Hundreds of young swimmers weren’t daunted by the cold Saturday afternoon as they awaited the red-carpet arrival of gold medal champion Missy Franklin and her London Olympics teammate Kara Lynn Joyce outside the Buell Theatre in Denver. Like their aquatic heroes, they have practiced in worse.
Franklin and Joyce star in “Touch the Wall,” by co-directors Christo Brock and Grant Barbeito. The documentary received its world premiere at the 37th Starz Denver Film Festival.
Franklin is “so inspirational,” said 12-year-old Jackie Mudd, who, along with Avery and Ashlyn Campbell and Emily and Hunter Foehner, was inside the Backstage Coffee shop before the screening. The five swim for the Governor’s Ranch Gators in the summer and the University of Denver Hilltoppers year-round.
“Grant and Christo are absolutely amazing,” said Franklin, 19, of the directors as she made her way along the red carpet. “They started with me when I was 14. It was kind of scary that these two guys wanted to come and make a movie about me.”
Franklin recalled thinking: “I’m 14, why do you wanna come make a movie about me?” She punctuated the memory with her trademark big laugh and blazing-wattage smile.
The answer is apparent on the big screen as the film follows Franklin’s and Joyce’s journeys. At the 2012 London Olympics, Joyce was 26. And “Touch the Wall” impressively documents the vital friendship of two athletes — Franklin at the start of her career and Joyce nearing retirement.
“Touch the Wall” was the first of the festival’s two red-carpet matinees. The premiere had more attendees than Wednesday’s opening night. And not merely because the temperature had risen slightly — Franklin is a hometown hero, so the locals turned out.
“There was a lot of trust,” Barbeito said of the four-year endeavor — much of that trust was built with Franklin’s parents, Dick and D.A. Other media would arrive, shoot and go. The difference is that Barbeito and Brock stayed with the story over time. Think more 800-meter freestyle than 50 meter.
“We weren’t trying to make anything happen,” said Brock. “We were there to see things unfold.”
As were the people gathered at the Backstage, warming up before queuing for “Touch the Wall.”
Among those was former Regis High School English teacher Mike Meagher. He had signed a waiver when Brock and Barbeito were shooting. Meagher wasn’t sure he’d make the film’s final cut, but he’s in it.
“Missy’s the real deal,” he said of his former student. “She worked hard at being normal, just one of the gang. And she was.”
He added, “I will make a prediction: She will be on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in three years.”
For the moment, she was on the Buell’s big screen on Big Night.
The first Saturday of the Denver Film Society’s annual extravaganza has, in terms of buzz, started to vie with opening night. With the matinee show, the film society has extended that energy to the whole day.
Although Saturday’s Big Night selection, “The Imitation Game,” arrived without stars, the drama more than earned its slot. Benedict Cumberbatch delivers an anguished and deeply intelligent turn as World War II mathematician Alan Turing.
The Starz Denver Film Festival continues through Nov. 23 with more films, panels and receptions, including the Nov. 22 red-carpet matinee honoring another Colorado-rooted documentary, Alan Hicks’ “Keep On Keepin’ On.”
Produced by Boulder denizen Paula DuPre Pesman, the movie follows the relationship of legendary jazz trumpeter and mentor Clark Terry and pianist Justin Kaulfin.
Kaulfin, who is blind, will perform after the screening.
Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567, lkennedy@ or
