The highly acclaimed Denver Film Festival, which is the largest of its kind in the region, will celebrate its 43rd edition in 2020. This intense and concentrated exposition showcases more than 250 new films from around the world with over 175 international filmmakers, directors, actors and other film artists participating in the twelve-day event. The majority of these films would never be seen or discovered in the Rocky Mountain region outside the venue of the film festival. The annual celebration of film provides an important showcase for the best of world cinema, a platform for international film artists, and promotes dialogue among filmmakers and the public.
The award-winning film festival is one of Denver's most popular and publicized events. The annual festival is a high-profile, glamour-filled event that is the focus of an enormous amount of media attention beginning in September and continuing through November.
The Denver Film Festival presents approximately 250 films over twelve days and plays host to more than 175 film artists. New international feature releases, independently produced fiction films and documentaries, animation, experimental works, children's programs, short subjects and music videos are included in the festival. In addition, a number of acclaimed international film artists are honored with tributes and special "evenings with..."
The festival presents the following awards:
John Cassavetes Award
Presented to an American director or actor for outstanding achievement in independent filmmaking.
Krzysztof Kieslowski Award For Best Feature Film
A juried prize honoring the best film.
Career Achievement Award
Presented to a film artist for extraordinary contributions to world cinema.
Stan Brakhage Vision Award for Experimental Film
American Independent Filmmaker Award
$2500 Cash Prize for best American Independent Narrative feature.
Maysles' Brothers Award for Best Documentary
$2500 Cash Prize for best Documentary feature.
Maria and Tommaso Maglione Italian Filmmaker Award
$10,000 Cash award.
Domestic Student Filmmaker Award
Juried award presented to the best student short film.
Liberty Global Award for Best International Student Short
Juried award presented to the best student short from outside of the U.S.
People's Choice Award
An audience award given to the most popular feature-length fiction film, feature-length documentary and short.
True Grit Award
$2500 Juried award for best Colorado produced feature.
Music on Film-Film on Music Documentary Grant Program
Grant to provide $20,000 annually in finishing funds for US based documentary productions specifically for music licensing, scoring and composition.