Aspen's Premier Feature Film Festival

Each fall, Filmfest attracts engaging and thought-provoking films from across the globe. Whether it be documentary, arthouse, foreign-language, or comedy, Filmfest is curated to highlight unique stories told through diverse lenses that explore the human condition.  

In its 44th year, Filmfest maintains the same core values that Aspen Film founder Ellen Kohner Hunt originally envisioned in 1979 when she passed a hand-written note to a friend at an Aspen Arts Council meeting simply stating: "How about having a film festival?"

Since then, Filmfest has provided a consistent platform for the best in independent, documentary, foreign-language, and art house cinema. Growing significantly from its humble beginnings in Ellen's kitchen, Filmfest maintains a spirit of independence, a sense of community, and a foundation of inclusiveness.

Schedule Of Events

September 19, 2023

4pm: The Mission

In 2018, a shocking event made headlines around the world: a young American missionary, John Chau, was killed by arrows while attempting to contact one of the world's most isolated indigenous peoples on remote North Sentinel Island. From Emmy®-winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (BOYS STATE), and Oscar®-Winning producer Simon Chinn and Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn of Lightbox, comes National Geographic Documentary Films' The Mission, which uncovers the gripping story beyond the headlines.

Click here for Tickets

8 PM: She Came To Me

Composer Steven Lauddem is creatively blocked and unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera. At the behest of his wife, Patricia, formerly his therapist, he sets out in search of inspiration and finds much more than he bargained for.

Click here for Tickets

September 20, 2023

12pm: Silver Dollar Road

From Academy-Award Nominee Raoul Peck, Silver Dollar Road follows the story of the Reels family as told by the matriarch Mamie Reels Ellison and her niece Kim Renee Duhon. These two fierce and clear-eyed women bend to safeguard valiantly their ancestors' land and their brothers and uncles Melvin and Licurtis, who were wrongfully imprisoned for eight years - the longest sentence for civil contempt in North Carolina history.

Click here for Tickets

5 PM: Beyond Utopia

A suspenseful, riveting portrait of a courageous pastor who uses an underground network to help families flee North Korea, one of the most oppressive places on Earth.

Click here for Tickets

8 PM: Karaoke

A bittersweet comedy about a middle-class suburban couple in their 60s who are drawn to their new neighbor, a charismatic bachelor who has karaoke evenings at his apartment.

Click here for Tickets

September 21, 2023

12 PM: The Great Divide

The film is an in-depth look at the origins of violence in America, from its roots in native American genocide and African American slavery to the modern day epidemic of mass shootings that has increased in severity over the last 20 years. The film also looks at what it takes to solve this problem and begin to make change.

Click here for Tickets

4 PM: The Taste Of Things

Eugenie, an esteemed cook, has been working for over the last 20 years for Dodin, a fine gourmet. Growing fonder of one another, their bond turns into a romance and gives rise to delicious dishes that impress even the world's most illustrious chefs. When Dodin is faced with Eugenie's reluctance to commit to him, he decides to start cooking for her.

Click here for Tickets

8 PM: Fair Play

Emily and Luke's relationship is pushed to the brink when a new promotion at their financial firm causes challenges both in and out of the office. As the power dynamics shift, they're left to face the price of success and the limits of ambition.

Click here for Tickets

September 22, 2023

12 PM: A Little Prayer

A man in the modern South struggles with how much to involve himself to protect his loving daughter-in-law, after finding out his veteran son is having an affair.

Click here for Tickets

2 PM: Fallen Leaves

Two lonely strangers meet by chance in the Helsinki night, in search of the first, only and ultimate love of their lives. However, their paths to happiness are clouded by the man's alcoholism, lost phone numbers, not knowing each other's names – and the general, everyday obstacles of life.

Click here for Tickets

5 PM: Flora And Son

The latest from writer-director John Carney (ONCE, SING STREET) features a revelatory performance from Eve Hewson as a young mother trying to connect with her teenage son through a shared love of music.

Click here for Tickets

8 PM: Anatomy Of A Fall

For the past year, Sandra, her husband Samuel, and their 11-year-old son Daniel have lived a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether he was murdered or committed suicide. Samuel's suspicious death is presumed murder, and Sandra becomes the main suspect. What follows is not just an investigation into the circumstances of Samuel's death but an unsettling psychological journey into the depths of Sandra and Samuel's conflicted relationship.

Click here for Tickets

September 23, 2023

2 PM: THE Stones And Brian Jones

Featuring revealing interviews with all the main players and unseen archive released for the first time, THE STONES AND BRIAN JONES explores the creative musical genius of Jones, key to the success of the band The Rolling Stones, and uncovers how the founder of what became the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world was left behind in the shadows of history

Click here for Tickets

4 PM: Nyad

A remarkable true story of tenacity, friendship and the triumph of the human spirit, NYAD recounts a riveting chapter in the life of world-class athlete Diana Nyad. Three decades after giving up marathon swimming in exchange for a prominent career as a sports journalist, at the age of 60, Diana (four-time Academy Award® nominee Annette Bening) becomes obsessed with completing an epic swim that always eluded her: the 110 mile trek from Cuba to Florida, often referred to as the "Mount Everest" of swims. Determined to become the first person to finish the swim without a shark cage, Diana goes on a thrilling, four-year journey with her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll (two-time Academy Award® winner Jodie Foster) and a dedicated sailing team.

Click here for Tickets

8 PM: The Holdovers

From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them -- a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) -- and with the school's head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da'Vine Joy Randolph).

Click here for Tickets

September 24, 2023

12 PM: The Pigeon Tunnel

Academy-Award-winning documentarian Errol Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "The Constant Gardener". Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final and most candid interview, punctuated with rare archival footage and dramatized vignettes. THE PIGEON TUNNEL is a deeply human and engaging exploration of le Carré's extraordinary journey and the paper-thin membrane between fact and fiction.

Click here for Tickets

Date:
September 19-24, 2023

Location:
Aspen Filmfest, 110 East Hallam Street
Aspen, CO 81611

Click here for More Information