The Circuit

by Steven Rosen
This year’s 31st Starz Denver Film Festival, which continues through Sunday, has high goals. Last year’s festival saw a 17 percent growth in attendance, selling 45,000 tickets. This year, despite the tough economy, organizer Denver Film Society is hoping for another slight increase.

“Our red-carpet events might see a decline, but our other screenings are selling out quickly,” said Britta Erickson, festival director. Red-carpet events, which are held at the 2,250-seat Ellie Caulkins Opera House and include options for parties and receptions, cost more than the $8-$11 general-public ticket price for screenings at the eight smaller theaters of Starz FilmCenter, which the film society operates year-round.

Erickson added that the festival also is lucky to have steadfast support from its premier sponsor, Denver-based Starz Entertainment Group, as well as from associate sponsor Anna & John J. Sie Foundation. (Sie is a retired Starz CEO.)

At Saturday night’s opera-house screening of Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” before what looked like a packed and enthralled house, Starz CEO Robert Clasen used the opportunity to tout the company’s year in remarks to the crowd.

He noted that Starz has a new original cable series “Crash”; that its Overture Films has the festival’s closing-night presentation, Joel Hopkins’ “Last Chance Harvey” featuring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson; and that the star of Overture’s hit “The Visitor,” Richard Jenkins, was in the audience. “We hope we are a place where talent can come and do its best,” Clasen said.

During an earlier-in-the-day Excellence in Acting tribute to Jenkins, the actor laughed when Denver Post film critic Lisa Kennedy asked how he’s adapting to the buzz about being a candidate for a Best Actor Oscar nomination. He said he was amazed “The Visitor’s” writer/director, Thomas McCarthy, created a lead part just for him. And he was candid in assessing his future.

“I’m 61,” he said. “I’m a character actor and they don’t write a lot of lead parts for 61-year-olds. There are not a lot of Tom McCarthys out there. So I’m no fool. I’m enjoying it while I can.”

During its first weekend, some of the festival’s highest-profile films addressed global urban alienation and even breakdown. “Slumdog” followed two outcast Muslim boys as they try to find safety amid the crime, poverty and garbage of Mumbai; the glum graphic-novel-like animation of Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” depicted the Israeli invasion of a war-torn Beirut; and Matteo Garrone’s verite-style “Gomorrah” methodically showed how organized crime grips the housing projects (and beyond) of Naples.

Also, Majid Majidi’s comparatively gentler “The Song of Sparrows” nevertheless revealed how the booming, bustling Tehran operates literally on the backs of motorcyclist-laborers who strap on boxes with heavy appliances in order to deliver them around town.

The Iranian director, who previously had been Oscar-nominated for “Children of Heaven,” attended the festival. It was his fifth U.S. visit, although organizers were worried he’d get through Customs.

Speaking through a translator before a screening of “Sparrows,” Majidi acknowledged that tension. “But I separate the U.S. government from the people,” he said. “Though they bothered me again this time, I came to the U.S. with a much better feeling due to the new President-elect, who I hope will usher in a new era of peace and security throughout the world.”

Majidi’s appearance, a major coup, was an early dividend of the film society recently naming Bo Smith as its new executive director. For the past 21 years, he has been in charge of film programming at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

“That was a piggyback off of what we had in Boston,” Smith said. “There’s an organization that supports our (Boston’s) Iranian Film Festival that not only paid for his plane ticket but also gave him a cash award (of) $2,500. That was a real enticement to get him to come to Boston. I was delighted when I proposed, ‘Would you like to go to Denver, too,’ and got a positive response. It was just a case of Denver Film Society having to pay roundtrip Boston-Denver, so it worked out very nicely.”

Majidi was the subject of one of several festival tributes or "evening with" events – other recipients included animator Bruce Bickford, cinematographer Wally Pfister, and Zurich-based filmmaker Thomas Imbach. In addition, avant-garde filmmaker Carolee Schneemann was pegged for the Stan Brakhage Vision Award and Federico Bondi for the new Maria & Tommaso Maglione Italian Filmmaker Award for his narrative feature “Black Sea.” And Bill Pullman is due in town Saturday to receive the John Cassavetes Award and screen his latest film, Jennifer Chambers Lynch’s “Surveillance.”
 

by Steven Rosen
It’s been a very good year for Denver, and the 31st Starz Denver Film Festival – which began Thursday – hopes to continue the city’s hot streak. The event, which started with comic caper film “The Brothers Bloom” and continues with 215 films from some 30 countries through Nov. 23, uses Denver Film Society’s own Starz FilmCenter as well as larger venues around town.

The city, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, hosted the Democratic National Convention in August. It was central to the excitement of Barack Obama’s candidacy and election. (He carried Colorado.) So close does the city feel to Obama that signs are still everywhere, and the Denver Post newspaper has published a special book, “Obama’s Mile High Moment,” for the holiday gift-giving season.

Britta Erickson, in her first year as the film festival’s director although she’s been with organizer Denver Film Society for 10 years, referenced that recent past in her opening-night introductory remarks. She recounted the film society’s involvement in co-sponsoring a “citizen filmmaking” event during the convention called Cinemocracy. (This is also the first festival for the film society’s new executive directory, Bo Smith, who had been in charge of film programming at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.)

“And it all culminated just nine days ago with the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States,” Erickson said, to applause and cheers from the roughly 1,800 people in attendance at the city’s Ellie Caulkins Opera House for “Brothers Bloom.”

That film’s director/writer, Rian Johnson, was on hand for the screening of of his first movie since 2005 debut “Brick.” As some of his friends and family sat in the audience, he recalled attending a Denver-area elementary school, and how he became interested in filmmaking early. “My dad got the first video camera on the block,” he said. “And that was when you had to plug a videocamera into a VCR and lug it around, which is especially hard when you’re nine.”

The film, which has played other festivals including Toronto, stars Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz and is about con artists and their targets. After the screening, at a packed-to-the-gills party at a nearby dark and stylish (and loud) nightclub, response was generally positive to its light tone and to Weisz’s performance, with some dissenting opinions.

Among the topical issues receiving festival exposure is transgender, with two documentaries and a panel discussion on the topic. One of those films is “Prodigal Sons” by Kimberly Reed, about her complicated Montana family’s response to her own transgender operation. But the film becomes as much about her physically challenged, older adopted brother Mark as it is about her. He discovers his birth mother is the (now-deceased) daughter of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, which prompts an invitation from Welles’ late-in-life companion Oja Kodar to visit her in Croatia. Reed accompanies him.

Among the myriad other activities on the first weekend was a scheduled Sunday tribute to actor Richard Jenkins of “The Visitor.” And there were early screenings of films touted as awards-season favorites. One of those, Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” packed some 500 people into a large college auditorium on Friday night, where many were mesmerized by Mickey Rourke’s downbeat turn as a down-and-out professional wrestler.

There were also films about the arts, a favorite topic of the festival. At a Friday screening of the documentary “HAIR: Let the Sunshine In,” director Pola Rapaport revealed during a Q&A why Milos Foreman’s filmed version of the milestone countercultural musical didn’t come out until 1979, some 12 years after it had debuted on the New York stage. By then, its moment had seemed to pass.

Rapaport said Foreman had wanted to make it much earlier, but was stalled while director Hal Ashby, who had the first crack at it, couldn’t move forward because of a drug problem. 

Learning the story behind films – and filmmaking – is an important component of what the Denver Film Festival is about.

The Denver Film Society has unveiled an annual Italian Filmmaker Award, funded with a $250,000 endowment from the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation.  Award will recognize emerging Italian filmmakers and expands the scope of the society's Starz Denver Film Festival.

Helmer Federic Bondi will be the award's first recipient, collecting $10,000. He'll showcase his film "Mar Nero" (pictured) at the fest in November which despite the photo's big-pharma ad veneer ("Is Effexor right for you?"), is a drama about a caretaker and her charge.

The folks at the Denver Film Society and the city's host committee for the Democratic Convention have launched Cinemocracy.org - "The Film Festival at the 2008 Democratic Convention."  The site is collecting 5-minute films themed around defining democracy.  The top 25 will air during the Democratic Convention week and a winner will get a slot at the 31st Denver Film Festival. 

The site's been open for a few months now, and one film is emerging as the most popular.  Nick Newell's "Sold Out," about his frustrating quest to get a convention ticket.

It's probably not what the Host Committe had in mind.

Nashwa Al Ruwaini, Executive Director of Middle East International Film Festival extends an invite to Goldie Hawn to attend the fest in October.  Hawn was one of many celebs at the Century Club.  Woody Harrelson and Ray Winstone also drank champaign and ate from a stock buffet of Middle Eastern dishes.

Jon Fitzgerald, pictured with Denver's Britta Erickson, returns this year as festival programmer.  He said the finance conference is moving to proceed the fest, which is being extended to ten days to accommodate more films.

In an article for Variety's weekly, I tackle the glut of film festivals:

At the fourth annual Intl. Film Festival Summit in Las Vegas last week, fest honchos huddled together in panel sessions with names like "Creating a Sustainable Festival," showing a sense of camaraderie, friendliness and mutual support.

But then, most attendees there were new to the game. Among veteran fest programmers and execs, it's more a case of strong rivalries, poaching and a secret desire that their compatriots would disappear in a puff of smoke.

Competition among film fests has always been sharp, but it's become cutthroat as fests proliferate, with literally thousands of them vying for world premieres, stars and, crucially, sponsors. If the films are good, it's almost a bonus.

The piece also touches on a growing controversy amoung fest execs - rising distributor and sales agents fees. 

Full piece here.

SXSW's Matt Dentler has a good report from the Denver Film Festival, where Michael Chandler's doc about a family murder in rural Maine, "Knee Deep" won the doc award from these trio of jurors: David Wilson of the True/False Film Festival, "Kurt Cobain About A Son" director AJ Schnack, and indieWIRE's Brian Brooks.

Denver held a film festival, and guess who showed up?  Why "Juno,"of course.  Jason Reitman, all dressed up, talks at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House screening. There was also these guys (below), who run around festival screenings of "Juno" yelling "JUNO, JUNO, JUNO!" alternately with "DECEMBER 5, DECEMBER 5, DECEMBER 5!" -- finally, the date when film festivals are allowed to program something else. 

"Juno" is a very good film, but it's reaching a saturation level akin to "Weird Science's" 12,000th showing on HBO -- you just know they'll be another one soon.

Photos by Soren McCarty.

Long time artistic director and festival founder Ron Henderson is stepping down from the Denver Film Society (and the Starz Denver Film Festival) after 30 years.  He’ll remain as a senior program consultant.  In recognition, he’ll get the John Cassavetes Award at a presentation opening night – an award created with Gena Rowlands, and presented annually to an individual who has made “a significant contribution to the world of filmmaking and whose work reflects the spirit of the late John Cassavetes.”  Recipients have been Steven Soderbergh, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, William H. Macy, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins. 

Henderson oversaw the festival’s rapid growth in the last several years.  Britta Erickson, formerly the director of media and industry relations, will step into the festival director shoes.  Brit Withey, who has served as the film society’s program director, is taking over artistic director of festivals.

Snooping around the (great) Variety Asia blog site, I found the below Patrick Frater post from Pusan that puts the circuit life in perspective.  Appropriate, as we approach the Denver Film Festival and their now-infamous Late Night Lounge of alcohol and sin via sponsors Bombay Sapphire, Ciroc Vodka, Moet Champaign, Stella Artois, and Sterling Vineyards.  Infamous, because the party has grown out or been thrown out of four different venues in four years.  This year they found a warehouse.  They’re still waiting on a liver sponsor. 

Am I an alcoholic?
Tuesday, 09 October 2007 - PUSAN

I'd like to think that I can blame this on something other than myself. Korea maybe.

I'm going to all it a "festival headache." But whatever fancy name I give it, there is too much drinking in my life this week. Take yesterday evening for example.

The Variety Asia one year anniversary party: lots of water before my speech; mixed wine and beer afterwards.

Post-party drink: bottle of wine shared between five people.

Pusan market party: I can't remember (!)

Dinner with Chinese talent agents and French cultural attache: I taught the Chinese to mix baekseju and soju like a real Korean, they taught me to 'gan' or drink shots like an idiot.

Wide Angle Party: some beer I think, but it was too noisy to drink, so I didn't stay. But I left my phone there as a token of my appreciation.

Boracai night club: Walking in I met two women friends from Hong Kong who may have been using the club for its normal function of speed dating. We never found out. One stayed with us and danced. Management wouldn't let us order less than 12 bottles of beer. Seriously.

Slowly wending my way back into my hotel, I met a dear friend from Korea who wanted to talk. Went to a nearby fish restaurant, where she talked. I sipped more baekseju and had the impression I was falling asleep in her soup.

This has to stop.

(P. Frater)