"Movies in My Life" from the Denver Film Society

There's a reason the Starz Film Center was put on my list of Denver's Best Independent Movie Theaters. The Cinema Salon, hosted by the Denver Film Society is one of them. On September 23, Denver Filmmaker and critic, Robert Denerstein moderated a thought provoking discussion in a program called "The Movies in My Life."

According to Denerstein, Cinema Salon opens a discussion about film, by "putting together people you wouldn't usually think of to discuss film". In the case of "The Movies in My Life", it was Colorado Documentary filmmaker Daniel Junge and Colorado Democratic Senator, Michael Johnston.

Johnston's glowing academic background, as well as his work as a teacher and principal makes him a politician to watch in education reform. His autobiographical book, In the Deep Heart's Core, reveals a young teacher's path at the forefront of education reform during his time in Mississippi with Teach for America. Johnston of course is the "unusual" part of this Cinema Salon discussion.

Now we'd expect to hear from filmmaker Daniel Junge when stimulating a discussion about film, especially at the Denver Film Society. Junge's award winning documentary, "They Killed Sister Dorothy" was followed up with an Oscar nomination for his "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner."

Johnston and Junge each picked three films that have impacted them, hence "The Movies in My Life." The discussion that ensued was moderated and often stimulated by Robert Denerstein's wit, insight and humor. Denerstein was a staple of Colorado's film criticism for 27 years at the now deceased Rocky Mountain News, but Denerstein's blog, as well as his Associated Content articles continue to be a lighthouse for movie goers.

There was no second guessing the clip of Daniel Junge's first movie pick, as John Williams's opening score erupted on screen and the iconic title appeared, "Star Wars". A movie that influenced an entire generation, it also changed filmmaking to blockbusting and carried a legacy of mythology. Junge talked about the "visceral" reaction "Star Wars" had the power to induce, "it has the impact movies are supposed to have".

"It also mythologized the process of filmmaking for us", Junge said about his generation. "Star Wars" gave us both the escapism of fantasy and a taste of the battle behind the scenes. At the core of Lucas's "Star Wars" epics is a story of rebellion against an evil empire. A theme that carried over into Michael Johnston's first pick, John Milius's speculative war film "Red Dawn".

"Red Dawn" put actors Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen in the roles of Colorado high schoolers who take on an invading Soviet Army with guerilla warfare. It is in essence a film about a small group that rebels against an evil empire, only a bit closer to home than a 'long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away'. Johnston admiringly called the film a "political Rocky", where the underdog prevails, something Johnston has carried with him in cheering on the underdogs in education. The film also raised an important question for Johnston, "how do you bring down Empire", to which he found the answer to be, "calling out the fallacy of its power."

Junge then revealed his second pick, a clip of actor James Spader uncloaking his obsessive hobby to Andie MacDowell in "Sex Lies and Videotape". The defining word attached to Steven Soderbergh's breakthrough indie film, by Junge, Denerstein and even Denver Film Society Director, Ron Henderson, was "seminal". Rightfully so, as Soderbergh's film not only influenced a burgeoning generation of Indie filmmakers, but it changed how Sundance Film Festival could influence the box office.(1) That Junge picked this particular film shows a certain element in his becoming a documentary filmmaker. Spader's character is in essence trying to reach a truth about the world and himself in documenting reality.

From the forefront of Independent film, Johnston's next pick took the discussion into a haven of Hollywood Oscar territory. Edward Zwick's Civil War film, "Glory", tells the epic tale of the all African American Volunteer Infantry. The 1989 film readily ingrained itself on the cultural consciousness of history, and also Johnston's mind as he began intensively reading the works of Dr. Martin Luther King. The film resonated with Johnston at a time in his life when he was asking, "How do you make social change?"

Junge admitted he had never seen "Glory", before unveiling his final pick, "Hoop Dreams". This 1994 documentary about inner city Chicago kids pursing NBA dreams was also a seminal film, which garnered more acclaim and box office than most documentary films of the time. Attributing part of his own success as a documentary filmmaker, Junge said, "A lot of observational documentary films owe a great deal to this film." Junge himself made a documentary film in 2002, "Chiefs", about a high school basketball team on a Native American reservation in Wyoming.

As both compliment and contrast, Johnston put his final movie pick clip on the screen. We had just seen Denzel Washington give his Oscar nominated campfire speech from "Glory", now it was Washington's inspirational speech about Gettysburg in "Remember the Titans". Unknowingly, Johnston's pick of a film showing the inspirational side of high school sports and racial disparity, was fitting contrast to the documentary driven sad truth of "Hoop Dreams". Johnston also revealed that while he had heard of the film, he had never seen "Hoop Dreams."

While it wasn't an purposeful contrast elaborated on in debate between Junge and Johnston, it definitely provided provoking discussion. For Johnston, seeing "Remember the Titans", inspired the notion that tough love was essential in education, as he said "to not feel sorry for the kids." Clearly a message that took on great relevance in his teaching work with underprivileged kids in Mississippi and Colorado.

Junge and Johnston are men who have searched for answers and respectively found moments of truth through movies. The apparent contrast at the core of this influence was shown through two varying films about sports and kids. "Remember the Titans" inspired and intentionally riveted audience emotion, while "Hoop Dreams" exposed a truth and asked "is there a way out?" Could these kids transcend their reality? "Hoop Dreams" raised a number of touchy questions and as Junge said, "changed the dialogue about inner-city kids."

In light of two 2010 documentary films, "Waiting for Superman" and "The Lottery", the discussion naturally landed on education. Johnston has made a career championing education reform and as Junge pointed out, "Documentaries about education have been out of our consciousness for awhile, but they're back."

Junge really has his eye on the bigger picture of film, but also the skill of zeroing in on a relevant story, as evidenced in his documentaries. Johnston certainly sees the greater impact movies can have, and has been deeply affected by their moving stories. "He constantly references these movies in staff meetings", said Damion LeeNatali, Chief of Staff in Johnston's Office. At times Johnston was himself moving, quoting Robert Frost and sharing his life in education, from classroom to senate floor.

Robert Denerstein, as an indispensable voice on films, summed up the evening's discussion with a subtle call to action. "Filmmakers have a responsibility to understand that films have the power to impact us".

The Cinema Salon's up coming program is "The Hot Seat" on Oct. 14, as programmers and directors of the Denver Film Festival get grilled about their criteria for choosing festival entries.

Sources:
1) See my Article "Milestones in Independent Film (1960-2010).