williams ('78). The Denver International Film Festival is born ('78). Pow Wow Rodeo ends, 1st Bolder Boulder held ('79). Folsom Shows: The Grateful Dead ('72), Leon Russell, Little Feat ('73), Doobie Brothers, War, Golden Earring, Henry Cross ('75), Fleetwood Mac, Santana, Country Joe McDonald ('77), Beach Boys, Firefall, Bob Welch, Journey ('78), The Rolling Stones, Kansas, Eddie Money ('78), The Eagles, The Steve Miller Band, Jesse Winchester ('78), Doobie Brothers, Boston, Poco, Bob Welch ('79). In the UMC: Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Devo, and more! Population increases to 66,000.

IFS History

Aguirre, The Wrath of God Werner Herzog

William Burroughs visits CU

IFS moves to Muenzinger and gets auxillary financial support from NEA grants. Separately (but guided by the vision of IFS programmer Virgil Grillo), an academic film program is born, and Grillo secured over $100,000 for the Colorado Humanities Program and the Rocky Mountain Film Center (1974). IFS programmers for this time include Jim Palmer (who in 2010 is the director of the Conference on World Affairs), Joy Gorelick, and Bill McLeod. Others providing invaluable input to the University Film Committee include Bruce Kawin (who expanded the film history course from one semester to two, and who taught CU's first courses in screenwriting and film theory), Howie Movshovitz, and Linda Williams. IFS puts on a Children's Film Series in Chem 140 over weekends ('77). Marcia Johnston takes the helm in 1978. Hank Troy would accompany the silent films selected for over a decade, and still does the same at the Chautauqua Silent Film Series. Don Yannacito takes over as shepherd of the Experimental Cinema Group (later First Person Cinema). IFS admission: $1.50 (1979).

Projectionists

Roger McGrath, Senior Operator,
Relief Operator: John Templeton (1973).
From the mid 1970s until the University Theatre closed, John Templeton & Mike Hill were the Operators.

1980s

Boulder & Cinema History

Chautauqua Silent Film Series (1983), Mann's Crossroads Common 6 (1986)

Cinema History

The era is characterized by "high-concept" films with cinematic plots that could easily be characterized by one or two sentences that were easy to market. Ronald Reagan becomes the first movie-star President of the US ('81). E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), directed by Steven Spielberg, becomes the highest grossing film in history.

Boulder Cinema

The Holiday Drive-In closes in the early 1980s and the property is slowly converted into low-income housing; the marquee is still standing on Hwy. 36. Stan Brakhage, Bruce Kawin, and Jennifer Dorn start an arts group (Sunday Associates) putting on weekly shows in the Art Cinema (1984). Given the tremendous success of Blue Planet (1987) Giuseppe Bruno-Bossio (look for him in Fellini's Roma) and Mary M. Jones kept running the Art Cinema four months past its original closing date. Mann's Crossroads Common 6 opens on Pearl Street (1986). The Fox on the hill closes and reopens as a concert venue. In the summer of 1989, the Art Cinema and United Artists Regency close. the Shining (inspired by The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park) was mostly shot in Mount Hood, Oregon, but it also had a few pickup shots in Boulder (shot by IFS projectionist John Templeton!). Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys lead singer (& BHS alum, 1975), starts making cameos in various films. When She Says No ('84) starring Rip Torn, is shot in Boulder.

Sign of the Times

The Halloween Mall Crawl starts and the first published findings on climate change are published by scientists at NCAR. Folsom shows: The Grateful Dead ('80), Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, Blackfoot, Sammy Hagar, April Wine ('80), The Rolling Stones, Heart, George Thorogood ('81), REO Speedwagon, Ted Nugent, Scorpions, Rainbow, 707 ('82), The Who, Jethro Tull ('82), Van Halen, Loverboy, DIO, Bachman Turner Overdrive ('86), The Who ('89). UMC Ballroom: Nine Inch Nails, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Butthole Surfers, and more! Weekly FAC concerts on UMC terrace feature the likes of The Samples and Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Future IFS director Pablo Kjolseth inadvertently helps give The Warlock Pinchers front-page publicity in the Colorado Daily after a destructive night of performance art (1988).

IFS History

Matador Pedro Almodóvar

John Templeton

John Templeton projects the first 35mm film in Muenzinger

As IFS was showing films Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Muenzinger, the First Person Cinema settled into Fine Arts N-141 on Mondays. NEA grants still defray costs. After decades of teaching on campus, Stan Brakhage is "officially" hired ('81). 35mm projectors are installed in Muenzinger in 1983. Future IFS programmer Pablo Kjolseth takes over as Program Council Film Series Director in 1989 (he also enrolls in the Film Studies Program). Kjolseth and Johnston would routinely lock horns over who got to show what films (years later they patched it all up). In 1989 the Film Studies Program is able to begin offering degrees in filmmaking (BFA) and critical studies (BA). In 1990 Kjolseth rolls up his sleeves and spends several months cutting through red tape to import to the US a European print of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. This results in the US Premiere of the European version of Brazil on March 1st 1991. Landmark takes notice and gets permission to tour the print across the country, and sets a new precedent allowing unrated films to be shown in chain theaters the United States.

Projectionists

John Templeton installed and ran the first 35mm projectors in Muenzinger in the Fall of 1983 and ran that film series. Other Relief Operators from the Union Hall included: Mike Hill, Jack Henry, Tony Lock, Harold Curtis, Rufus Wright, Bart Emory, and Russ Allen.

1990s

Boulder & Cinema History

Boulder Outdoor Cinema (1995), Boulder Film Alliance (1998)

Cinema History

Pixar makes Toy Story (1995) the first entirely computer-animated film. 1997 marks the transition from VHS to DVD and tremendous growth of the Internet and use of e-mail. Netflix revolutionizes movie rentals offering rent-by-mail DVDs in 1998.

Boulder Cinema

Basemar Twin Cinema closes and re-opens as a dollar house. The Flatirons Theater on The Hill closes. Fairview grad Sheryl Lee becomes an icon as the dead Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks (1990). In 1993 the University Memorial Center Fountain at CU is renamed the Dalton Trumbo Free Speech Fountain. The move is supported by Robert Redford, Edward Asner, Jane Fonda, Roy Romer and others. The Board of Regents approves it in August 1993. Kirk Douglas helps the film alliance dedicate the fountain before a crowd of 500 in October of that year. In 1994, Trygve Bauge is deported to Norway, leaving two cryogenically preserved bodies in a shed behind his Nederland home. This becomes the inspiration for Robin Beeck's documentary Grandpa's In the Tuffshed. Local filmmaker Jerry Aronson's The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg is nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. Trey Parker shoots Alferd Packer: the Musical (1993). Margaux Hemingway comes to Boulder to shoot Double Obsession (1994). The Boulder Theatre starts showing movies on a limited basis in 1995. Boulder's Luke Eberl begins his film career with Phantoms (1998) w/ Peter O'Toole (shot in Denver and Georgetown).

Sign of the Times

Playing Quigley's (later Club 156): The Fluid, L7, Primus, Spin Doctors, Phish and more.

IFS History

Crash David Cronenberg

Trey Parker and Matt Stone screen Frosty (Fall '92, 4500 level final student screenings) in Chem 140 - an animated short that would transmogrify into South Park (1997). Steve Wingate takes the helm of IFS in 1994. The Roser Visiting Artist Program is founded by Jim & Becky Roser ('95). The Film Studies Visiting Artist Program is initiated by Marian Keane, Jim Palmer, and Wingate ('96). Palmer creates the CWA Athenaeum Program ('98). These three programs account for the increase in visiting artists. No longer supported by grants, IFS survives first fiscal crises by aggressive new programming and with help from Performance Arts Fee, now called the Arts and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) student fees. Pablo Kjolseth takes the helm in 1997, and, due to Muenzinger remodeling, temporarily moves films to CHEM 140. He gets permission from Trey and Matt to screen South Park shorts in Chem 140 (this was before it was available in Colorado); several sold-out shows raise over $10,000 for the IFS. Clint Culley joins the team. The Boulder Film Alliance is formed, which leads to many collaborative efforts and spurs a visits to Boulder by Ray Harryhausen, and later Ray Bradbury (who speaks at Chautauqua). Members of the BFA included: The Boulder Public Library Film Program (programmed by Chuck Lomis, later Joel Haertling), the IFS, the Boulder Theater (programmed by Mike Hamill, later Kirk Peterson), The Chautauqua Silent Film Series (programmed by Ray Tuomey), and the Boulder's Outdoor Cinema (programmed by Dave Riepe). Later it would include Brent Warren (Nederland) and Ellen Maslow (Present Tense Film Soirée).

Projectionists

Harold Curtis died in the line of duty, October 16, 1998, while projecting the film I Went Down

Jack Henry (R.I.P., 1998), followed by Harold Curtis.
Josh Perry (briefly), followed by J.T. & Kent Cordray.

Visiting Artists

Visiting filmmakers: Rob Epstein (the Celluloid Closet), Pablo Ferro (title designer), Edwin Neal (Texas Chain Saw Massacre), Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts), Jason McHugh (Alferd Packer: the Musical), Ray Mahoney (Baconhead) Dan Gifford (Waco: the Rules of Engagement), Tom LeGros (Guinea Men), John Patrick Shanley (writer of Moonstruck and director of Joe Versus the Volcano and Doubt) as the Roser Visiting Artist. Dayton Taylor (Habit), Albert Maysles (Concert of Wills: Making the Getty Center), Ken Jacobs (Disorient Express), Bruno Bossio (Voices Through Time), Derek Cianfrance (Brother Tied), Robert Gardner (Forest of Bliss), Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust), Jesse Lerner (Mexperimental Cinema), Stan Brakhage, James Tenney, Phil Solomon, Russ Wiltse, Hobart Bell, Charles Eakin, John Drumheller, Robert Schaller (Music & Film), Nile Southern (Dr. Strangelove), Agnes Varda (Jane B. By Agnes V.) Lucien Taylor (Frantz Fannon: Black Skin, White Mask), John Corigliano (Red Violin), David Riker (La Ciudad), Noam Chomsky (Manufacturing Consent), Errol Morris (Fast, Cheap, & Out of Control), Ross McElwee (Sherman'S March)

2000s

Boulder & Cinema History

Magnolia (2001) & Landmark theater (2003), BIFF (2004), Cinemark Century Theaters (2007)

Cinema History

Franchise is the name of the game with Harry Potter, The Matrix, and the return of Star Wars in prequels. Independent films break through with blockbusters like Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Sideways, and Memento. High speed internet access allows for a variety of ways to download and screen films. Digital projection spreads, along with 3-D.

Boulder Cinema

Leland Rucker premieres his documentary on Boulder's early music scene: Sweet Lunacy (2001) at The Boulder Theater. About Schmidt (2002) by Alexander Payne and starring Jack Nicholson, gives church along 28th St. south of Colorado a cameo. Mann Arapahoe Village 4 shuts down in 2004. Catch and Release (2006) starring Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith is shot in Boulder. The City of Your Final Destination (2007): released by Merchant Ivory and starring Anthony Hopkins is shot in Boulder. United Artist Village 4 shuts down on January 7, 2007 to make way for the Sunflower Market. The Landmark Crossroads Cinema shuts down in August 2007 to make way for the new home of Barnes and Noble booksellers. Cinemark Century Theaters opens a multiplex at the 29th Street Mall with 16 screens and stadium seating on August 17, 2007. Landmark Crossroads Cinema is open for a few days before Cinemark becomes the only commercial theater in town. Cloverfield (2008) is written by CU graduate Drew Goddard starring Denver native and stand-up comic T.J. Miller. Louie Psihoyos of Boulder directs The Cove and wins the 2009 Audience Award at Sundance. In November of 2009 plans are announced for the construction of a single-screen movie theater dedicated to digital projection at the Dairy Center for the Arts. Also opening: The new Visual Arts Complex, which includes a 200-seat auditorium that can screen HD digital content as well 35mm and 16mm films.

Sign of the Times

Boulder is first city in the country to replace all references to "pet owner" with "pet guardian." Boulder imposes a carbon tax on its residents.

IFS History

Where the Truth Lies Atom Egoyan

The Boulder Film Alliance puts on outdoor screenings at the Scott Carpenter Pool (Jaws, Anaconda), shows films on the Pearl Street Mall, at various bars in Boulder, and up in the Nederland park. John Doyle helps install Dolby Surround in Muenzinger ('01). The BFA would later bring the roof down when it presented "an IFS Benefit and Interplanetary Slideshow with The Billy Nayer Show and The Crispy Family Carnival" at the International Order of Odd Fellows Hall on Saturday, October 30th, 2004. It's the kind of costume party that really brings down the roof. Kjolseth interviews Javier Bardem, Christopher Nolan, Ozzy Osbourne & Penelope Spheeris at Sundance Film Festival (it results in IFS screenings of various films). IFS screens the almost eight-hour long Sátántangó in one day! The IFS becomes one of 12 Art-House programs nationwide selected to be part of the Sundance Art House Project. IFS brings back The Billy Nayer Show for film screenings and live music at Fiske Planetarium. Jacob Barreras and Rhonda McCuan join the team. The Brakhage Symposium is launched (2005).

Projectionists

John Templeton, Victor Jendras, Anthony Vazquez-Hernandez.

Visiting Artists

Visiting filmmakers: Werner Herzog (Lessons In Darkness, Little Dieter Needs to Fly), Mark Hanlon (Buddy Boy), Stacy Valentine (The Girl Next Door), Inge Sargent (The Last Mahadevi), Trung Nguyen (Burma, Endangered Land), Marc Singer (Dark Days), Cory Mcabee (American Astronaut), Marco Williams & Whitney Dow (Two Towns of Jasper), Dr. Martin Mhando (Maangamizi: the Ancient One), Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi), Don Hertzfeldt (Rejected), Dave Steinke (The Greatest Good), Lynn Hershman-Leeson (Teknolust), Alexandre O. Philippe (Earthlings: Ugly Bags of Mostly Water), Governor Ryan, Katy Chevigny & Kirsten Johnson (Deadline), Trent Harris (Beaver Trilogy, Rubin & Ed). George Butler (Pumping Iron), Leon Vitali (Barry Lyndon), Chris Meloni (Oz), Eric Stough (South Park), Charlie Kauffman (Synecdoche, New York), John Patrick Shanley (Doubt), Joey Curtis (Quatro Noza), Charles Burnett (To Sleep With Anger), Chris Marino (Comb-Over: the Movie), Mark Harris (Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport), Steven Okazaki (The Mushroom Club), Patricia Foulkron (The Ground Truth), the Billy Nayer Show (American Astronaut), Terry Jones (The Life of Brian), John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Cory Mcabee (Stingray Sam), Scott Moore (The Hangover), Michael Stephenson (Best Worst Movie), Les Blank (All In This Tea), Rob Schneider (The Hot Chick), Sarah Lamm (Dr. Bronner'S Magic Soap). Amy Grill (Speaking In Code).

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

(Originally called The University Film Commission)
Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

C.U. Film Program

(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Looking for a gift for a friend?
Buy a Frequent Patron Punch Card for $60 at any IFS show. With the punch card you can see ten films (a value of $90).

We Want Your Feedback

Cox & Kjølseth
: Filmmaker Alex Cox & Pablo Kjølseth discuss film topics from their own unique perspectives.

Z-briefs
: Pablo and Ana share Zoom-based briefs on what's currently playing at IFS

Search IFS schedules

Index of visiting artists

Mon Apr 1, 2024

Hot Shots! Part Deux

At Muenzinger Auditorium

Sat Apr 20, 2024

Super Mario Bros.

At Muenzinger Auditorium

more on 35mm...