Denver Film Festival on the "Hot Seat"

With the 33rd Denver Film Festival approaching, festival programmers got put on the "Hot Seat". Hosted by the Denver Film Society, the Cinema Saloon presented their "Hot Seat" program at the Starz Film Center.

Moderator and local Film guru Robert Denerstein explained, "The Cinema Salon has had guest speakers from an Archbishop to a Senator, but now we're putting the Denver Film Festival Directors on the hot seat. We may be breaking the rules by giving a glimpse behind the scenes, kind of like showing how they make the sausage before you eat it."

There's nothing gruesome about this process, except perhaps the amount of films organizers have to pre-screen. For 33 years their selections have carved a unique presence in the Festival circuit, attracting celebrity driven premieres, but still focusing on serving the Denver community. It's not a market driven festival like Sundance, and visiting filmmakers are treated to some of Denver's best hospitality.

This year's festival programmers, including Festival Director Britta Erickson, Artistic Director Brit Withey and Film Society Founder Ron Henderson, sat on the "Hot Seat".

Erickson showed the trailer for Danny Boyle's "127 Hours", starring James Franco in the horrifically inspiring tale of Aron Ralston. "127 Hours" is a Red Carpet screening on Nov. 5th and brings Danny Boyle to Denver to receive the Mayor's Career Achievement Award. Erickson said "I've had my eye on "127 Hours" for some time now...with Red Carpet events we've got a lot of seats to fill, but still need to bring programming that challenges audiences. We've been pleased to see that Denver audiences want to be challenged. This is continually seen at the Denver Film Festival with films like "Precious" in last year's line-up and Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2008."

Red Carpet events are primarily studio releases, as Erickson said, "127 Hours is a Fox Search Light release...the studio is a fan of the Denver Film Festival and studios know Denver audiences are savvy."

To compliment "127 Hours", as well as George Hickenlooper's "Casino Jack", there will be a November 6th Festival panel, "Based on a True Story."

Brit Withey showed a clip from "The White Meadows", a film featured in the Festival's "Focus on Iranian Cinema". This film from director Mohammad Rasoulof is one of ten Iranian films screening at the festival. Withey said, "It seemed timely with Iranian filmmakers and artists being jailed in their home country." Withey explained that these Iranian films are "young, energetic, urban films...in contrast to the often rural themes seen in Iranian cinema. The films are definitely political, such as the themes addressed in "The White Meadows", and a documentary screening at the Festival "Twenty Days that Shook Tehran" about the 2009 presidential elections."

Rasoulof's "The White Meadows" is a metaphorical film about Government suppression of art. An all too relevant metaphor considering Rasoulof was imprisoned along with influential Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi in 2009. In conjunction with the Festival's Focus on Iranian Cinema, there will be a November 11th panel; "Will the Real Iran Please Stand Up!"

In another realm of political themes, Ron Henderson showed a clip from "American Falls" by internationally acclaimed film artist Phil Solomon. Henderson described Solomon's experimental piece as, "poetic; allowing audiences to draw their own meaning from the film." The film artist himself explains the film as a meditation of images from the American Dream and America's failures.

Solomon will be presented with the Denver Film Festival's Stan Brakhage Vision Award. Solomon and Brakhage were colleagues at CU Boulder's film program and also collaborated on 3 films. Brakhage was a tribute guest at the first Denver Film Festival back in 1978.

When Erickson talked about selecting films that challenged audiences, Solomon's "American Falls" is a surefire example. It is Avant-Garde Cinema, but as Henderson added, "Film Festivals are about taking chances. It's a way for audiences to step outside of their box and try something fresh and thought provoking."

With this year's Denver Film Festival, audiences have a tremendous opportunity to step outside of their box in over 200 films. Selections vary from feature length narratives, Documentaries, Foreign films, Animation, Shorts, Student Films and experimental fare. The over 200 films were prescreened and selected out of 1,100 submissions to the Festival.

Of these 1,100 submissions, 30 were from local Colorado filmmakers. Brit Withey noted that "15 festival selections were filmed in Colorado. There is absolutely a concerted effort to screen local films." While the Denver Film Festival continues to bring International cinema to its Denver audiences, Britta Erickson added; "The festival is always looking for a Colorado connection, especially on the Red Carpet."

This year a connection comes from the screening of "Blue Valentine", the second feature from CU Boulder graduate, Derek Cianfrance. Cianfrance had studied with the aforementioned Phil Solomon and Stan Brakhage. "Blue Valentine" stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams and got some heated press about an NC-17 rating.

To explore a decision Cianfrance may have dealt with, the Festival will present a November 13th filmmakers panel, "Making It In and Out of Colorado". This panel is also presented by the Cinema Salon and will be moderated by Denerstein, who will also moderate several of the Starz Denver Film Festival panels.