The anticipation surrounding the Mile High City’s premier cinematic celebration has officially come to an end. Denver Film today unveiled the comprehensive roster of movies, special presentations, and boldfaced name honorees that will comprise the 49th edition of the Denver Film Festival. Scheduled to run from October 22 through November 1, the marquee event will transform the Colorado capital into a bustling hub for cinephiles, industry professionals, and acclaimed filmmakers alike.
In total, this year’s festival will showcase 129 features, documentaries, and short films. These cinematic works will light up screens across several of the city’s most prominent cultural venues, including the Sie FilmCenter, the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, the MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. As the festival approaches its milestone 50th anniversary next year, organizers have curated a program that bridges high-profile fall circuit favorites with daring international cinema and robust local representation.
Opening, Closing, and Centerpiece Selections
The 49th Denver Film Festival will kick off with a high-energy opening night at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, featuring Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky. The biographical drama stars Anthony Ippolito stepping into the iconic role of Sylvester Stallone. Writer Peter Gamble is scheduled to be in attendance for the premiere, participating in an in-depth audience conversation following the screening.
On the opposite end of the calendar, the festival will close at the MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater with James Gray’s Paper Tiger. The star-studded crime drama features a powerhouse lead trio consisting of Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller.
Positioned strategically between opening and closing nights are two highly anticipated centerpiece selections. Danny Boyle’s Ink brings together a talented principal cast featuring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce, and Claire Foy. Meanwhile, Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! introduces Pedro Pascal in a striking dramatic turn as a gifted cellist, a performance that has already generated considerable pre-festival buzz following its recent circuit appearances.
Special Presentations and Festival Highlights
The festival’s special presentations section serves as a showcase for many of the most talked-about titles emerging from the fall film festival circuit and beyond. Arranged alphabetically, the expansive selection includes Stephanie Ahn’s Bedford Park, Siân Heder’s Being Heumann, Pedro Almodóvar’s Bitter Christmas, Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid, Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut, Simon Stone’s Elsinore, Marie Kreutzer’s Gentle Monster, Beth de Araújo’s Josephine, and Guy Nattiv’s The Liberation.
The robust lineup continues with Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter, Noah Segan’s The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, Brad Bird’s animated feature Ray Gunn, Liz Sargent’s Take Me Home, Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder, Leah Nelson’s animated project Tangles, Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fisher’s Wicker, and Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine.
Notably, public screenings of Josephine and Take Me Home are being co-presented in partnership with the Sundance Film Festival. This collaboration arrives as anticipation builds for Sundance’s upcoming move to Boulder, Colorado, which places the legendary independent film festival directly in the Denver Film Festival’s regional backyard beginning in 2027.
International cinema also occupies a prominent footprint within the 49th edition. Notable international entries include Netflix’s La Bola Negra, which captured the prestigious People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden and Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur—which claimed a Grand Prix honor at the Cannes Film Festival—round out the distinguished global offerings.
Celebrating Excellence: Honors and Awards
True to tradition, the Denver Film Festival will bestow several major honors recognizing outstanding contributions to the cinematic arts throughout its eleven-day run.
Carrie Coon has been tapped to receive the Excellence in Acting Award. The honor celebrates her critically acclaimed work in The Liberation, where she portrays a woman who stuns her family by leaving them to join a controversial cult led by Lily James.
John Cho will be feted with the Outlaw Award in recognition of his compelling screen work opposite Mahershala Ali in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
Breakthrough director honors will shine a spotlight on Liz Sargent for her feature Take Me Home, a deeply personal narrative expanded from her short film of the same name about a woman navigating the complexities of caring for her aging parents. Fred Hechinger, whose recent breakout roles in The White Lotus and Gladiator II have turned heads globally, is set to receive a Rising Star prize following the screening of his latest project, A Long Winter.
Additional honorees include Benedetta Porcaroli, who will receive the Maglione Italian Film Award for The Kidnapping of Arabella, and David Acord, who will be honored for excellence in sound design for his work on Behemoth!. Furthermore, experimental filmmaker Michael Gitlin will accept the annual Stan Brakhage Award, an accolade that will be accompanied by a comprehensive retrospective screening of his avant-garde filmography.
A Broad Spectrum of Cinematic Storytelling
The wider selection of feature films and documentaries features a wealth of cinematic heavyweights and visionary directors. Among the notable titles rounding out the schedule are Ron Howard’s Avedon, Nanette Burstein’s Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff, Lukas Dhont’s Coward, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, Petra Volpe’s Frank & Louis, and Rachel J. Morrison’s Joybubbles.
Audiences will also have the opportunity to experience Ken Russell’s The Devils, Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love, Markus Schleinzer’s Rose starring Sandra Hüller, Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care, Barbara Kopple’s Union Town, Dawn Porter’s When a Witness Recants, and the aforementioned dark comedy Wicker by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fisher.
Reflecting on the overarching vision of this year’s programming, Denver Film Festival Artistic Director Matthew Campbell emphasized the emotional and thematic resonance of the chosen works.
“This year’s program highlights the remarkable ways cinema captures human connection and resilience, and it delivers a lineup that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking,” Campbell said. “From sharp, high-altitude Colorado comedies to award-winning festival circuit fare, captivating documentaries and stories born here in our own community, these films demonstrate the pure joy and impact of great storytelling. We’re looking forward to welcoming our audiences to experience this dynamic mix of bold international cinema, new voices and brilliant local talent.”
Denver Film CEO Kevin Smith echoed those sentiments, underscoring the enduring cultural mission of the annual event as it approaches its fifth decade of operation.
“Forty-nine years in, the Denver Film Festival is still driven by what has always mattered most: bringing our community together around great movies and the people who make them,” Smith noted. “We’re incredibly proud to be a long-standing part of Denver’s vibrant arts and cultural landscape and I can’t imagine a better way to open our 49th Festival than with I Play Rocky, an underdog story that captures the determination, creativity and spirit of independent film we celebrate every year.”
Support, Ticketing, and Community Access
The 49th Denver Film Festival is made possible through the financial backing and institutional support of the Colorado Office of Film and Television, the Bonfils Stanton Foundation, Denver Arts & Venues, and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).
Media sponsorship for the event is provided by CBS Colorado, Axios, City Cast Denver, Colorado Public Radio, Denverse, Metromode, and Rocky Mountain Public Media. Marquee sponsors include William LaBahn, Epicurean, Next50, Amazon, AOR, Halcyon, Sheila K. O’Brien, Crusonia Wealth Advisors, Dormer Harpring LLC, the Anna and John Sie Foundation, Betsy Mordecai Heyman and Gareth Heyman, Julie Mordecai, Mercedes-Benz of Denver, and HW Home.
The complete festival lineup, including comprehensive schedules for documentaries, short films, panels, and ticketing information, is available directly through the official Denver Film website. In an effort to ensure broad community accessibility, Denver Arts & Venues and the 2026 Arts Complex Creates grant program have partnered to make all three public screenings at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House available with an allotted number of sliding-scale, "Pay-What-You-Can" admissions.