5th Annual Estes Park Film Festival (Sept. 17-19)

Featured at this year’s opening night party is a special pre-release screening of the critically acclaimed comedy “Barry Munday” starring Patrick Wilson and Judy Greer. Filled with an ensemble of unusual characters including Cybill Shepherd and Chloe Sevigny, “Barry Munday” is the surprisingly heart-warming tale of a guy who finds it took losing his manhood to be a better man. Other feature-length films include “Earthwork”, based on the true story of a Kansas crop-artist (played by John Hawkes of ABC’s “Lost”) who risked it all to create a multi-acre piece of art in New York. “Earthwork” is directed by Chris Ordal and has already won several film festival awards across the country. The Colorado premiere of “Last Breath” might just be one of the most original films in this year’s line-up with its creative blending of horror, drama and romance. The film, directed by Kansas native Ty Jones, tells the story of a husband and wife who find themselves imprisoned by a sadistic killer - forced to make choices that will ultimately determine their family's survival or demise.

Documentaries in the festival include the world premiere of “The Great Mystery” from Boulder filmmaker Catherine Corona. In the film Corona explores the essence of Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Tribal Spirituality, Christianity and Buddhism through the eyes of a salty old cowboy, a 5th grader, a Tibetan Monk, one of the first woman Rabbis, Muslim teens and many others. 2007 EPFF best documentary winner, Chris Metzler, premieres his latest documentary “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone” about one of the most dynamic and shamefully over looked bands in rock music. The iconic Laurence Fishburne narrates “Everyday Sunshine”, which feature interviews with Gwen Stefani, Perry Farrell, Branford Marsalis, George Clinton and Tim Robbins. The most elaborate and scenic documentary ever produced about Rocky Mountain National Park will also make its world premiere at the festival. “Rivers of the Rockies” is about the watershed of Rocky Mountain National Park and the wildlife it supports. The film is written and produced by award winning Estes Park filmmaker, Nick Molle.

Four diverse and very entertaining programs of short films round out the festival schedule and include the student film “Breakaway” from up and coming Colorado filmmaker Clifton Archuleta, and the hilarious short comedy “The Armageddon Kitty” making its world premiere in Estes Park. Other short films include the international drama “Siren” from Hungarian filmmaker Andras Novak and “In Times of War: Stories of Colorado Veterans” - a moving and inspirational documentary highlighting the stories of five veterans who fought during World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Many of the filmmakers will be on hand to introduce their films and will be a part of a filmmaker panel discussion on the creative process of getting their films from script to screen. There will also be plenty of parties where attendees can mingle with the filmmakers and special guests including actor Art LaFleur, and industry representatives from Universal Pictures and Fox Searchlight Pictures. For a complete schedule of film screenings, parties and panel discussions visit www.estesparkfilm.com or call 970-231-2580. Advance tickets and passes to the festival are available online or at the Park Theatre box office.