Mark your kids PRESENT for FREE FILMS at BIFF 2012!

Are your middle- and high-schoolers planning to spend thePresidents’ Day weekend hanging around the house, complaining that there’snothing to do? Well, send them down to us – we have FREE films and eventsSaturday and Sunday for students ages 13 to 18!

Educational outreach is a big part of our master plan hereat BIFF. We believe in putting together young audiences with films and seminarsthat stimulate and engage them, and possibly even inspiring the next MartinScorcese or Jane Campion. This year, we have more opportunities than ever forjuvenile cinephiles to get involved and find out more – including an exclusivepreview screening of our Closing Night film “Chasing Ice.”

Here is all the info you’ll need –tell the kids to show up at lest 20 minutes before screening time. Advance tickets are not held out for these special screenings!

FILMS

Wild Horse, Wild Ride

Saturday, Feb. 18, 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 19, 5:15 p.m.

Boulder High School Auditorium

Each summer, the federal government rounds up thousands ofwild horses for relocation. A lucky 100 of them are given to 100 trainers, whohave 100 days to ready the animals—which have never experienced humancontact—to compete in the Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge. This intimatefilm follows a handful of the men and women trainers as they work with theirhorses. What starts as a cautious, fearful relationship evolves slowly andmagically into a powerful bond as intuitive and telepathic as any love affair.How many of these remarkably diverse humans and horses will actually succeed atthis seemingly impossible task? And what will they learn about themselves?

This Call 2 Action film will feature the directors, AlexDawson and Greg Gricus, in person, and will be introduced by the ExecutiveDirector of Colorado Horse Rescue, Dr. Judy B. Smetana.

The Big Fix

Saturday, Feb. 18, 5 p.m.

Boulder High School Auditorium

Filmmakers Rebecca Harrell Tickell and her husband Josh aremad as hell, and you should be too. While working on “the Big Fix” on the Gulfbeaches supposedly cleaned up by BP, they discovered oil and Corexit, a dispersantfor breaking up oil slicks, which washed ashore and had been plowed under thesand to present an illusion of pristine beaches. They allege a massivepolitical and corporate cover-up, including bribery and murder, all the way upto Congress.

This Call 2 Action film will be introduced by 250.orgregional organizer Micah Parkin.

Chasing Ice (Student-only showing!)

Saturday, Feb. 18, 5 p.m.

BoulderPublic Library, Main Library Canyon Theater

Produced in Boulderby Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jerry Aronson (The Divided Trail) andOscar-winning producer Paula DuPré Pesmen (The Cove), this breathtakinglybeautiful film is one of the most anticipated documentaries of 2012. FamedNational Geographic photographer James Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapsecameras throughout the Arctic to capture amulti-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. His electrifying videoscompress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion asthey disappear at a breathtaking— and rapidly accelerating—rate. Chasing Ice isa hair-raising adventure story as cinematographer and director Jeff Orlowskifollows Balog and his team through brutal weather on three continents whileBalog bravely documents the biggest story facing humanity.

Almanya – Welcome to Germany

Saturday, Feb. 18, 7:15 p.m.

First United Methodist Church

This sweet comedy tells the universal story of assimilationby one family over several generations in a strange land. “What am I, German orTurk?” asks six-year-old Cenk Yilmaz when neither his Turkish nor his Germanschoolmates pick him for their football teams. In an attempt to comfort Cenk,his 22-year-old cousin Canan tells the story of their grandfather Hüseyin, whocame to Germany at the end of the ‘60s as "guest worker number one millionand one," and who later brought his wife and children. The laugh-out-loudhumor from cultural misunderstandings multiplies when grandfather Hüseyinpurchases land in his home village of Anatalya, Turkey, and insists his family allcome “home” with him on a road trip. Can you ever really go "home"again? Subtitled.

Nicky’s Family

Sunday, Feb. 19, 10 a.m.

Boulder High School Auditorium

Now known as the British Oskar Schindler, Nicholas Winton,while vacationing in Praguein 1938, learned about the refugees fleeing Hitler’s army and about the manychildren who were in danger of losing their lives. Winton took action: Hemanaged to arrange visas and admission to British families for nearly 700Central European Jewish children. After the war, he returned to his privatelife and never mentioned this incident. Fifty years later, his wife found ascrapbook full of documents and transport plans. Today, 102-year-old SirNicholas Winton, knighted by Queen Elizabeth and nominated for the Nobel PeacePrize, is unbelievably active and still engaged in charity work. He issurrounded by his children, his grandchildren and, of course, all of hisrescued “children,” who today represent almost 6,000 people.

WORKSHOP

How to Make a Short Film (Students only!)

Sunday, Feb. 19, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

BoulderPublic Library, Main Library Canyon Theater

Led by Antony Cooper of Boulder Digital Arts, this workshopwill provide practical demonstrations of how to turn stories into filmdocuments. From concept through planning, shooting, editing and presentation,this seminar will give you the tools you need to succeed!