This summer, ooh and ahh, weep and roar at film series and festivals all over Colorado, where you might approach favorite old movies with a fresh eye or catch a glimpse of something completely new. This season’s coming attractions include rare historic pictures never before screened here and a bunch of movies that are just fun to watch.
Cinephiles new to town sometimes gripe that there’s not much to Colorado’s film culture.
And while it’s true that you probably won’t see a cadre of movie fat cats doing deals while they do lunch in downtown Denver, a peek into the projection booth at the historic Chautauqua Auditorium affirms Colorado’s very long love affair with moving pictures.
“The first film shown in Colorado was at Chautauqua,” says Paul Wenig, program director at the Boulder complex, where upstairs in the wooden barn, the circa-1900 projection booth is encased in metal to keep the building from burning to the ground if the highly flammable silver nitrate films caught fire.
“What is really neat, though, is that on the wall of the projection booth, the projectionists have written their names and all of the films they showed each year, going back to the early 1900s,” he says. “It’s pretty unique.”
Ditto for the line up at Chautauqua’s 20th Anniversary Silent Film Series.
The summer bill opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with “Beyond the Rocks,” a torrid 1922 romance starring Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino that was thought lost until a print was discovered in 2004. The picture will be screened to an original score by Rodney Sauer and the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.
The series runs through Sept. 13 and includes two rare films that have never been shown at Chautauqua.
D.W. Griffith’s 1915 “The Birth of a Nation” – reviled for its overt racism and beloved for its groundbreaking cinematographic techniques – shows July 19 and will be followed by a moderated discussion.
“It’s a big film. It’s about three hours long, and it’s highly controversial because at the time, the director had these racist views, and he chose to show them in the film,” Wenig says. “The more interesting thing to me is the cinematography and the effects that went into the film that had never been done before, like using extras and special use of subtitles, and the first original score for orchestra and the first shooting in outdoor landscapes. This film was definitely leading the way.”
On Aug. 23, Minnesota film historian and collector Harold “Rusty” Casselton will bring his restored 16 mm print of the 1928 version of “Chicago,” to Boulder. Wenig says this is the first time the film has been screened in Colorado.
Chautauqua received a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission for the program, which will include a brief talk by Casselton and the world premiere of a new score by the Mont Alto Orchestra.
“People have so many choices about where they see films, we want to make it compelling and quite special,” says Susan Connelly, Chautauqua’s executive director. “And, no, you can’t rent these films from NetFlix.”
Info: Chautauqua Silent Film Series, Wednesday-Sept. 13, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. Tickets $8; shows start at 7:30 p.m. Find the schedule at chautauqua.com/programs_silent_films.html
BEST OF THE FESTS
With something like 65 film festivals to choose from, and countless film series screening year round in Colorado, this list doesn’t pretend to be comprehensive, but it will get you started with some fine summer viewing:
AURORA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Today’s the last day, but you can still get in a documentary and two dramas before dark. “The Grace Lee Project” screens at 2 p.m.; “Grain in Ear,” at 3:30 p.m.; and “Little Red Flowers,” the closing-night gala presentation, at 6 p.m. Films are screened at the Aurora Fox Arts Center, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora. Tickets are $8 for the first two films and $20 for the gala. Visit auroraasian.org for details.
BOULDER PUBLIC LIBRARY SUMMER FREE FILM PROGRAM
Avant gard filmmaker and program director Joel Haertling takes a break from the serious stuff during the summer in favor of focusing on domestic and international comedies. This year, it’s Peter Sellers comedies of the 1960s. “What’s New Pussycat?” shows tomorrow at 7 p.m. Films start at 7 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays through July 13, at 1000 Canyon Blvd., Boulder. Admission is free. Find a schedule at boulder.lib.co.us/films.
THE WHEELER FILM SERIES
The Wheeler Opera House’s series runs through June 14 with a series of contemporary and classic films. Louis Malle’s first solo feature, “To the Gallows,” scored by Miles Davis, shows at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Monday, at 320 E. Hyman Ave., Aspen. Tickets are $7.50. Find a schedule at wheeleroperahouse.com.
FILM AT CENTRAL CINEMA CLUB
Denver Public Library’s DVD version of a book club pairs filmfreakcentral.net critic Walter Chaw with anyone who has a thing or two to say about film. Check out Stanley Kubrick’s “The Killing,” then head to the Central Branch, Level B2 Conference Center, at 2 p.m. Wednesday and say what’s on your mind. Find the schedule for the rest of the summer here: denverlibrary.org/assets/programs/laugh/brochure.pdf.
BENT LENS CINEMA
Boulder’s GLBTQ film society screens films throughout the year that “dare to illuminate the images of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people onto the big screen.” Next up, “Summer Storm,” 7 p.m. June 24 at the Boulder Theatre, between Spruce and Pearl streets on 14th Street in Boulder. Watch bentlens.org for future screenings.
TATTERED COVER FREE FILM SERIES
Colorado Public Radio film critic and Starz Film Center education director Howie Movshovitz leads viewers through a canon of classic films beginning July 1 at 7 p.m. with Jean- Luc Godard’s 1960 picture, “Breathless.” The series runs the first Saturday of the month through December at the Starz Film Center on the Auraria Higher Education Campus in Denver. For a schedule, visit tatteredcover.com and click on “store events.”
CRESTED BUTTE REEL FEST
Nearly everything about the ninth annual international short film festival is in flux except for the dates – Aug. 9-12 – and the closing film, which will be “The Guatemalan Handshake,” a film by Todd Rohal that debuted at the Sarasota Film Festival. Check crestedbuttereelfest.com for details, including the popular “Films Your Mother Wouldn’t Want You To See” series on Aug. 11.
MOVIES & MUSIC IN THE PARK
Golden Resource for Education, Arts and Theater took a pass on its spring film festival, but the annual Movies & Music in the Park is still on. Free, family-friendly movies will be screened Fridays from Aug. 18 to Sept. 15, in Parfet Park, at 10th Street and Washington Avenue. Get there around 7 p.m. to warm up with local music performances. The shows start at dusk, beginning with “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.” Find a schedule at goldengreat.org/outdoor.htm
BRECKENRIDGE FILM FEST
Coming soon: Movies that might make it big time. Since it started 26 years ago, the Breck fest has shown hundreds of great films, including some that ended up with Oscars the same year, including “L.A. Confidential,” “American Beauty,” “Frida” and “Lost in Translation.” Scheduled for Sept. 7-10, the details will show up at breckfilmfest.com.
ESTES PARK FILM FESTIVAL
Sean Doherty didn’t move here from Florida intending to save a historic theater, but when he saw the Park Theater – and the dearth of art films in Estes Park – he just couldn’t help himself. The inaugural Estes Park Film Festival, set for Sept. 15-17 at the old theater – the oldest surviving west of the Mississippi – will screen nine features and 25 short films from around the world. Proceeds will help with restoration of the iconic theater in downtown Estes. Get the details at sdientertainment.com
TOOFY FILM FEST
Brothers Mark and Jeff Siebert couldn’t figure out why Mark’s student short film, “The Absence of Autonomy,” shot in Super 8, wasn’t accepted by any of the film festivals they submitted it to, so they decided to start their own fest. “Seeing how much good stuff is out there, we realized why Mark’s film wasn’t accepted into any festivals,” Jeff Siebert says. Now headed into its third season, the Toofy Film Fest runs Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Boulder Theatre. Watch for details at toofy.com.
