Did you hear that strange wind stir over the city this weekend?
That was the collective exhale of the folks at the Denver Film Society. At what seemed like the 11th hour, the DFS locked the schedule for the 28th Starz Denver International Film Festival, which runs Nov. 10-20.
Although there are nearly 200 movies at this year’s festival, a few key questions were unanswered: What would be the opening-night film? What film would anchor what used to be the Centerpiece but is now called Big Night?
Let’s be honest. After last year’s deep red-carpet successes that saw soon-to-be Oscar recipients Jamie Foxx (“Ray”) and Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”) at the Buell Theatre, inquiring minds wanted to know who would be making the trip from DIA to downtown Denver.
Monday, the festival raised the curtain on its schedule and announced that Roger Donaldson’s “The World’s Fastest Indian” will open the festival Nov. 10. “Casanova,” Lasse Hallström’s period romp about the legendary spy and lover, brings comedic intrigue to the Big Night (Nov. 18).
Former “Friends” star David Schwimmer will be in Denver with “Duane Hopwood.” Actor Philip Baker Hall is set to receive the John Cassavetes Award (Nov. 18). “Duck” and “The Matador” will remind audiences how well they know his character-rich mug and often flawless performances, if not his name.
There will be a tribute to French director Claude LeLouch (“A Man and a Woman,” and most recently “The Courage to Love”).
A few weeks ago, the film festival served a tasty appetizer when it announced that its closing-night film would be Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain.” Lee, the director of such divergent works as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Sense and Sensibility” and the “Ice Storm,” will receive the Mayor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which promises the festival will close in style. And Lee is already being heralded as a likely nominee for a best-director Oscar.
Selecting Lee’s astounding romantic lament, “Brokeback Mountain” (adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana from Annie Proulx’s short story), guarantees the festival goes out with a heart- rending pang.
And programming Proulx, McMurtry and Ossana for the “From Page to Screen: The Art of Adaptation” panel turns a film event into a literary one as well.
“The World’s Fastest Indian” stars Sir Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro, a New Zealand legend. In 1967, Munro, late into his 60s, took his Indian Scout motorcycle to Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats and broke the land-speed record. Donaldson’s movie already has revved award season chatter for Hopkins’ larger-than-life performance.
Still, don’t expect the A-list glare of last year’s fest. With a number of directors coming to town, this year’s talent shines from behind the camera.
“We’re going to be hosting 120 film artists who are ready to discuss their work with Rocky Mountain audiences,” said Ron Henderson, the Denver Film Society’s artistic director.
“Star power adds a luster to the festival; it garners attention from the press and other people who might not come to the festival,” Henderson admitted. “Every festival has its own personality.”
This year’s?
“One interesting thing that has emerged is the number of very good American indie films,” Henderson said.
Tickets go on sale for the 28th Starz Denver International Film Festival on Wednesday for Film Society members and Friday to the general public. They are available at denverfilm.org, Starz FilmCenter box office (11 a.m.-9 p.m.), or call 303-534-1339
Film critic Lisa Kennedy can be reached at 303-820-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com.
