The Denver Film Festival is about to take over town again, and the 49th edition is shaping up to be a big one. DFF49 runs from Thursday, October 22 to Sunday, November 1, with nearly 150 titles on the bill — 129 feature films, documentaries and shorts, plus dozens of awards, panels and premieres. The programmers sifted through more than 2,000 films to land on that final lineup, so there's plenty to choose from whether you're a cinephile or just looking for a night out.
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The festival is spread across several venues, which is part of the charm. The Sie FilmCenter on East Colfax is the home base, with screenings in rooms H1 Clasen, H2 Maglione and H3 Fries. The historic Ellie Caulkins Opera House handles the red-carpet events, the MCA Denver shows at the Holiday Theater, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science rounds things out. The Ellie Caulkins Opera House is where the big moments tend to land.
Opening night on October 22 is "I Play Rocky," Peter Farrelly's fictionalized take on Sylvester Stallone, with writer Peter Gamble presenting the film and appearing at the party the next day. The centerpiece presentations on October 24 pair Tony Gilroy's "Behemoth!," with Pedro Pascal playing a cellist, with "Ink," Danny Boyle's look at British media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. And the whole thing closes out on Halloween at the MCA Holiday Theater with James Gray's "Paper Tiger," starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller.
Beyond the headliners, there's a lot of strong work to catch. "The Debut" with Jesse Eisenberg, Martin McDonagh's "Wild Horse Nine," "Elsinore" with Andrew Scott, "Wicker" with Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, Jordan Firstman's "Club Kid," and "Josephine" and "Take Me Home" — the latter two co-presented with the Sundance Film Festival. The Colorado Spotlight section keeps things local, with state-related premieres like Traven Rice's short "Lay Lefty Down" with Tovah Feldshuh, Sheryl Glubok's road comedy "Welcome to the Fishbowl," "The Ascent," about climber Mandy Horvath, and "Good Help," a documentary on Venezuelan migrants in Denver.
The awards side is just as busy. Carrie Coon takes home the Excellence in Acting Award for "The Liberation," John Cho gets the Outlaw Award for "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother," Liz Sargent earns the Breakthrough Director Award for "Take Me Home," and Benedetta Porcaroli picks up the 2026 Maglione Italian Film Award. David Acord gets the Excellence in Sound Design Award for "Behemoth!," Michael Gitlin is honored with the Stan Brakhage Award and a retrospective of his work, and Fred Hechinger takes the Rising Star Award for "A Long Winter."
On tickets, members got first crack starting October 4, with public sales opening the next day, so the good seats go early. There are pay-what-you-can and mobile-scale tickets for screenings at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and some general-admission slots, supported by Denver Arts & Venues, which makes it easier to drop in without planning your whole month around it. The full schedule and venue details live at denverfilm.org/denverfilmfestival, so it's worth a look before you commit to a night.
Published Date
13 October 2026
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