Founded: 2011 | Annual
About this festival
The Crested Butte Film Festival is an international showcase set in one of Colorado’s most remote and characterful mountain towns, founded in 2011 and held each September at the peak of the aspen-color season. Programming runs to artful, moving, and provocative films in both short and full-length formats, with preference given to creativity, daring, and great storytelling. The festival is known as much for its intimacy as its slate — a small-town gathering at nearly 9,000 feet that famously opens with a community bike parade through golden aspens and gets attendees on a first-name basis with filmmakers within a day. Awards include the ACTNow prize for a call-to-action documentary, the Script Accelerator Award, Audience Choice, and best narrative and documentary features. The 2026 edition is guest-directed by veteran programmer Lucy Lerner, who has also worked with Telluride, Mountainfilm, and Aspen Shortsfest.