New sound, screen and accessibility features debut as CU Boulder prepares one of its key venues for Sundance.
Muenzinger Auditorium may look familiar from the outside, but audiences returning to CU Boulder’s longtime home for the International Film Series this fall are walking into a substantially different movie theater.
A new screen, immersive sound system, masking system, curtains and expanded accessibility features have transformed the 400-seat auditorium ahead of the Sundance Film Festival’s arrival in Boulder in January.
The improvements received their first public showcase Monday, Aug. 31, when IFS opened its fall season inside Muenzinger Auditorium with a free screening of Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash.
“There’s a lot of really fun things that may not be apparent right away, but I promise you, you will notice them as the movie is going on,” IFS Director Jason Phelps told the audience.
Jason Phelps, director of the International Film Series program, speaks before the Aug. 31, 2026, screening of Whiplash. | Photo: Toni Tresca
Among the biggest changes is the sound.
Previously, speakers had to be physically wheeled into place for screenings, and films were projected onto a curved wall coated with specialized movie-screen paint. The renovation added a new screen with speakers installed behind it and speaker arrays along the walls to accommodate Dolby Atmos immersive sound.
“We have a whole new sound system in here that, I promise you, you will notice,” Phelps said.
He also highlighted the auditorium’s new masking system, which adjusts the visible screen area to different film formats.
“I’m told that our new masking system is the first in the world,” Phelps said, drawing laughs before adding that it is at least among the first installations of its kind. “It works incredibly well. I am so happy we were able to get curtains.”
People gathered in Muenzinger Auditorium before the International Film Series’ screening of Whiplash. | Photo: Toni Tresca
Changes built for year-round use
Muenzinger required less work than some of CU Boulder’s other Sundance spaces because it already functions as a regular film venue.
IFS brings more than 3,000 students and community members to roughly 60 movies and several panels each semester, meaning the improvements are intended to remain useful well beyond the festival.
Phelps previously said the upgrades strengthen the argument for seeing movies communally rather than at home.
“Coming out and seeing a movie in a theater is worth it,” he said. “This helps solidify that mindset. It will be a dramatically different soundscape than what we have now.”
The venue has also received new accessible seating and other accessibility improvements. Before Monday’s screening, Phelps credited Sundance staff with helping coordinate many of those changes.
Sundance accessibility manager Laura Benge said the Boulder edition also gives the festival a chance to introduce itself to an audience that has rarely experienced it before.
When she asked how many people in the auditorium had attended Sundance previously, only about five hands went up.
“This is a whole new audience almost,” Benge said. “We’re really, really excited to be in Boulder.”
In collaboration with Sundance, CU Boulder’s International Film Series hosted a screening of Whiplash in Muenzinger Auditorium on Aug. 31, 2026. | Photo: Toni Tresca
The first test
Whiplash made an especially fitting first film for the remodeled room because so much of Chazelle’s drama depends on sound — drumbeats, cymbal crashes and the mounting intensity of a jazz student’s battle with his abusive instructor.
The difference was immediately noticeable. The sound was crisp and enveloping, but it was noticeably louder than a typical multiplex presentation. Whiplash is deliberately loud and intense, so some of that force serves the film, though there were moments when the volume became a bit overwhelming, such as the early “Overture’”sequence as Andrew walks through New York City.
The movie also connected Muenzinger’s future as a Sundance venue to one of the festival’s best-known success stories. Chazelle first made the project as a short after struggling to finance a feature. The short screened at Sundance in 2013, helping the feature get made. It returned to the festival in 2014 and won both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award before going on to win three Academy Awards.
“It really demonstrates a lot of what they do really well,” Phelps said of Sundance.
That relationship will become more visible when the festival arrives Jan. 21-31, 2027. Four presentation venues will be on the CU Boulder campus: Muenzinger Auditorium, Macky Auditorium, Roe Green Theatre and Old Main.
Until then, IFS has plenty of opportunities to break in its remodeled home.
The Freshman, a 1925 French silent film accompanied live by Rodney Sauer, follows Sept. 1, with Your Name Sept. 2 and a free screening of Field of Dreams Sept. 3. The semester also includes filmmaker appearances, French cinema, 35mm screenings and the return of the Found Footage Festival. Check out IFS’s full fall 2026 schedule here.
“There are like 60 films on this calendar,” Phelps told the crowd. “There’s a lot of fun stuff planned.”