Director Lawrence David Foldes, whose films include “Young Warriors” (1983) and “Finding Home” (2005), and his wife, producer and former child star Victoria Paige Meyerink, are staging the debut Independence Film Fest this week in Leadville, Buena Vista and Salida. They’re bringing in director Randal Kleiser (“Grease,” “White Fang”) and actor Don Knotts’ daughter Karen Knotts to introduce a tribute to her father and two of his films, “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” and “The Love God?” They’ve also resurrected some classics, including a 1906 silent movie, a film on the 10th Mountain Division and documentaries on skijoring and Depression-era teenage hobos. We caught up with Foldes, who is clearly excited about showing movies in a lofty locale.
You’ve got the official festival opening on Independence Pass? Yes! It makes the Independence Film Fest the highest film festival in the world. I assured that by doing an event on the summit of Independence Pass. Nobody is going to have a higher film festival than that unless there’s a festival on Mount Everest.
Besides the altitude, why did you pick Leadville? We were in Colorado last year, and I wanted to come up to Leadville. When I turned the corner and came down Harrison Avenue, I was like, “Wow!” This is the quintessential Colorado mining town! It’s the perfect place for a film festival!
What makes a town a perfect site for a film festival? It needs to be a destination, a place that appeals to people who want a vacation and to celebrities and filmmakers. Celebrities and filmmakers are a major part of a film festival, and one of the big draws for people to come. Festival-goers want to be in the company of stars and filmmakers because it’s a setting where people from all walks of life can mingle and talk on a personal level with these folks. And it’s also a draw for celebrities and filmmakers, because it gives them a chance to interact with fans and get feedback that they don’t get in Los Angeles, New York and Hollywood.
Not many Colorado residents would put Leadville and Buena Vista at the top of their list as must-see towns for celebrities. Well, no celebrity wants to come to a town for its outlet malls or a Wal- Mart. Leadville, to me, is the focal point of the event. When I talked to (director) John Landis about doing a tribute with him, he asked where screenings and events would be. I said that I’d like to do it at the Tabor Opera House, and he got excited. He said, “Wait! Isn’t that the place with the infamous history? I’m in!”
What are the other venues for festival events? We’ve got the Tabor Opera House, the Old Church, the Silver City Cinema, the National Mining Museum – and did you know that the mining museum has a ballroom, with chandeliers, that seats 300 people? And a stage, and a kitchen? It’s amazing. And the Comanche Drive-In, in Buena Vista, where we’re showing “Grease” and doing a tribute with Randal Kleiser. We’re also including Salida for a Colorado premiere of “Broken,” starring Heather Graham, at Storyville Cinemas.
Which is your favorite? My favorite venue might be the train. We’re doing a screening of the 1906 silent movie “From Leadville to Aspen: A Hold-Up in the Rockies,” on board the Colorado & Southern Railroad, on a moving train, with live piano accompaniment.
They shot a silent movie in Leadville in 1906? That’s just it! They didn’t! I don’t think there was even a train from Leadville to Aspen. It’s all shot in upstate New York! Nobody here knows about “From Leadville to Aspen.” It’s part of building events around the things that make each community unique, like showing “Grease” at a drive-in, with a sock hop before the movie. We’re working on getting a Denver muscle-car club to drive a caravan of vintage vehicles to the screening.
Isn’t the Comanche closed, though? It’s reopening for this. The Comanche is the reason we’re in Buena Vista. I’m a huge supporter of preserving original forms of presentation, and I’ll do anything I can to help drive-in theaters and single- screen theaters, especially if they have the original reel-to-reel projection systems.
Details
Want to see what’s showing? Find a schedule of the films and where they’re being screened at or call 719-966-3005.
