Editor

The 35^th Starz Denver Film Festival (SDFF), sponsored by Starz Entertainment and produced by the Denver Film Society, announced today its full Festival line-up. SDFF will run November 1 through November 11 in Denver. The complete list of films can be viewed at denverfilm.org/festival.

 

"Election day is not the only big event happening this November. The Starz Denver Film Festival will celebrate its 35th edition with signature events and a diverse line-up of films from around the globe featuring everything from student shorts, to a 15-hour film, to some of Hollywood's most buzz-worthy Award Season releases," said Festival Director Britta Erickson. "New this year, is a central downtown hub for the Festival at the Denver Pavilions to complement the Denver Film Society's permanent cinematic home, the Denver FilmCenter/Colfax, and our special presentation house, the L2 Arts and Culture Center."

 

This year, SDFF shines a spotlight on Argentine cinema. Fourteen films from Argentina will screen in the Festival and Daniel Burman, a founding member of Argentina's so-called New Argentine Cinema Wave, will be recognized for having the most films from Argentina play on U.S. screens. For his tribute, we'll be presenting three of them, All In (2012), Family Law (2006), and Lost Embrace (2004).

 

"Argentina is not only one of the most prolific film industries in South America, but perhaps the most diverse. We are extremely pleased to be screening a robust sidebar of films from Argentina, including a three-film tribute to Daniel Burman, one of the country's most successful cinematic exports," said Artistic Director Brit Withey.  

   

Another SDFF highlight is the inclusion of Mark Cousin's epic, 15-hour, The Story of Film-- perhaps the most definitive study of cinema from its inception in the late 1800's to our present day digital revolution. Neatly sectioned in two-hour blocks that detail specific time periods with a vast amount of film clips over which Cousin's almost ethereal voice charts in detail the infinitesimal to the revolutionary changes in our most popular and accessible art form. The Story of Film will screen one section a day over eight consecutive days (The Story of Film Daily Pass) and in two marathon sections on the last weekend of the Festival (The Story of Film Marathon Pass).

 

The 2012 SDFF will screen more than 225 features, shorts, and student films, representing close to 40 countries, along with Denver Film Society's signature programs such as the Cinema Q, Reel Social Club, The Watching Hour and Women + Film. As previously announced, Red Carpet Galas are A Late Quartet, Quartet, and Silver Linings Playbook. SDFF will announce all 2012 award recipients and tributes at a later date.

 

For the third year, Westword will produce the Starz Denver Film Festival Official Film Guide containing all movie screening information and special events. The Official Film Guide will be available in the paper and throughout Denver on Thursday, October 18.

 

To keep up to date with the Starz Denver Film Festival, visit www.denverfilm.org/festival, like the SDFF Facebook page www.facebook.com/denverfilmfestival, follow @DenverFilm on Twitter, and join the conversation by using the #SDFF35 hashtag.

 

 

FOCUS ON A NATIONAL CINEMA: ARGENTINA

Along with Mexico and Brazil, Argentina has for decades been one of the top producers of films from South America. A staple on the film festival circuit and occasional visitor to the art-houses in the U.S., Argentina is, however, the only South American country to ever win an Academy Award (The Official Story (1985) and The Secret in Their Eyes (2009). The diverse films in this year's focus-and there are 12 of them-range from two outsider's take on living in Argentina for a year (one Polish, Argentinian Lesson and one American, The International Sign for Choking), a nouveau, meta-western (Salt), and the oft-examined revolution era of the 1970s (Clandestine Childhood). This is all anchored by a three-film Tribute to the wonderful Daniel Burman.

• All In (La suerte en tus manos) - DIRECTOR Daniel Burman

• Argentinian Lesson (Argentyńska lekcia) - DIRECTOR Wojciech Staroń

• Beauty (Nosilatiaj. la belleza) - DIRECTOR Daniela Seggiaro

• Chinese Take Away - DIRECTOR Sebastian Borensatein

• Clandestine Childhood (Infancia clandestina) - DIRECTOR Benjamin Ávila

• Family Law - DIRECTOR Daniel Burman

• Germania - DIRECTOR Maximiliano Schonfeld

• The International Sign for Choking - DIRECTOR Zach Weintraub

• Lost Embrace - DIRECTOR Daniel Burman

• Mar del Plata - DIRECTORS Ionathan Klajman, Sebastia án Dietsch

• Masterplan - DIRECTORS Diego Levy, Pablo Levy

• SECRECY (SIGILO) - DIRECTOR Karla Gómez

• Salt (Sal) - DIRECTOR Diego Rougier

• White Elephant (Elefante blanco) - DIRECTOR Pablo Trapero

 

CINEMA Q

Queer voices. Queer visions. Queer lives. Experience the best in films that cover every angle of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer rainbow through our Cinema Q program. These stories reveal the loves and losses of individuals who have been coloring the edges of cinema since its inception.

• Beyond the Walls (Hors les murs) - DIRECTOR David Lambert

• Call Me Kuchu - DIRECTORS Katherine Fairfax Wright, Malika Zouhali-Worrall

• Gayby - DIRECTOR Jonathan Lisecki

• Intersexion - DIRECTOR Grant Lahood

• North Sea Texas - DIRECTOR Bavo Defurne

• Struck By Lightning - DIRECTOR Brian Dannelly

 

REEL SOCIAL CLUB

Love film? Get social. Reel Social Club is the official young patrons membership extension of the Denver Film Society. We plug the young and young at heart into local film culture through exclusive parties, screenings, and film festival experiences year-round.

• 28 Hotel Rooms - DIRECTOR Matt Ross

• Butch Walker: Out Of Focus - DIRECTORS Peter Harding, Shane Valdes  

• Gayby - DIRECTOR Jonathan Lisecki

• Grassroots - DIRECTOR Stephen Gyllenhaal

• The Iran Job - DIRECTOR Till Schauder

• Journey to Planet X - DIRECTORS Josh Koury, Myles Kane

• Kid-Thing - DIRECTOR David Zellner

• Pearblossom Hwy - DIRECTOR Mike Ott

• Richard's Wedding - DIRECTOR Onur Tukel

• Salt (Sal) - DIRECTOR Diego Rougier

• Supporting Characters - DIRECTOR Daniel Schechter

• WRONG - DIRECTOR Quentin Dupieux

 

WOMEN + FILM

Women + Film is a year-round program of the Denver Film Society that not only celebrates the art and achievements of women filmmakers around the world but also brings together an array of scholars, civil and human rights advocates, community leaders, and concerned members of the public to shine a spotlight on social issues through cinema and the dialogue it stimulates. The Starz Denver Film Festival is proud to present and array of candid, thought provoking, and often-iconoclastic works by women-the likes of which aren't often available or obvious to mainstream audiences.

• Art of Conflict - DIRECTOR Valeri Vaughn

• Bay of All Saints - DIRECTOR Annie Eastman

• Believing (Geloven) - DIRECTOR Mijke de Jong

• Ginger & Rosa - DIRECTOR Sally Potter

• Katia's Sister - DIRECTOR Mijke de Jong

• Not that Funny - DIRECTOR Lauralee Farrer

• Sister - DIRECTOR Ursula Meier

• Stages (Tussenstand) - DIRECTOR Mijke de Jong

• Violeta Went to Heaven (Violeta se fue a los cielos) - DIRECTOR Andrés Wood

• Virgin Tales - DIRECTOR Mirjam von Arx

• When the Iron Bird Flies: Tibetan Buddhism Arrives in the West - DIRECTOR Victress Hitchcock

 

THE WATCHING HOUR

Get ready, constant watchers, to venture to a place where cinema cracks open to reveal its hidden core. A primal place where the fantastic meets the terrifying, where you'll see things you thought existed only in your wildest dreams and your sweetest nightmares. This is The Watching Hour.

• The ABCs of Death - DIRECTORS Kaare Andrews, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, Angela Bettis, Adrián García Bogliano, Bruno Forzani & Hélène Cattet, Jason Eisener, Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, Xavier Gens, Jorge Michel Grau, Lee Hardcastle, Noburo Iguchi, Thomas Cappelen Malling, Anders Morgenthaler, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Marcel Sarmiento, Jon Schnepp, Srdjan Spasojevic, Timo Tjahjanto, Andrew Traucki, Simon Rumley, Nacho Vigalondo, Jake West, Ti West, Ben Wheatley, Yûdai Yamaguchi

• The American Scream - DIRECTOR Michael Stephenson

• The Amityville Horror - DIRECTOR Stuart Rosenberg

• Headshot - DIRECTOR Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

• John Dies at the End - DIRECTOR Don Coscarelli

• The King of Pigs - DIRECTORYeun Sang-ho

• My Amityville Horror - DIRECTOR Eric Walter

• WRONG - DIRECTOR Quentin Dupieux

 

SPOTLIGHT ON COLORADO

Colorado's filmmaking scene continues to grow at an unprecedented pace. More often than not, filmmakers are choosing to stay and work in the state rather than moving to Los Angeles or New York. This year's Starz Denver Film Festival features numerous locally produced, feature-length films and shorts-films we can't even claim as premieres. Several of these films screened earlier this year at other highly acclaimed festivals prior to their Denver dates.

 

Feature Length Films:

• The Aviation Cocktail - DIRECTOR David Higgins

• Bay of All Saints - DIRECTOR Annie Eastman

• The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus - DIRECTOR Alexandre O. Philippe

• Bidder 70 - DIRECTORS George Gage, Beth Gage

Short Films: Dark Days

• 0300 - 0430 - DIRECTOR Jesus Sierra

• Anything Helps - DIRECTOR Rob Shearer

• Bring With You A Heart - DIRECTOR Elizabeth Henry

• Eternal Return - DIRECTOR Kevin Bunch

• Ghosts of Yesterday - DIRECTOR Tony Gault

• Lunchbox Express - DIRECTOR Alexandre O. Philippe

• Meta-Romantic - DIRECTOR Ilian Iliev

• Mounted & Stuffed - DIRECTOR Kiah Butcher

• Open - DIRECTOR Patricia McInroy

• Periapsis - DIRECTOR Timothy Orme

• Return to the World of Dance - DIRECTORS Dan Boord, Luis Valdovino, Marilyn Marloff

• Self Defense - DIRECTOR Daniel Beahm

• Twombley - DIRECTOR Zach Eastman

 

SHORT FILMS

Shorts 1: Truer Than Fiction

• A BriefHistory of John Baldessari - USA - DIRECTORS Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

• The Art of Repair - UK - DIRECTOR Will Stewart

• The Bronzer - USA - DIRECTOR Peyton Wilson

• In Hanford - USA - DIRECTOR Chris Mars

• Irish Folk Furniture - Ireland - DIRECTOR Tony Donoghue

• MacPherson - Canada - DIRECTOR Martine Chartrand

• Night, Peace - UK - DIRECTOR Eva Weber

• Open - USA - DIRECTOR Patricia McInroy

• Summer in Helsinki (Helsingin Kesä) - Finland - DIRECTOR Maria Björlund

• Turning a Corner - USA - DIRECTOR David B. Levy  

Shorts 2: Close Encounters of the Animated Kind

• Audition - Netherlands - DIRECTOR Udo Prinsen

• Blik - Netherlands - DIRECTOR Bastiaan Schravendeel

• Cadaver - USA - DIRECTOR Jonah D. Ansell  

• Edmond Was a Donkey (Edmond était un âne) - Canada/France - DIRECTOR Franck Dion

• Into Spring - Netherlands - DIRECTOR Udo Prinsen

• The Maker­ - USA - DIRECTOR Christopher Kezelos

• My Little Underground - Canada - DIRECTOR Elise Simard

• Old Man - USA - DIRECTOR Leah Shore

• Paula - Canada - DIRECTOR Dominc Etienne Simard

• The Pub - UK - DIRECTOR Joseph Pierce

• Wolf Dog Tales - USA - DIRECTOR Bernadine Santistenvan

Shorts 3: Life is What Happens While You're Making Plans

• Advantage: Weinberg - USA - DIRECTOR David Singer  

• Harry Grows Up - USA - DIRECTOR Mark Nickelsburg

• Hatch - Austria/USA - DIRECTOR Christoph Kuschnig

• Hourglass - Spain/Norway - DIRECTOR Pedro Collantes

• Lemonade Stand - Australia - DIRECTOR Althea Jones  

• Peter at the End - USA - DIRECTOR Russ Lamoureaux

Shorts 4: Shades of Gray

• Another Bullet Dodged - USA - DIRECTOR Landon Zakheim

• Cherry Waves - USA - DIRECTOR Carey Williams

• Delivery - USA - DIRECTOR Amy Redford

• I Am John Wayne - USA - DIRECTOR Christina Choe 

• Katya - USA - DIRECTOR Mako Kamitsuna

Shorts 5: International Scenes

• Asad - South Africa/USA - DIRECTOR Bryan Buckley        

• Birthday - Estonia - DIRECTOR Erik Norkroos

• Eileen Pratt - Australia - DIRECTOR Michael Kratochvil

• How much love you've got? - South Korea - DIRECTOR Chong-Kyu Kim

• I Am Going to Italy (Italia Me Kajav) - Bulgaria - DIRECTOR Ivaylo Markov

• It Was My City - Iran - DIRECTOR Tina Pakravan

• The Missing Looks (La Mirada Perdida) - Argentina - DIRECTOR Damian Dionisio  

 

STUDENT FILMMAKER AWARDS

The First Look Student Film Section is an exclusive selection of short films reserved for outstanding student filmmakers from around the world. In addition to the Spike Lee Student Filmmaker Award, which was established in 2008, new last year we announced a partnership with Liberty Global that has allowed us to include three new packages of films from international student directors. These films will open your eyes to the incredible work being done at films schools outside the United States with films from Australia, Estonia, France, Israel, Germany, Lebanon, Mexico, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Zambia. To accompany this expanded focus we will award the Liberty Global International Student Filmmaker Award to an exemplary filmmaker in this category.

Liberty Global International Student Films in Competition

• Anna and Jerome (Anna et jérôme) - France/USA - DIRECTOR Mélanie Delloye

• The Tobacco King - USA/Zambia - DIRECTOR Daniel Koehler

• Of Dogs and Horses - Germany - DIRECTOR Thomas Stuber

• Martha Must Fly (Al martha lauf) - Israel - DIRECTOR Ma'ayan Rypp

• Bella Fleace Gave A Party - UK - DIRECTOR Leonora Lonsdale  

Spike Lee Student Films in Competition

• Crossing - DIRECTOR Gina Atwater

• Folkswagon - DIRECTOR Shachar Langlev

• Living The Dream - DIRECTOR Gerry Kim

• Glory Days - DIRECTOR Benjamin Rutkowski

• Real Talk - DIRECTOR Patrick Ng

• Where Is Joel Baum - DIRECTOR Pearl Gluck

 

PANELS

CHASING ICE: A Conversation

In spring 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic: to help tell the story of the Earth's changing climate. Even with his scientific background, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk. Within months of that trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: the Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world's changing glaciers.Balog's story is told in a new Colorado-produced documentary, Chasing Ice. Directed by Jeff Orlowski, edited by Academy Award-winning producer Davis Coombe, and produced by Oscar-winning producer Paula DuPre Pesman and Oscar-nominated independent filmmaker Jerry Aronson, the film has won awards at film festivals around the world. It opens nationwide in November.Join the local team behind Chasing Ice for conversation about the making of the film.

Sunday, November 11, 12:00pm at Denver FilmCenter, Free Event

 

An Evening With Bob Balaban

Actor Bob Balaban receives the Festival's first annual Jack Gilford Award for Comedy. Balaban is a veteran of Christopher Guest comedies (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration), and also has acted in such films as Capote and the iconic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which the festival will show as part of the movie's 35th anniversary celebration. The Chicago-bred Balaban hails from a show business family. His father owned major palatial movie theaters in Chicago, and his mother was an actress. In a career spanning four decades, Balaban not only has acted, but has served as a producer (Robert Altman's acclaimed Gosford Park) and director (HBO's Bernard and Doris). He is uniquely positioned to discuss filmmaking from both creative and business points-of-view having acted in 89 films, written seven titles (big-screen and television) and directed 24 titles (also big screen and television). Most recently, Balaban narrated Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. Jack Gilford, who passed away in 1990 and for whom the award was named, was a renowned and gifted comic actor who appeared in more than 80 movies.

Saturday, November 3, 4:00pm at Pavilions

 

The Impact of Childhood Domestic Violence

The Children Next Door, directed by Doug Block and produced by Lynda A. Hansen, is the first documentary of its kind to recount the fear and pain of domestic violence through the eyes of a child. Shot in Tennessee, this powerful film takes us on a young family's journey to overcome a horrific incident that both shattered and shaped their lives. We live in a society where domestic abuse is pervasive. The statistics are staggering, and behind every number is a devastating personal story. A movement is under way across the U.S. to generate awareness about the problem of childhood exposure to domestic violence. This film and this panel are part of that movement. The panelists: Brian F. Martin, founder of The Childhood Domestic Violence Foundation; Rita Smith, executive director of The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence; and Lynda A. Hansen, producer. Moderated by Robert Denerstein.

Sunday, November 4, 2:00pm at L2 Arts and Culture Center

 

One-on-One with Neil LaBute

Since his scorching debut with In the Company of Men (1997), director Neil LaBute has brought his consistently provocative voice to American cinema. Robert Denerstein's conversation will follow a showing of a quartet of short films by LaBute, each exploring the dark side of sex, love and romance. The filmmaker and playwright brings his considerable talents to the short form with results that are guaranteed to keep the conversation buzzing.

Saturday, November 10, 4:15pm at L2 Arts and Culture Center

 

The Talent You Don't See

A diverse panel of "below-the-line" movie players featuring a stuntwoman, a casting agent, a composer and a costume designer. Robert Denerstein moderates a well-rounded conversation about the critical role played by talented professionals who often receive far too little credit for the important work they do in creating cinematic success.

Sunday, November 4, 4:45pm at Denver FilmCenter

 

Women + Film: A Panel

Join our accomplished panel of women whose paths have given them a powerful voice in the film industry and learn from their spirit in telling their stories. This panel of women filmmakers brings together a dynamic combination of experience, backgrounds and diverse cultures to discuss their personal journeys that led to becoming accomplished directors. And what continues to motivate their journeys and the creative fires we all share. Panelists include Annie Eastman director of Bay of All Saints, Lauralee Farrer director of Not That Funny, Ursula Meier director of Sister, and Victress Hitchcock director of When the Iron Bird Flies.

Sunday, November 4, 12:00pm at Denver FilmCenter

 

Young Guns

It has become a tradition at the Starz Denver Film Festival to recognize and listen to the voices of new and independent-minded filmmakers. This panel includes director Mike Ott (Pearblossom Highway), actor David Nordstrom (Pincus) and Argentine Tributee Daniel Burman, who has three films showing in the festival and who is widely recognized as a member of the New Argentine Cinema movement. Panel Moderator Robert Denerstein says that it's always intriguing to discover what's on the minds of filmmakers who bring passion, commitment and talent to the often-precarious and over-commercialized world of moviemaking. Joining in on the conversation, author Paul Zimmerman (VIRGIN NOIR: First Time Directors' Landmark First Interviews with Paul Zimmerman).

Friday, November 9, 7:00pm at Denver FilmCenter

 

Zombie Town Hall Meeting

Join horror icon George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead), Max Brooks (World War Z), and Steven Schlozman (The Zombie Autopsies) for a live, trans-generational salon talk on the rise of zombie fandom, the role and impact of the modern zombie on popular culture, and practical matters like: how to zombie-proof your car.

Wednesday, November 7, 7:00pm at L2 Arts and Culture Center

 

 

ANIMATION STATION

 

Competition

Using any animation technique available, teams will have 6 hours to create their own film. The animation theme will be announced at the competition. Teams may bring their own materials including computers, however no images or material created prior to the competition may be used. ASIFA-Colorado will provide basic animation materials (clay, cutout material, drawing paper) as well as cameras for capturing images. You may bring your own computers, cameras, recording equipment, and editing equipment. ASIFA-Colorado will also do minor editing to put the animations on a timeline. The competition will be judged by the ASIFA-Colorado board. Prizes total over $600. Each team will also receive an invitation to a private screening of the animations created during the workshops and competitions. Registration is limited. The fee is $30 per team (each team may have between one and three participants), with discounts for DFS and ASIFA-Colorado members.

Saturday, November 3, 10am - 4pm

 

Workshop

Using traditional animation techniques, participants will help create a short film. Budding animators are invited to show up with a creative mindset and a willingness to explore. Each animator will also receive a voucher to see a film at the Denver Film Center and an invitation to a private screening of any animations created during the workshops. Registration is limited. The fee is $15 per workshop attendee, with discounts for DFS and ASIFA-Colorado members.

Sunday, November 4, 9am - 12pm: Ages 6 - 11, 1pm - 4pm: Ages 12 and greater

All workshops will be held at: Denver Open Media, 700 Kalamath St., 720.222.0160

 

 

Tickets for the 2012 Starz Denver Film Festival:

Individual tickets go on sale to Denver Film Society Members on Wednesday, October 17 and to the general public on Friday, October 19. Tickets are available for purchase online at denverfilm.org or at two box office locations, Denver Film Center/Colfax (2510 East Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80206) or the Starz Denver Film Festival Pavilions Ticketing and Information Center (500 16th Street, Suite #188, Denver, Co 80202).

 

Six Pack tickets to any regularly priced films and Matinee Six Packs for screenings Monday - Friday before 5:30pm are now on sale. Six Pack and Matinee Six Packs are available to both Denver Film Society Members and Non-Members and can be purchased online at denverfilm.org.

 

Patron Packages are available for advanced ticket selection and to ensure seating at Red Carpet Presentations and Special Presentations. Contact Alison Greenberg to purchase a Patron Package at (303) 595-3456 ext. 229 or alison@denverfilm.org.

 

Red Carpet Presentations will take place at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and Buell Theater at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Regular festival screenings will take place at the Denver FilmCenter/Colfax, UA Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, and L2 Arts & Culture Center.