While there’s plenty to do in Colorado in February—like chasing (very little) snow and watching the Winter Olympics—it is also an important month for film. Three local film festivals will take place this month, plus it’s your last chance to catch all the Academy Award nominees before the big night on March 4. Here, 5280 offers a complete rundown of the movies and festivals that deserve your attention this month.

22nd Annual Denver Jewish Film Festival

This local film festival has a proud history of showcasing Jewish and Israeli perspectives on the human experience though cinema. This year’s festival features 38 films from 17 countries.

When: February 7–19
Where: Mizel Arts and Culture Center, 350 S. Dahlia St.
If you go: Individual screenings are $11–$13; 10 pack of showings is $100; festival pass is $255

5280 Recommends: Bye Bye Germany
This comedy-drama is about a man and his Jewish friends who have escaped the Nazi regime and are dreaming of going to America. In order to earn money, the smooth-talking businessman helps his friends sell bed linens at inflated prices to unsuspecting Germans.

When: February 7, 7:30 p.m.
If you go: VIP Tickets are $50 and include access to a reception at 6 p.m. Film attendance is $11–$13

5280 Recommends: In Between 
Three Palestinian women living in an apartment in Tel Aviv try to find a balance between tradition and modernity, citizenship and culture, fealty and freedom. This film was the winner of two 2017 Ophir awards, also known as the Israeli Oscars.

When: February 19, 5:30 pm.
If you go: Tickets are $11–$13

In Between Photo courtesy of Film Movement.

12th Annual Colorado Environmental Film Festival

More than 50 films will be screened during this three-day festival, including shorts and feature-length movies from both student and professional filmmakers. The program focuses on a wide variety of interconnected ecological, social, and economic themes.

When: February 22–24
Where: American Mountaineering Center, 710 10th St., Golden
If you go: Single screenings are $8; day passes are $18–$22; all-access pass is $50; the opening night and awards ceremony (February 22 at 5:30 p.m.) is free

14th Annual Boulder International Film Festival

With more than 25,000 attendees each year, the Boulder International Film Festival has been named one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals” by MovieMaker Magazine. The annual event brings films and filmmakers from around the world for a four-day celebration of cinema. Numerous documentaries and shorts that have screened at the festival have gone on to earn Academy Award nominations.

When: February 22–25
Where: Various venues around Boulder
If you go: Visit biff1.com for the complete program, schedule, and ticketing info

5280 Recommends: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? 
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) returns to BIFF with his latest documentary about America’s favorite neighbor: Mister Fred Rogers. This emotional and moving film takes you beyond the cardigans and land of make-believe, and into the heart of a creative genius who inspired generations of children. Heralded by critics as a must-see when it premiered last month at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, this film is a tearjerker.
When: February 25, 12:15 p.m.; Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder

5280 Recommends: Dark Money
Montana has spent more than a century trying to keep its politics clean. But with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in 2010—which classified campaign expenditures by corporations as free speech and allowed donors to remain undisclosed—unlimited, anonymous “dark money” began to flood elections nationwide. Director Kimberly Reed returns to her native state to expose the insidious reach of corporate interests into politics and to chronicle its grassroots opposition. Profiling an intrepid investigative journalist and a crusading campaign commissioner, Dark Money serves as an urgent call to action to inspire campaign finance reform.

When: February 25, 2:45 p.m.; Boulder Theater

90th Academy Awards

Oscar is celebrating his 90th birthday this year on March 4. In anticipation of the annual awards show, local theaters will be hosting screenings of the nominees throughout February. Here’s where to catch them:

Award: Best Picture
Nominee: All nine Best Picture nominees
What: AMC Theatres Oscar Showcase
Where: AMC Highlands Ranch 24, AMC Westminster Promenade 24, AMC Southlands 16
When: February 24 and March 3
Cost: Ticket prices vary

Award: Foreign Language Film
Nominee: The Insult and A Fantastic Woman
Where: Mayan Theatre, 110 Broadway
When: The Insult opens February 2; A Fantastic Woman opens February 16
Cost: $9–$11.50

Award: Short Film (Animation) and Short Film (Live Action)
Nominee: All nominees will be screened together
Where: Mayan Theatre
When: February 9 through March 4
Cost: $9–$11.50

Award: Short Film (Documentary)
Nominee: All nominees will be screened together
Where: SIE Film Center, 2510 E. Colfax Ave.
When: February 9
Cost: $7–$11.50

Coming Soon to Local Theaters

Black Panther

The latest film in the Marvel comic book universe by director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed), Black Panther takes place in the secluded, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda, where King T’Challa (played by Chadwick Boseman) will battle his foes for the future of the country—and the world. The film sold more advance tickets on Fandango in its first 24 hours than any other Marvel movie, and stars Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Andy Serkis, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, and Forest Whitaker. Opens February 16

Annihilation

In 2014, Alex Garland amazed audiences and cinephiles alike with his film Ex Machina, about humanoid artificial intelligence, which went on to win an Academy Award for Visual Effects. Garland’s latest film, Annihilation, centers on an alien invasion and is more existential horror than science-fiction thriller. The film stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac. Opens February 23