The Denver Film Festival (DFF) announced today its films in competition and award recipients at its 38th edition, which runs November 4-15, 2015. The Festival attracts nearly 58,000 filmgoers and is widely recognized as the Rocky Mountain Region's premier film event. This year's program boasts more than 250 films, representing 39 countries. The complete lineup of films is available at the newly redesigned denverfilm.org/festival.
In addition to presenting Mia Madre director Nanni Moretti with the Maria & Tommaso Maglione Italian Filmmaker Award and Mia Madre actor John Turturro with the John Cassavetes Award, the Festival will honor Nathaniel Dorsky with the Stan Brakhage Vision Award, Benjamin Dickinson with the Reel Social Club Indie Voice Award and Alex Wolff with the Rising Star Award presented by Rise Above Colorado.
The Denver Film Festival will also welcome Colorado-based writer and director Arnold Grossman with actors Christopher Lloyd and newcomer Tekola Cornetet of Denver for its Special Presentation of The Boat Builder. In this gentle family drama, a grumpy old sailor (Lloyd) wants only to finish building his boat so he can set out to sea. But from local officials to a troubled foster kid, the world keeps intervening to test his determination to make something of his golden years. Friday, November 13, 6:30pm, UA Pavilions
The festival will culminate with the inaugural Denver Film Festival Awards Brunch where attendees will mingle with filmmakers, festival insiders and fellow movie lovers over bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys for a sit-down affair and presentation. Sunday, November 15, 11:00am, The Curtis Hotel, $55 DFS members / $60 non-members
FILMS IN COMPETITION
KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
Juried by: Helen Estabrook, Academy Award-nominated producer; Robb Moss, documentary filmmaker and Chair of Harvard University Department of Visual and Environmental StudiesChair; Gary Ungar, Producer/Manager
AMERICAN INDEPENDENT NARRATIVE
Juried by: Lindsey Bahr, Journalist and Critic at Associated Press; Kerry Bishe, Actress; Stephanie Wilcox, Director of Development and Production for Rumble Films
MAYSLES BROTHERS AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY
Juried by:Davis Coombe, Academy Award-winning Editor; Laura Heberton, Producer; Colin Stanfield, Festival Producer, New York Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center
FIRST LOOK STUDENT COMPETITON
Juried by: Jenny Bloom, Senior Film Publicist at Prodigy PR; Johnny Simmons, Actor; Randi Kleiner, CEO of SeriesFest
SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
Shorts Screenplay Winner
Feature-length Screenplay Winner
Shorts Screenplay Finalists
Feature-length Screenplay Finalists
Presented by: University of Colorado Denver's Film & Television Program, College of Arts and Media AWARDS
STAN BRAKHAGE VISION AWARD Nathaniel Dorsky came to avant-garde film during a period of great cultural awakening. Arriving in New York City in the early 1960s, he found himself surrounded by filmmakers who articulated the yearning for a wholly original cinematic language. Dorsky's work draws from the very essence of the art form. He creates profound experiences that explore the world through images of extraordinary beauty and montages that subvert the descriptive and awaken mystery. His films strive for balance, lightness, and quietude.
Dorsky, who lives in San Francisco, has made more than 30 films in his long and distinguished career. He has been the recipient of many awards, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship and grants from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation. His work has screened in major festivals and at museums throughout the world.
The Denver Film Festival is honored to celebrate the immeasurable artistry of Nathaniel Dorsky by screening four of his short 16mm films and by presenting him with the prestigious 2015 Stan Brakhage Vision Award. Phil Solomon will present the award followed by a reception in the filmmaker's honor. Sunday, November 8, 7:00pm, Sie FilmCenter
REEL SOCIAL CLUB INDIE VOICE AWARD Celebrating the spirit of the next generation, the Denver Film Society's young patrons group Reel Social Club will present its 4th annual award to Benjamin Dickinson following the screening of his SXSW 2015 breakout hit Creative Control. This satirical look at romance in a near-future Brooklyn is boosted by widescreen black-and-white cinematography, engaging special effects, and dry humor, while tracing the slippery slope between selfie-era hyperawareness and incurable solipsism. Director/co-writer Benjamin Dickinson uses his own experience directing commercials to speak to the omnipresent power of advertising and our ambivalence about the digital world.
His fresh approach to storytelling shows a promising future on the independent film scene. Following a Q&A with Dickinson, Reel Social Club will move to Galvanize's newest location - a modern campus for the technologically inclined - for a virtual-reality themed after party. Friday, November 13, 6:45pm (film), Sie FilmCenter, 9:30pm (party) Galvanize on Platte Street, $25 DFS member film + party; $35 non-member film + party
RISING STAR AWARD PRESENTED BY RISE ABOVE COLORADO Actor/musician Alex Wolff gained international recognition when he co-starred with his older brother, Nat Wolff, in 2005's musical comedy The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie. The film garnered the Audience Award for Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival, and led to the spin-off television series The Naked Brothers Band from 2007-2009. At just six years old, he earned the Broadcast Music Incorporated Cable Award for writing the series' music, two Young Artist Award nominations, and one Best Band nomination at The Australian Kids Choice Awards.
Now 18, Wolff is continuing to establish a lucrative acting career bringing him to the Festival with Coming Through the Rye, produced by Emmy-winning TV director Jim Sadwith. The film is based on Sadwith's own attempt to track down Salinger and his encounters with the author of The Catcher in the Rye. Wolff's past credits include award-winning director Rob Meyer's A Birder's Guide to Everything (2014), a turn as a 15-year old genius in HairBrained (2014), the comedy film The Sitter starring Jonah Hill (2011), HBO's medical drama In Treatment (2010), USA's police comedy-drama Monk (2009), and Nickelodeon TV movie Mr. Troop Mom (2009).
Wolff will be presented with the Rising Star Award following the Festival's Closing Night presentation of Coming Through the Rye. Saturday, November 14, 8:00pm, Ellie Caulkins Opera House
TICKET & PRESS INFORMATION
Individual tickets and Red Carpet packages are available online at denverfilm.org or at the DFF main box office location at the Sie FilmCenter (2510 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80206). Regular screening tickets are $12 DFS member / $15.00 non-member, Special Presentation tickets $14 DFS Member / $17 Non Member. Red Carpet packages start at $60 and go off sale on November 4 at 8pm.
DFF Patron Packages are currently available. Click here for levels and benefits and contact Brittany Heath to purchase at 303.595.3456 ext. 229 or patrons@denverfilm.org.
Press accreditation is now closed.
To keep up to date with the Denver Film Festival on social media: like the DFF Facebook (Facebook.com/DenverFilmFestival) page, follow @DenverFilm on Twitter and @DenverFilmSociety on Instagram and join the conversation by using the hashtag: #DFF38. |
### |
2015 Festival Sponsors |
PREMIER: Regal Entertainment Group ASSOCIATE: Anna & John J. Sie Foundation, AOR, Inc., Barbara Bridges, CEAVCO Audio Visual, Liberty Global, Mike's Camera, STARZ, Three Tomatoes Catering SUPPORTING: Allwell Rents, Argonaut Wine & Liquor, Best Friends Animal Society, Denver Pavilions, Kline Alvarado Veio, Pearl Street Marketing, Sage Hospitality, William Hill Estate Winery, Wright Group Event Services PATRON: AXS Group, Ashtanga Yoga Denver, Biennial of the Americas, Couch, Denver Union Station, Great Divide Brewing Co.,Kentwood City Properties, Lighting & Design by Scott, milkhaus, Polished Tavern, Polish Film Institute, Rare Finds Warehouse, Rocky Mountain College of Art+Design, Snova Vodka, SundanceNow Doc Club, The Curtis, Unique Properties MEDIA: Alice 105.9/KALC, Denver Life Magazine, Que Bueno/KBNO, Out Front, Westword, Denver Open Media GOVERNMENT: Arts & Venues Denver, Colorado Office of Film Television & Media, Consulate General of Poland, French Film and TV Department of the French Embassy in Los Angeles, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco, Honorary Consulate of Belgium - Denver, Scientific & Cultural Facilities District CONTRIBUTING: Baur's, Brookfield Parking, Colorado Film & Video Association, The Compass Group at Your Castle Real Estate, Contagious Media, Denver Screenprint & Embroidery, E&J Gallo Winery, Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Freshie's, Harmonic Media, L.E.G. Valet, LaMarca Prosecco, Louis Martini, Mike Wright Gallery, Novo Coffee, Rise Above Colorado, SAGIndie, Silver Spur Marketing, Sunset Limo, Visit Denver, Wurstkuche, Wyoming Film Office FESTIVAL FRIENDS: 2127 Presents, Argyll Whiskey Bar, Basil Doc's Pizza, Blake Street Tavern, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, citypub and burger, Colorado Department of Human Services, Courtyard Denver Downtown, Danny Graul-Black & Read, Denver Human Services, East High School, Embassy Suites Denver Downtown, Galvanize, Goodness Knows, Hampton Inn Cherry Creek, Larimer Square Associates, Lynda Goldstein, Margery Goldman, Metropolitan State University-Dept. of Journalism & Technical Communications, Odwalla, Open Media Foundation, Residence Inn Denver City Center, School of Rock-Littleton, Springhill Suites Denver Downtown, Southern Hospitality, The Crawford, The Oxford, TownePlace Suites Denver Downtown, The Three Lions, Two Moms in the Raw, Withoutabox, Zetta Marie's Patisserie SPECIAL THANKS: Denver Film Academy, Denver Film Society's Alumni Board, Denver Film Society's Board Members, Volunteers of the Denver Film Society, Young Filmmakers Workshop |
About the Denver Film Society |
Founded in 1978, the Denver Film Society (DFS) is a membership-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural institution that produces film events throughout the year, including the award-winning Denver Film Festival and the popular, summertime series Film on the Rocks. With a vision to cultivate community and transform lives through film, the Film Society provides opportunities for diverse audiences to discover film through creative, thought-provoking experiences.
The permanent home of the Denver Film Society, the Sie FilmCenter, is Denver's only year-round cinematheque, presenting a weekly-changing calendar of first-run exclusives and arthouse revivals both domestic and foreign, narrative and documentary - over 600 per year, all shown in their original language and format. DFS's one-of-a-kind programs annually reach more than 200,000 film lovers and film lovers-in-training. |
About Rise Above Colorado |
Rise Above Colorado is a drug abuse prevention organization providing Colorado's teens with information, resources and healthy lifestyle alternatives to help them choose a life free of drug abuse. The Rise Above team proactively collaborates with teens, educators, community leaders and partners to provide science-based, compelling drug prevention lessons, face-to-face outreach and uniquely tailored community prevention efforts across Colorado that impact perceptions and attitudes about drug abuse. Rise Above Colorado is affiliated with The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, a national nonprofit organization working to help families solve the problem of teen drug abuse. For more information, visit riseaboveco.org. |
|
|