FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Denver Film Festival Media Contacts:
Marty Schechter, marty@denverfilm.org
Jon Ewing, jon@denverfilm.org
Anna Duggan annaduggan@denverfilm.org
Anthony Chen, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Janie Geiser, and the creative team behind Spider-Man™: Across the Spider-Verse to receive awards
Donald Mowat crafts masterclass, and Larry Wilmore live podcast highlight program additions
DENVER – Denver Film announced today an expanded list of award recipients, special guests, podcasts, and immersive experiences, as well as the in-competition lineup of films and jurors attending this year’s Denver Film Festival, taking place Nov. 3-12 at locations across the metro area. In addition, the Festival will, for the first time, award a team of industry professionals with its inaugural Denver Film Festival 5280 Award.
Highlighting the growing award honoree and guest list are Director Anthony Chen; Director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite; Artist and Filmmaker Janie Geiser, as well as Emmy Award®-winning producer, actor, comedian, writer Larry Wilmore, and Academy Award-nominated makeup artist Donald Mowat.
Additionally, the Festival will, for the first time in its 46-year history, pay tribute to a filmmaking team with the Denver Film Festival 5280 Award. The inaugural 5280 Award, honoring exceptional cinematic work and collaboration to achieve new heights, will recognize the creative team of filmmakers, writers, and producers from Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures’ SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE including writers and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Executive Producer Bob Persichetti, Producer Christina Steinberg, and Senior Animation Supervisor Humberto Rosa. The team will be honored following a special screening of the film on Nov. 7, at 5:30 p.m. at the AMC 9+CO 10.
Anthony Chen, a writer and director from Singapore best known for Ilo Ilo (2013), Wet Season (2019) and Ah ma (2007), will receive the Denver Film Festival Excellence in Directing Award and participate in a moderated discussion following the screening of THE BREAKING ICE on Nov. 4, at 4:45 p.m. at the AMC CO 9+10. Chen is also the director of DRIFT, a Festival selection that will screen on Nov. 7 and 8.
Gabriela Cowperthwaite will receive the Denver Film Festival Barbara Bridges Inspiration Award, an honor bestowed upon a female-identifying entertainment industry leader, following the Closing Night screening of I.S.S., the high-stakes thriller set entirely in the confines of the International Space Station (ISS), Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m. at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science Infinity Theater. Previous Inspiration Award honorees include, Rita Moreno, Abigail Disney and Donna Dewey.
Janie Geiser, a multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes cinema, performance, and installation, will receive the Stan Brakhage Vision Award, following the presentation of her DOUBLE VISION program Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. at the AMC CO 9+10. The Brakhage Award is presented to a filmmaker whose work pushes the limits in avant-garde and experimental filmmaking. Geiser’s work is known for its recontextualization of abandoned images and objects, its embrace of artifice, and its investigation of memory, power and loss. Past awardees include Barbara Hammer, Robert Beavers, Saul Levine, James Benning, Stacey Steers, Phil Solomon, and Amos Vogel.
Additional In-Person Guests and Special Events
Additions to the Festival lineup include Emmy Award® winner Larry Wilmore (The Daily Show; The Bernie Mac Show) who will produce a live recording of his podcast, Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air, Nov. 10 at 10 a.m. at the The Jacquard Hotel in Cherry Creek. Wilmore is an accomplished television producer, actor, comedian, and writer with nearly 25 years of experience on the airwaves. Black on the Air focuses on the week’s issues, featuring guests in politics, entertainment, culture, sports, and beyond. Wilmore comes to Denver Film Festival as part of a loaded cast of DFF46 judges for this year’s films in competition.
Also joining the DFF46 lineup is Oscar®-nominated, nationally-acclaimed makeup artist Donald Mowat (DUNE, BLADE RUNNER 2049, SICARIO, and PRISONERS) for a conversation highlighting his illustrious, 40-plus-year career and the magic of hair and makeup on the big screen, Nov. 9 at 10 a.m. at The Jacquard in Cherry Creek.
“We’re excited to expand our recognition of many of the industry’s top talents with the addition of our 5280 Award and to welcome this group of honorees and in-person guests to our Festival,” said Denver Film Festival Artistic Director Matthew Campbell.
“The awards, conversations, masterclass and podcasts allow us to share the diversity of work and talents representing all aspects of the filmmaking industry and share those unique, on-screen and behind-the-scenes perspectives with our Denver audiences.”
Italian Filmmaker Award:
This year’s Maria and Tommaso Maglione Italian Filmmaker Award will be presented to writer, director Carolina Cavalli. Her debut feature film, AMANDA, premiered at the 79th Venice Film Festival in September 2022 and at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). She is the winner of the 2018 Premio Solinas Grant for TV Series. In 2018 she was the recipient of the SFFILM/ Rainin Filmmaking Development Grant for the feature film FREMONT (directed by Babak Jalali) which premiered in Sundance 2023.
Each year, the Italian Filmmaker Award recipient is honored at the Denver Film Festival and receives an honorarium of $10,000 made possible through a generous endowment from the Anna & John J. Sie Foundation. The award is named in honor of the late Anna Sie’s parents, Maria and Tommaso Maglione.
DFF46 FILMS IN-COMPETITION
Featuring films from across the world, this year’s selection of in-competition films boasts works from well-known auteurs and newcomers alike. These films are screened and judged by a panel of industry professionals and entertainment industry media.
As impressive as the films selected for the competition is the group of in-person jurors selected to screen them. Actors Tawny Cypress (Yellowjackets) and Maxwell Whittington-Cooper (Rustin), podcaster and comedian Larry Wilmore (Black on the Air, The Daily Show), Oscar-nominated makeup artist Donald Mowat, producer Bronte Payne (Barbie, Saltburn) and festival director Lisa Dreyer (Fantastic Fest) are joined on the jury by writers and editors Brooke Marine (The Cut, NY Mag), Richard Lawson (Vanity Fair), Daniel Daddario (Variety), Lawrence Yee (TheWrap), and Valerie Complex (Deadline).
“We’re excited to welcome a star-studded, award-winning cast of actors, producers, directors, press and industry pros to Denver as they will cast their votes on an amazing lineup of films in our juried competition categories,” said Denver Film CEO Kevin Smith.
Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature Film – Finalists
In its early years, the Denver Film Festival gained a reputation within the international film community for showcasing, on a regular basis, new Eastern European films. Krzysztof Kieslowski appeared in 1989 for a major tribute and was a guest again in 1994. The director died in 1996 at the age of 55. The following year, Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature, presented to a feature-length film that reflects the artistic sensibilities of the late Polish director, was established the next year under the auspices of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland and in collaboration with the widow of the late director.
Banel & Adama (France, Senegal, Mali) – directed by Ramata-Toulaye Sy
Blaga’s Lessons (Bulgaria, Germany) – directed by Stephan Komandarev
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Romania, Luxembourg, France, Croatia) – directed by Radu Jude
Evil Does Not Exist (Japan) – directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
The Shadowless Tower (China) – directed by Zhang Lu
Tótem (Mexico, Denmark, France) – directed by Lila Avilés
Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature Film – Judges
Lisa Dreyer:
Lisa Dreyer is a film fanatic based in Austin, Texas. She is the Director of Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest, the largest genre festival in the United States, and also is an acquisitions consultant for Drafthouse Films.
Richard Lawson:
Richard Lawson is the chief critic at Vanity Fair. He is a host of the “Little Gold Men” and “Still Watching” podcasts, and is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. His novel, All We Can Do Is Wait, was published by Penguin Random House in 2018.
Valerie Complex:
Valerie joined Deadline in September 2021 from Gizmodo’s genre news site io9 and a freelance writing career that includes bylines at Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Collider, Conde Nast, Harper’s Bazaar and many others. A writer of graphic novels and screenplays and a lover of all things film, she is part of Deadline’s reviews team and is co-host of Deadline’s “New Hollywood” podcast, where she will continue to amplify voices from marginalized communities.
Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary – Finalists
In the early 1960s, two brothers started a revolution in documentary filmmaking. Albert and his late brother David pioneered the method called direct cinema. Hand-held cameras and lightweight sound equipment made possible an immediacy and spontaneity that led to an entirely new way of making films uniquely suited to non-fiction subjects. The Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary is presented to a filmmaker who best represents the truth and purity of documentary filmmaking as established by the Maysles Brothers.
Caterpillar (USA) – directed by Liza Mandelup
Four Daughters (France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia) – directed by Kaouther Ben Hania
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (USA) – directed by Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson
In the Rearview (Poland, Ukraine, France) – directed by Maciek Hamela
Motherland (Sweden, Ukraine, Norway) – directed by Alexander Mihalkovich, Hanna Badziaka
Songs of Earth (Norway) – directed by Margreth Olin
Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary – Judges
Brooke Marine:
Brooke Marine is a writer and editor based in New York. She is the deputy editor of the Culture section for the Cut at New York Magazine, where she oversees coverage of films, television, art, books, music and celebrity. She was previously the culture editor of W Magazine, where she worked across digital and print to report and edit features on award-winning filmmakers and showrunners, Hollywood’s next generation of performers, art world power players, and launched the magazine’s annual TV portfolio.
Daniel Daddario:
Daniel D’Addario is chief correspondent at Variety, covering film, television, and notable figures in the entertainment industry. He has recently written cover stories on Jennifer Coolidge, Ana de Armas, and Sydney Sweeney, and is the recipient of prizes for profile writing and political commentary from the Los Angeles Press Club.
Larry Wilmore:
Emmy Award winner Larry Wilmore has been a television producer, actor, comedian, and writer for more than 25 years. He can currently be heard as host of “Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air” on The Ringer Podcast Network. He also serves as executive producer alongside Kerry Washington, in the Hulu legal drama “Reasonable Doubt” for Hulu’s Onyx Collective, which was recently renewed for a second season. Larry is currently in development on the comedy series “Lately” for ABC, a behind-the-scenes look at the upstairs-downstairs dynamics of the people who work at a late-night talk show.
American Independent Competition – Finalists
This award is presented annually to a domestic narrative feature that boldly steps outside of the studio system to offer unique stories in an unconstrained spirit.
Cypher (USA) – directed by Chris Moukarbel
The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed (USA) – directed by Joanna Arnow
Molli and Max in The Future (USA) – directed by Michael Lukk Litwak
Parachute (USA) – directed by Brittany Snow
Smoking Tigers (USA) – directed by Shelly Yo
The Sweet East (USA) – directed by Sean Price Williams
American Independent Competition – Judges
Maxwell Whittington Cooper:
Whittington Cooper will next be seen as a young John Lewis in George C. Wolfe’s film Rustin for Netflix and Higher Ground opposite Colman Domingo, Chris Rock and Jeffrey Wright. Additional film credits include: Stay Wake, Human Capital, The Photograph. Cooper is a graduate of Harvard University and currently resides in New York City.
Tawny Cypress:
Tawny Cypress is a prolific actor whose work can be seen in numerous series regular roles, including “Billions”, “The Blacklist”, “Lincoln”, “House of Cards”, “Supergirl” and “Rescue Me,” among others. Currently, Cypress stars in the Emmy-nominated Showtime series “Yellowjackets” as Taissa. Tawny was born and raised in New Jersey and lives in Denver, Colorado with her family.
Bronte Payne:
As the Vice President of Film at LuckyChap, Bronte shepherds new projects and filmmakers while managing multiple LuckyChap projects in various stages of development. Most recently, Payne served as a Co-Producer on Emerald Fennell’s highly anticipated feature film “Saltburn” for Amazon. Additionally, she served as an Associate Producer on “Boston Strangler,” and Executive Producer on “My Old Ass”, Megan Park’s follow up to “The Fallout.”
Featured Shorts –
The shorts lineup includes a wide range of offerings from across the globe. The shorts jury will screen and award a Grand Jury Prize for Best Short, as well as for Best Student Domestic Short and Best International Short.
Shorts – Judges
Donald Mowat:
Donald Mowat has served as make-up department head and designer on such films as Dune, The Fighter, 8 Mile, Sicario, Nightcrawler, Prisoners, Nocturnal Animals, Stronger, Blade Runner 2049, and as personal make-up artist to Daniel Craig on Skyfall and Spectre. Donald has received numerous awards and recognition for his make-up work, including Oscar, BAFTA, Saturn, and MUAHS Award nominations for his work on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021) and Blade Runner 2049 (2018)
Lawrence Yee:
Emmy- and Webby- award winning journalist Lawrence Yee is currently deputy editor at TheWrap. He was previously deputy editor at Variety and editor in chief at Fandom. His areas of expertise include unscripted television and on-screen diversity.
Sonaiya Kelley:
Sonaiya Kelley is a features and entertainment reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Prior to joining the features team, she spent nearly seven years on the Calendar side, writing about film and the intersection of Black Hollywood. The Bronx, N.Y., native has previously contributed to Essence, Allure and Keyframe Magazine.
IMMERSIVE PROGRAMMING
Audiences are also invited to the DFF46 immersive experiences offered Nov. 9-11. These programs are presented with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
40 Watts From Nowhere
40 Watts From Nowhere puts you in the shoes of 90s counterculture icon Sue Carpenter who found herself leading a double life: magazine writer by day, pirate radio host by night. With her illegal station KBLT, Sue captured the attention of misfit music lovers from every walk of life…and the authorities.
Casting
Casting invites a small audience of up to 12 participants to see whether they have the star power it takes to book the big gig. Absurd and poignant, Casting is an intimate, immersive experience that invites attendees to explore the choices we make when we want to stand out and those we make when we want to connect. The experience combines theater, dance, and interactive sound and video design. Group rates available by contacting: russel@denverfilm.org.
Additional information and tickets for DFF46 Immersive programming available here.
The complete schedule of films, as well as tickets to individual screenings, Special Presentations, Red Carpets, and events are on sale at https://www.denverfilm.org/denverfilmfestival/
The Press Accreditation application process for the 46th Denver Film Festival (DFF46) will remain open until Oct. 27. Guidelines to be considered for Accreditation can be found on the DFF46 website.
2023 Denver Film Festival Sponsors:
MARQUEE: Anna and John J. Sie Foundation, AOR, Jacquard Hotel, Liberty Global, Moye White, Pinemelon, Sheila K. O’Brien, University of Denver – Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures, William LaBahn, and Xfinity
SPOTLIGHT: Butler Rents, Caz Matthews, Clayton Hotel & Members Club, Colorado Party Rentals, RNDC, Serendipity Catering, SeriesFest, and Wana Brands and Wana Brands Foundation
STUDIO: American Airlines, Meow Wolf, and The Family Jones
CAMEO: BAIRD The Palm Group, Crested Butte Film Festival, Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Isarti Travel, Mary Watson, Susan Capitelli, Taloma Partners, Ratio Beerworks, United Airlines and Underwood
PARTNERS: Black Pride Colorado, Denver Arts & Venues, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver Project for Humanistic Inquiry, Colorado Dragon Boat, Harmonic Media, Pearl Street Marketing, Ken’s Prints and Graphics, YellowDog, Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, The Color of Conversation, Sap Sua, Cherry Creek North, and Denver Office of Storytelling
GOVERNMENT & FOUNDATIONS:Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Colorado Creative Industries, Colorado Office of Film and Television, NEA Media Arts, SCFD, Canadian Consulate, Instituto Italiano di Cultura, and Consulto Generale of Italia Chicago
FILM: Ballard Spahr, CFVA,The Center for African American Health, Colorado Environmental Film Festival, Datura Home, GHP Investment Advisors Inc., Gloria Campbell and John Verwys, MSterious Miracles, SAGindie, Aer Lingus, and Visit Denver
MEDIA: Axios Denver, CBS Colorado, Colorado Public Radio, Denver Gazette, Rocky Mountain Public Media, Wetsword, 5280 Magazine, and KBCO
About Denver Film
Founded in 1978, Denver Film is a membership-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural institution that produces film events throughout the year, including the award-winning Denver Film Festival and the popular, summertime series Film on the Rocks. With a vision to cultivate community and transform lives through film, Denver Film provides opportunities for diverse audiences to discover film through creative, thought-provoking experiences.
The permanent home of Denver Film, the Sie FilmCenter is Denver’s only year-round cinematheque, presenting a weekly-changing calendar of first-run exclusives and arthouse revivals both domestic and foreign, narrative and documentary – over 600 per year, all shown in their original language and format. Denver Film’s one-of-a-kind programs annually reach more than 200,000 film lovers and film lovers-in-training.
Media Contacts:
Marty Schechter, marty@denverfilm.org
Jon Ewing, jon@denverfilm.org
Anna Duggan annaduggan@denverfilm.org
