See new movies and meet a few filmmakers during this year’s film festival in Dubuque. Photo: Digital Dubuque.
Iowa’s largest film festival is lighting up screens through Sunday around downtown Dubuque. With 180 independent films this year, the 12th annual Julien Dubuque International Film Festival will attract hundreds of filmmakers and fans to screenings, workshops, coffee talks and parties.
This year’s notable guests include George R.R. Martin, who created “Game of Thrones,” along with Rell Battle (“Killing It,” “Superior Donuts”), Jonathan Del Arco (“Star Trek,” “The Closer”) and the Israeli film and musical theater actor Aki Avni (“JAG,” “24”). All of the stars plan to attend screenings of their latest projects and stick around afterward to answer questions.
The festival started in 2012 and has gradually spread to a handful of big and intimate venues, including the Five Flags Center, Grand Opera House, Hotel Julien Dubuque, National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, and Phoenix Theatres. It’s become a major attraction for the city and consistently lands on best film-festival lists by various industry publications. It also sets the bar for more than a dozen other annual film festivals across Iowa, from Sioux City to Burlington’s Snake Alley.
