News in 2010

ACTOR ELLIOTT GOULD TO RECEIVE 2010 CASSAVETES AWARD AT 33rd STARZ DENVER FILM FESTIVAL

11/1/2010
2010 Starz Denver Film Festival

The Starz Denver Film Festival (SDFF) has announced that actor Elliott Gould will be honored with the John Cassavetes Award on Saturday, November 6 at 3:30pm at the Starz FilmCenter.

The John Cassavetes Award was established in 1989 in collaboration with Gena Rowlands, his widow. It is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the world of filmmaking and whose work reflects the spirit of the late John Cassavetes. The first recipient of this award was Steven Soderbergh and recent recipients include Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, William H. Macy, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman and J.K. Simmons.

"Elliott was an obvious choice as the recipient of this year’s Cassavetes Award and we’re honored to recognize him," said SDFF Director, Britta Erickson. "With a style so reminiscent of Cassavetes, his work is unrivaled and free-spirited, and he is truly an inspirational artist."

Gould’s acting career has spanned the past 40 years, with his most notable work in films that include, M*A*S*H, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, as well as his more recent role in the Ocean’s Eleven series. His oeuvre also includes a landmark series of classics with late auteur Robert Altman, including The Long Goodbye, California Split, and Nashville. Additionally, Gould has worked with directors as diverse as Paul Mazursky (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor; Richard Rush (Getting Straight), Ingmar Bergman (The Touch), Alan Arkin (Little Murders), Richard Attenborough ( A Bridge Too Far), Charles Burnett (The Glass Shield), and Noah Baumbach (Kicking and Screaming ). A new generation of moviegoers has discovered Gould in the Ocean’s Eleven series, directed by Steven Soderbergh -- recipient of the first Cassavetes Award in 1989.

In addition to being presented with the Cassavetes Award, film critic and SDFF panel moderator Robert Denerstein will go one on one with Gould for a breakfast program sponsored by SAG at Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge (930 Lincoln Street) at 10:30am on Saturday, November 6. Attendees will have a rare opportunity to spend the morning with one of the most famous and unconventional actors ever to attain movie stardom. During the program, Gould will discuss the process of making movies, his thoughts about the future of indie filmmaking and his experience working on his newest film, Morning.

Tickets for the program One on One with Elliott Gould are available for $20 to SAG members in good standing, $25 for DFS members and $30 for the general public. To purchase tickets to the program, visit http://www.denverfilm.org/festival.

AARON ECKHART TO RECEIVE 2010 EXCELLENCE IN ACTING AWARD AT 33rd STARZ DENVER FILM FESTIVAL

-- The Starz Denver Film Festival (SDFF) has announced that actor Aaron Eckhart will be honored with the Excellence in Acting Award following the Opening Night screening of Rabbit Hole on Wednesday, November 3.

In addition, Lisa Kennedy, film critic for The Denver Post, will host a conversation with Aaron Eckhart and Rabbit Hole director, John Cameron Mitchell, immediately following the award presentation.

"We are pleased to present the very talented Aaron Eckhart with the 2010 Excellence in Acting Award,” said Britta Erickson, Festival Director for SDFF. "Having initiated his career with such a multi-faceted collection of work, he seems to have the inherent ability to personify an extreme range of characters and we are thrilled he’ll be joining us for the Festival this year.”

An actor known for having played an eclectic collection of roles, Eckhart first gained recognition for his role in Steven Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich. He later became widely recognized for his roles in Thank You for Smoking and The Dark Knight. Alongside co-star Nicole Kidman, he is most recently seen in Rabbit Hole, which will screen during SDFF33.

Tickets to the Opening Night event range are available for $85 for the general public and $80 for DFS members, which includes admission to the screening of Rabbit Hole, the award presentation, conversation with Eckhart and film director, John Cameron Mitchell, as well entry to the reception to follow. To purchase tickets to the program, visit http://www.denverfilm.org/festival.

DIRECTOR DANNY BOYLE TO RECEIVE 2010 MAYOR’S CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT 33rd STARZ DENVER FILM FESTIVAL

--The Starz Denver Film Festival (SDFF) has announced that director Danny Boyle will be honored with the 2010 Mayor’s Career Achievement Award following a clips program highlighting his distinguished career and an onstage discussion with Lisa Kennedy, film critic for The Denver Post, at 1pm on Saturday, November 6 at the Denver FilmCenter/Colfax.

An Academy Award winner, Boyle has been noted as the director responsible for the revitalization of filmmaking in London. His most recent film, 127 Hours, will screen during Big Night at 8pm on Friday, November 5 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

"We are honored to present the 2010 Mayor's Career Achievement Award to the inimitable Danny Boyle," said Britta Erickson, SDFF Director. "Throughout his career, he has shown such talent for creating exceptional work, and we are awed by his finesse for combining a raw and often-dark style with a sense of pure poignancy in the films he directs.”

After apprenticeships with the Royal Court Theater, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the BBC, Boyle directed his feature debut in 1994—the blackly hip thriller Shallow Grave, in which a trio of yuppies discover a bag of cash and dismember the body of its owner. Two years later he made Trainspotting, about a corrosive group of Edinburgh junkies and memorable losers with names like Sick Boy, Begbie and Spud. The two films helped revitalize filmmaking across the pond. In 2009, Boyle's feel-good hit Slumdog Millionaire swept the Oscars, earning him his first Academy Award as best director.

In 28 Days Later (2002), a postapocalyptic thriller inhabited by fleet-footed zombies; Millions (2004), a charmer about a pair of bewildered young brothers who stumble on a windfall and have to spend it in a hurry; and The Beach (2000), a harrowing quest for paradise on earth, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tilda Swinton, Boyle infused energy that expressed his desire to create something unusual and different. This expression is also infused in his latest film, 127 Hours; based on a true story, it chronicles a five-day fight for life by a mountaineer whose arm is pinned by a boulder to a canyon wall in Utah.

Advance tickets for the program, An Afternoon With Danny Boyle, which will follow with the presentation of the 2010 Mayor’s Career Achievement Award are sold out. Tickets to the Big Night screening of his film, 127 Hours, are available for $50 for DFS members and $55 for the general public. To purchase tickets, visit http://www.denverfilm.org/festival.

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