Founded: 1981 | Annual
About this festival
The Breckenridge Film Festival is one of Colorado’s oldest, founded in 1981 by locals Meg Lass and Mary Rianoshek to bring visitors to town during the quiet September shoulder season — coming up just after Telluride and Denver in the state’s festival timeline. Held at 9,600 feet against peak fall color, it has earned a reputation as a “filmmaker’s film festival,” screening independent features, documentaries, shorts, and adventure films across walkable downtown venues including the Eclipse Theater and the Riverwalk Center, with filmmaker Q&As, panels, and family programming in between. Programming spans drama, comedy, documentary, adventure, human spirit, and student categories, and the festival is now run by Breck Film, a nonprofit that also operates a year-round movie house, the Eclipse Theater. Its distinctive Adventure and Human Spirit categories reflect its active Colorado mountain audience.