Denver Film announces Colorado Spotlight selections for 47th Denver Film Festival

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Features and shorts showcase the work of filmmakers and stories with direct ties to the state

Denver Film has announced its lineup of feature films and documentary and narrative shorts that were selected for inclusion in the Colorado Spotlight section of the 47th Denver Film Festival taking place Nov. 1 -10 at venues across the Denver-metro area including the Sie FilmCenter, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the AMC 9 + CO 10.

“Celebrating and honoring the work of local filmmakers and local stories allows us to showcase what are often some of the most compelling films in our annual Festival through our Colorado Spotlight section,” Denver Film Festival Artistic Director Matthew Campbell said. “We’re very aware of the challenges faced and embraced by our local filmmaking community and we know that the selection of a film for our Colorado Spotlight section is significant to these individuals and their work across the local and national film landscape.”

Showcasing the work of filmmakers and stories with direct ties to the state of Colorado, the lineup of 21 films includes five features, six documentary shorts, eight narrative shorts and two films from the PBS docuseries “Renegades,” presented by SeriesFest. Audiences can expect stories pulled from their own communities, like “Half-Life of Memory: America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory,” which chronicles the ever-evolving controversy at Rocky Flats, or “Blind Sighted”, which was made by a current student at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.

“This year’s lineup is, once again, going to deliver memorable, conversational and entertaining film experiences,” said Denver Film Festival Programming Manager Ambriehl Turrentine, who programmed the shorts for this year’s Colorado Spotlight section. “This is storytelling that covers a diverse spectrum of issues and personal stories centered around topics ranging from climate change, environmentalism, our nation’s nuclear legacy and wartime experiences, to stories of triumph, tragedy and perseverance across sports and outdoor activities, mental health and disability issues, sexuality and complex personal challenges.”

Colorado Spotlight feature films

“Chain Reactions”

Director: Alexandre O. Philippe

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”‘s impact on five artists — Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama — through interviews, outtakes, exploring how it shaped their art, psyche from childhood trauma.

Colorado notes: Philippe is creative director and co-owner of Denver-based Cinema Vertige and his most recent commissioned work for the City of Denver garnered four Heartland Emmys. In addition, Denver-based Exhibit A Pictures produced the film. Philippe’s previous DFF films include “Lynch/Oz” (2022), finalist for Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary. “Chain Reactions” won Best Documentary on Cinema at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.

“Champions of the Golden Valley”

Director: Ben Sturgulewski

In the remote mountain villages of Bamyan, Afghanistan, a newfound passion for skiing attracts young athletes to tackle the high peaks. With minimal gear and makeshift skis, young villagers from rival ethnic groups convene for a thrilling mountain race, where they find they have more in common than they may have thought. “Champions of the Golden Valley” is the uplifting tale of young people learning incredible camaraderie and resilience on the slopes — lessons they must call upon when they experience the shocking collapse of their country and many of the skiers are displaced across the globe as refugees.

Colorado Notes: Producer Katie Stjernholm and director Ben Sturgulewski are based in Boulder. She is the owner of Tideshift Studio, a production company and consultancy. “Champions of the Golden Valley” is her first feature documentary. Both Stjernholm and Sturgulewski live in the mountains outside Boulder.

“Chasing Time”

Directors: Jeff Orlowski-Yang, Sarah Keo

A meditative exploration of time and mortality, “Chasing Time” follows photographer James Balog as he returns to Iceland to complete the Extreme Ice Survey project — a 15-year chronicle of the rapid melting of glaciers. Balog’s groundbreaking work paints a stark and stunning portrait of our changing planet. Accompanied by the Emmy-winning team behind “Chasing Ice,” the film unveils astounding visual evidence of climate change and spotlights the power of intergenerational collaboration in inspiring hope and action toward a sustainable future.

Colorado Notes: Part of the film is shot in Boulder. Co-director Sarah Keo is based in Denver and is a 2024 Cine Fe Fellow. Production company, Exposure Labs, is an award-winning social impact film studio based in Boulder, ancestral home of the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho people. Co-founded by director Jeff Orlowski-Yang and producer Larissa Rhodes, Exposure Labs embraces storytelling as an essential driver of cultural transformation.

“Half-life of Memory: America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory”

Director: Jeff Gipe

In the suburbs of Denver, the U.S. manufactured thousands of atomic weapons, leaving behind a toxic legacy that will persist for generations. The Rocky Flats plant produced a staggering 70,000 atomic bombs, each serving as a “trigger” for thermonuclear warheads. Shrouded in government secrecy, the plant’s fires, leaks, and illicit dumping of nuclear waste contaminated the Denver area with long-lived radioactive toxins. A major — and highly visible — plutonium fire sparked a decade of mass protests, culminating in an unprecedented FBI raid that ultimately shuttered the plant.

Through powerful testimonials and extraordinary archival media, “Half-Life of Memory” exposes Rocky Flats’ dark past and enduring impact, prompting critical reflection on the implications of the nation’s renewed nuclear weapons buildup and ongoing construction of a new “trigger” factory.

Colorado Notes: Director Jeff Gipe is an accomplished visual artist and filmmaker, known for his profound exploration of the U.S. nuclear legacy through various artistic mediums. Growing up near the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, where his father worked for many years, Gipe developed a deep connection to the subject matter, which continues to inform and inspire his artistic practice.

“Lovers”

Director: Taylor McFadden

A love letter to the Queen City of the Plains, “Lovers” follows the story of two women who return to their hometown for the funeral of a friend who has taken his own life. Though Denver has changed in the years they’ve been gone, one thing remains: Lovers, the local dive bar music venue. As the women reconnect with their old community, they face their shared loss and are reminded of the power of coming together through music.

Colorado Notes: From Colorado Director and Screenwriter Taylor McFadden, “Lovers” is shot exclusively in Colorado. The South Broadway haunt Hi-Dive is the stand-in for the titular bar. The cast of characters also includes both local and national musicians and features a new original song by Nathaniel Rateliff.

Colorado Shorts: Documentary

“Mr. Cato”

Director: Ryan Ross

Mr. Cato is an elementary school teacher and pro-BMX Flatlander, who changes his students’ lives by teaching them how to ride and care for bikes while attempting to bring his sport of BMX Flatland back from the brink of extinction in the U.S.

Colorado Notes: Director Ryan Ross founded his company, Buck Ross, in 2010, a creative production company located in Boulder that takes projects from napkin scribbles to finished films. Film features scenes of BMX Flatla. Ross has worked on everything from broadcast TV to IMAX in 6 different continents.

“Blind Sighted”

Director: Mitch Davila-Armendano

At the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, 15-year-old filmmaker Mitch Davila-Armendano introduces viewers to several of his schoolmates who, with honesty and humor, expose the audience to the daily obstacles and prejudice they face, the stigma associated with blindness and other common disabilities, and new opportunities and a deeper sense of belonging.

Colorado Notes: Directed by a student attending the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind and produced by Youth Documentary Academy located in Colorado Springs.

“Fight or Flight”

Director: Lindsey Hagen

The first female pilot ever employed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife shares how pursuing a career in professional aviation helped her overcome childhood trauma and assemble the tools required to face her past and heal.

Colorado Notes: Chronicles the journey of the first female pilot employed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Produced by Boulder-based studio Gnarly Bay.

“My Name Is Not Amy”

Director: Déwi Sungai

Against the backdrop of the worst wildfire in Colorado history, a mixed-race Native Bornean filmmaker reflects on her adoption into white suburban America, triggering an awakening that challenges memory, coloniality, and the adopted name she was given.

Colorado Notes: Déwi (dae-wee) is a mixed-race Native Bornean and independent film director and editor based in Louisville.

“Dear Ely,”

Director: Chase McCleary

This first-person narrative follows a filmmaker piecing together 8mm home movie reels sourced from an estate sale in Colorado Springs to tell the real-life stories of the Leigh Family from Overland Park, Kansas.

Colorado Notes: Director Chase McCleary is based in Colorado Springs, where he found the reels for his film. He currently works as a journalist for Rocky Mountain PBS (RMPBS).

“Stone Dead”

Director: Freddie Gluck

Journey into the enigmatic world of Rex, a self-made sculptor based in Marble who engages in philosophical musings about mortality — verbalizing his abandonment of fear to headstones.

Colorado Notes: Rex, the film subject, lives in Marble, where the film is shot. Freddie Gluck is a Director/DP based out of Denver. He is recognized for his work on documentaries, commercials, and music videos. Freddie captures stories grounded in diverse human interaction and the genuine moments that reside in the space between. He has been acknowledged in the international festival space and has collaborated with brands such as Patagonia and Orvis.

Colorado Shorts: Narrative

“The Seagull (But Like, Not Chekhov)”

Director: Devon Wycoff

In this introspective comedy, an extreme lack of self-awareness prevents a patient from seeing why an obvious pattern is perpetuated in his life.

Colorado Notes: Filmmaker Devon Wycoff is based in Boulder. Her short “Portrait of a Cowboy” played DFF in 2023 and won DFF46 Short Film Audience Award.

“Heartless”

Director: Ann Allsopp

When a doctor declares her legally dead, a relationship therapist must ditch her practical nature to evade a coroner, crash her own funeral, and open up to her wife to find her missing heart.

Colorado Notes: Ann Allsopp is an award-winning writer, director, and producer based in Denver. As a filmmaker, she’s passionate about telling women-led stories that push the boundaries of genre. She completed the Writing/Directing program at Colorado Film School in 2023, and Heartless is her senior thesis project. Previous film “That Time of the Month” played DFF46.

“Kino Kopf”

Director: Jack Cosgriff

A forgotten sentient VHS camera reflects on their life, family, and place in the universe as they dreamily dance with an electric cowboy at the end of time.

Colorado Notes: Jack Cosgriff is an experimental filmmaker living in Prague, Czechia, studying at Prague Film School. He was born in Denver. His films are surrealist nightmares bending time, reality, and perception. Cosgriff crafts his films on 1980s VHS camcorders and edits using VCRs. He is known for the award-winning horror short film “The Flesh of Another.”

“The Lost Season”

Director: Kelly Sears

When a streaming company hires all available camera operators to film the final weeks of Earth’s final winter, the tables are turned in this experimental film about ecological exploitation and the commodification of labor.

Colorado Notes: Sears is an associate professor in the Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her previous short “Phase II” played DFF45.

“Procession”

Director: Bruce Tetsuya

June, a survivor of Japanese American incarceration camps, takes her first pilgrimage for her 70th birthday, to confront all her demons, shame, and fear — whether she wants to or not.

Colorado Notes: Director Bruce Tetsuya is based in Denver. This film touches on the Amache concentration camp for Japanese Americans in Prowers County. His previous shorts at DFF include: “There Is Light In Us,” 2023, writer/director; “Aria,” 2022, writer/director; “Drowning,” 2022, producer; and “Embers,” 2021, producer.

“The Storyteller”

Director: Allison Volk

Chase, an Iraq war veteran suffering from PTSD delights in working nights as a janitor at a car museum, thoughtfully dusting, vacuuming, and polishing with striking attention to detail. His solo reverie is broken when an innocent little boy, who thinks he’s called The Storyteller’s Hotline, asks Chase to tell him a story that launches them into the world of 1960s car racing.

Colorado Notes: Director Allison Volk is based in Broomfield. This film was shot at the Shelby American Collection in Boulder, a nonprofit museum dedicated to the preservation of Shelby racing history. It includes archival footage provided by the Shelby American Collection’s racing patrons.

Her previous short, “All Choked Up,” played at DFF46.

“Parker and the Green Dress”

Director: Kristen Wolf

A queer teen, torn between prom dreams and the fear of disappointing her grandmother, makes a chance encounter with an elderly woman who harbors her own hidden truth. Together they confront the secrets that shape their lives in a journey of mutual discovery.

Colorado Notes: Kristen Wolf is a local filmmaker whose previous short “Sparkle” played at DFF46.

“Black Metal”

Director: Michael Hyon Johnson

A Black teen is determined to make it as a heavy metal artist in defiance of his failed jazz musician father.

Colorado Notes: Film set and shot in Colorado: “Black Metal tackles a coming-of-age story of an African-American pre-teen and his desire to perform as a metal musician in a conservative Colorado town. Director Michael Hyon Johnson is a half Black, half South Korean writer and director who has produced award winning narrative short films, music videos, and branded content. Born in Camp Pendleton, San Diego, he comes from a family of veterans and enlisted into the Air Force following the September 11th attacks. Hyon Johnson’s work is heavily influenced by his experiences growing up in Colorado and his time in the military. He earned a Bachelor of Art’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado and MFA from Chapman University.

“Renegades,” presented by SeriesFest

SeriesFest is dedicated to championing artists at the forefront of episodic storytelling and connecting a worldwide community of creators. In alignment with this mission, we are excited to present a special screening of two episodes from the PBS’ docuseries “Renegades,” which showcases the lives of historical figures with disabilities and how their contributions have impacted our society today.

“Daniel K. Inouye: Life of Service”

Director: TS Botkin

“Renegades” explores the story of Daniel K. Inouye (1924-2012), the U.S. Senator for Hawai’i who was injured in battle during World War II, resulting in the amputation of his right arm. Posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his lifelong public service, Inouye championed the cause of justice and equality for all Americans, including people living with disabilities.

“Brad Lomax: Creating Communities of Care”

Director: Markus Essien

“Renegades” explores the story of Brad Lomax (1950-1984), a Black Panther Party member and founder of the East Oakland Center for Independent Living, who had multiple sclerosis and used a wheelchair. Explore Lomax’s under-reported contributions to the early disability justice movement, which laid the groundwork for the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

Colorado Notes: Director of “Daniel” episode, TS Botkin, is based in Denver and is a former Women in Film and Media Colorado board member. Her documentary “A Long March” played at DFF45.

The DFF47 Colorado Spotlight Section is presented by Mary Watson, The Virginia W. Hill Foundation and Colorado Public Radio.

DFF47 ticket packs and passes are on sale at www.denverfilm.org/. Tickets to individual screenings, Special Presentations, Gala Presentations (Special Presentation with reception and/or special guest), Ellie Red Carpet Presentations, panels and parties are on sale.

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Denver Film announces Colorado Spotlight selections for 47th Denver Film Festival

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