Denver film festival comes to CU

BOULDER – For the first time in its 22-year history, the Denver Film Society is presenting a significant number of films from its international festival at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Nine films are scheduled to be shown in Muenzinger Auditorium beginning Wednesday, Oct. 18, and ending Sunday, Oct. 22. (See schedule, page 34A.)

Pablo Kjolseph, director of the ongoing International Film Series (IFS) at CU, initiated the agreement with the Denver Film Society. “The intent is to allow the Boulder market a taste of what is at the Denver festival in our own backyard,” he said. The event could take place annually in conjunction with the 23rd AT&T Broadband Denver International Film Festival if Boulder residents want it. “They vote by attending,” Kjolseph said.

The films being presented include a series of erotic tales, a restored negative of “The Trial,” written and directed by Orson Wells, and a filmed record of Pablo Picasso painting for the camera. “The themes are to show Milestone classic films at the earlier time, 7 p.m., and the films of a more erotic nature at 9:30 p.m. – an early show and a late show,” Kjolseph said. A complete description of each film is available at the IFS Web site (internationalfilmseries.com).

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Kjolseph said he sent Ron Henderson, executive director of the Denver Film Society, a list of film titles he had read about in trade and other magazines that he thought would be exciting for both Denver and Boulder audiences. “One I am thrilled we got is a Korean action film called ‘Nowhere to Hide’ that we’ll be showing in Boulder on Sunday. It was added later and is not on the current schedule now at distribution points,” Kjolseph said. “The film is visually explosive, amazing to look at and unlike any action film made in Western cultures.”

He also noted that the ticket price for the 23rd AT&T Broadband Denver International Film Festival films will be slightly higher, $5 and $6, than what people pay for the IFS films, $3 and $4.

Another film of note that will not be shown in Boulder but is scheduled for Denver is a documentary, “The Last Mahadevi,” about Inge Sargent, former wife of the ruler of the Shan population in Burma and a retired Boulder teacher.

When her husband was assassinated by a Burmese military regime in the 1960s for his forward-thinking views on politics and economic development, Sargent endured two years of house arrest. After she was allowed to leave the country and told she couldn’t take her children, she smuggled them out anyway, fleeing to Austria, her native country.

“I tried for two years to find out what happened to my husband. I just couldn’t believe he was dead,” she said. Gathering evidence about the assassination and writing it in her book, “Twilight over Burma,” put Sargent’s life in danger. Even today she would not be allowed back in her former country, she said.

Sargent and her Burmese husband met in the 1950s while he was attending the Colorado School of Mines in Golden and she, Colorado Women’s College in Denver. She didn’t know he was a prince and ruler until after they were married and arrived in Burma to a huge welcoming from his subjects.

The film based on Sargent’s life came about when German filmmakers were backpacking in Burma and saw a picture of her and her husband. “They knew I wasn’t Burmese and started asking people who I was. The Burmese told the Germans my story, and they became fascinated. Eventually they found me through the University of Hawaii where my book was published and asked my permission to make the film about my experience,” Sargent said. The film has been shown all over Europe. Sargent also created the non-profit company, Burma Lifeline, to help Burmese refugees.

The Burmese film and others are typical for the 23rd AT&T Broadband Denver International Film Festival, which is focusing on French cinema this year. Running from Thursday, Oct. 12, through Saturday, Oct. 21, the festival features more than 100 films from at least 30 different countries. It is funded by corporate sponsors, members of the Denver Film Society and income from ticket sales and from people willing to support accessible art films.

The highlights of this year’s festival will be the arrival of Shirley MacLaine and Sean Penn to receive awards. MacLaine will be recognized for her 44-film career with the Mayor’s Lifetime Achievement Award on closing night, Oct. 21. Penn, whose career is moving toward the director’s chair, will receive the John Cassavetes award for both his acting and directing in independent films.

Harold Stalf, managing director of the Denver Film Society, said direct costs to put on the international festival each October are about $250,000. “We have six full-time employees and a budget of $900,000 for the year-round operation,” he said. The staff increases to 25 during festival season from July through October and includes more than 100 volunteers.

Combined, Denver’s other film festivals only require about one-third of the society’s budget. They include the Denver Jazz Film Festival in February, the Denver Pan African Film Festival in April, the Aurora Asian Film Festival in June, the Denver Jewish Film Festival in August, and the Banff Mountain Film Festival in December.

“Half of our budget, or about $400,000 a year, comes from between 25 and 30 corporate sponsors; about $60,000 comes from our membership,” Stalf said. The Denver Film Society has about 2,000 members. Its Web site is denverfilm.org.