We’re in full film-fest swing in Colorado, and there’s no bigger playground than the Denver Film Festival. This year’s 47th event features screenings, panels and other programming aimed directly at the city’s cinephiles.
Here’s what to know in advance of the Friday, Nov. 1-Nov. 10 event, which takes place at various venues across the city. Visit denverfilm.org for more information and to buy tickets.
A capacity audience laughs while watching a special screening of “Super Troopers” Sunday, April 15, 2018 at the Sie FilmCenter in Denver. (Daniel Brenner, Special to The Denver Post)
The basics
The festival this year features 185 titles that span genres and formats from narrative features and documentaries to shorts, music videos and episodic shows. It offers red carpet, special presentations and individual screenings among other ticket tiers, as well as packages.
The screenings, events, panels, parties and industry guests are spread across Denver Film’s home base of the Sie FilmCenter, as well as the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, MCA Denver Holiday Theater, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the AMC 9 + CO 10.
Individual screenings are typically $19 with fees, $27 for special presentations, and $50 for red carpets/galas. Tickets and the full schedule are available at denverfilmfestival.eventive.org.
Anthony Mackie, star of the Colorado-filmed “Elevation,” at the 2022 CMT Music Awards at Nashville Municipal Auditorium on April 11, 2022. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for CMT)
The celebs
Denver Film Fest this year welcomes plenty of notable creatives, but the brightest among them is Anthony Mackie (the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new Captain America), along with director George Nolfi for their film “Elevation,” which was shot mostly in Golden and Boulder (Nov. 4). Director Jason Reitman’s new film “Saturday Night,” which traces the run-up to the first “SNL” episode, also arrives with him and others in tow (Nov. 7).
Multi-talented actor Patricia Clarkson will be at her “Lilly” gala presentation on Nov. 2, while similarly versatile award-winner Melissa Leo will appear with “The Knife” (sold out; see below). There’s also Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”) and his new movie “All That We Love,” plus Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”), Joan Chen (“Dìdi”), Andrew Wyatt (“Barbie”) and Gabrielle La Belle (“Saturday Night”), among others.
The buzz
Denver Film said this week that screenings of “The Piano Lesson,” “The Brutalist,” “Nickel Boys” and “Blitz” are already sold out, and that “Lilly” (starring Clarkson), “The Knife” (Leo), “Saturday Night” (Reitman), “Dìdi” (Chen) and “Jazzy” (Golden Rose) are close to selling out.
That’s not surprising, given that they’ve been on sale for a few weeks, but it’s a reminder that if you want to attend something with buzz, mark it now. We’d recommend perusing the Special Presentation slate, which includes lots of 2024 fest-faves and other indies. See “Bird,” “Better Man,” “Oh, Canada,” “Nightbitch” (starring Colorado’s Amy Adams), “Small Things Like These,” and “The Room Next Door.”
Jude Law stars in “The Order,” an adaptation of a book co-written by former Rocky Mountain News and current Denver City Council member Kevin Flynn. (Provided by Amazon MGM Studios)
The locals
The gala presentations — or the more formal, high-profile screenings — include the new movie “The Order,” based on a book by Denver City Council member Kevin Flynn, and starring Jude Law.
But you can also see Alexandre O. Philippe’s “Chain Reactions” (a documentary about the impact of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”); Jeff Gipe’s Rocky Flats doc “Half-Life of Memory: American’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory”; Taylor McFadden’s “Lovers”; Jeff Orlowski-Yang and Sarah Keo’s “Chasing Time”; and other titles from statewide filmmakers as part of the Colorado Spotlight section. denverfilm.org/colorado-spotlight-announcement-2024