Interview with Keith Garcia of Denver Film Society

That Keith Garcia has been programming films since his days in the womb is a fitting birthright for the Programming Manager of the Denver Film Society. Garcia and I kicked back at Henderson's Lounge at the Denver Film Center/Colfax. While our conversation was conducted through glow-in-the-dark sign language set to a Bollywood soundtrack, here is the transcribed result.

Relating his cinematic inception Garcia said, "I've always been into film, ever since I was a kid. My mom used to say that when she was pregnant with me she watched more movies than anything else -- she always said I was the one who made her watch more movies," he reminisced.

Garcia returned to the womb with the movie that forever captured his cinematic imagination. When asked what film set him on a path of deeper cinematic explorations, there was no hesitation. It also happened to be the film he programmed for that week's Watching Hour series.

He said, "I saw "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" at the Cooper Theater when I was about 11 or 12 years old. The Cooper Theater had this big round shape that was just plush and felt like a safe womb. There is no un-watching a movie and ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit?") is just an example of a movie you never want to un-watch."

Garcia's first job was working in a movie theater, but concessions could not contain his managerial prowess. He went on to manage theaters in Denver and Austin, including Colorado's historic Mayan Theatre, where he spearheaded Denver's first weekly Midnight Movie program. Now at the Denver Film Society, Garcia has found what he calls, "an important and tiring gig."

He explained, "Denver is an interesting town for film; we're very spoiled here, which is both a positive and a negative. Denver has the most movie theater screens per capita in the country, which basically means if you walk out of your house wanting to see a movie, your options are more than anywhere else in the county. It doesn't necessarily mean there's an incredible variety."

Therein is a big challenge for programming, as Garcia said, "Within that you've got the Hollywood sanction of mainstream films, the Landmark Theatres and the (Denver Film Society) as a nonprofit all battling for where your eyes will end up for the evening."

Since Garcia laid the groundwork for weekly Midnight Movies in Denver, Landmark Theatres continued the legacy. While no longer at the Mayan, the Landmark Esquire Theatre runs its Midnight Madness series. With The Watching Hour at the Denver Film Center, Garcia has reinvented Denver's late night film scene.

Midnight screenings aren't for everyone, as Garcia mentioned, "I like the idea of playing a movie at a slightly earlier time, still late to distinguish it, but having time afterwards to talk about the movie, be with friends, hang out and do something else." With this, The Watching Hour offers a weekly selection at 10 p.m. on Fridays. Midnight Movies are usually reserved for Cult Films, but Garcia expands The Watching Hour repertoire with a little something for everyone.

He said, "Programming wise, I go from a complete different angle of the cult film. My interest in what I program for The Watching Hour is generally films I don't think enough people have seen. The double edge sword with that is sometimes it means nobody wants to see it, but I take that in stride. I like to recharge the life of films. As I get older in pains me that there's a lot of films that the generation behind me has no cultural reference to."

"Pootie Tang" and "Bring it on" are films people know for various reasons, but how many have actually seen them. When audiences remember Louis C.K.'s "Pootie Tang," as just a mediocre comedy, they are missing its contextual surroundings. Garcia takes Watching Hour audiences under his wing to explore and experience the film from a renewed perspective.

He emphasized, "The goal is the experience of the film. With "Pootie Tang," here is a film that was brilliantly funny, but when the Studio took it out of its creator's hands it fell flat." Garcia can set-up context of a film and celebrate its merits. It becomes even more experiential in holding a "Pootie Tang" belt thwacking competition, which makes it an evening that is educational, but not too intellectual.

In the upcoming Watching Hour screening of "Bring It On," Garcia invited the East High School Angels to do a pre-show Cheer battle. He added, "These are girls who were 6 or 7 years old when "Bring It On" came out and whether or not they found it in their film watching repertoire worries me; I'd like them to have watched this film -- It turns out several of the girls are fans of the film, so by programming it we are celebrating a movie that spurred 4 sequels. It didn't win any Oscars, but that's not the point; it's just a great example of a fun sports movie that's bitchy, campy and a whole host of other things."

In essence Garcia is conducting film studies by asking what it was about this movie that inspired 4 sequels. With the Denver Film Society being a non-profit organization, Garcia notes, "Our goal is not about how many people and at what price we can get them in seats '" our goal is also education."

There is a preservationist angle here too as Garcia is providing a rare opportunity to see these films on 35mm. "The more that digital moves forward, the less care is put into film prints," he said. This is creating an environment where prints become more costly to show, posing a challenge to theaters, especially a nonprofit like the Denver Film Society.

Garcia savors this challenge: "With the Watching Hour and playing 35mm, I've discovered a lot about films that are no longer available at this level. Last October we screened "Monster Squad" and Paramount still owns the rights, but doesn't have any prints, they were all damaged or lost. But, collectors have prints and it's a weird nebulous area of how people get prints. Theaters shut down and they never get collected, especially with drive-ins. With "Monster Squad" we found a collector that had a print and through him I discovered other networks of collectors who had films."

On top of scheduling, marketing and creating new experiences for classic films, Garcia relishes his role as a "Reel Hunter." He added, "One of the fun aspects of my job is doing the detective work to find the film's print." In the age of crisp digital projection, Garcia compares film prints, "like vinyl and people who say music doesn't sound the same on new formats. The scratches and dirt mean something to me."

In approaching programming Garcia asks, "How is Denver going to respond to certain films and how do we get people interested? I don't try to group film into labels like Hollywood or Art House; it's all film to me." He understands that this works business-wise, but with programming it's limiting to make that distinction. It's a delicate balance to show films that are culturally relevant, whether they are unknown, popular or forgotten.

Every moviegoer at one point or another has experienced a dry spell, wanting the theatrical experience, but left with nothing good playing. The Denver Film Center is a cure for this, offering unique experiences to explore. Whether it's an award winning documentary fresh off the festival circuit or a classic film you never thought to give attention to.

"I want people to understand that we exist to bring the best films possible to Denver. Even though opinion varies with every person on every film, we are very successful with that notion. On another level we bring the essence of a film festival to Denver on a weekly basis. If you trust what we do with the Denver Film Festival, it's kind of the same for the Denver Film Center."

In this sense Garcia is at the heart of one of the longest running Film Festivals, programming vibrant beats of cinematic experiences every week. Scour the Denver Film Society's calendar and I personally guarantee you will find something at least once a week worth seeing. If not, you can always facebook or email Garcia about films you think Denver needs to experience. If you are still unsatisfied, you'll likely find me at any given screening and I'll silence your insatiable opinion with candy, popcorn or booze.