History Colorado Presents: Reel to Real

 
History Colorado and Denver Film have joined forces to present Reel to Real, a four-week series that brings to life Colorado’s history, culture, and communities through film. After each screening, held at the Sie FilmCenter, History Colorado curators, and other experts, will lead a discussion covering the film’s historical context, impact, and thematic connection to the state.
Our film program strives to bridge the themes found in each film, including mining, Chicano arts, Colorado lore, and environmentalism, with the relevant themes present in our state, despite the majority of the films not being set in Colorado.
Event Details:
All screenings will take place at 6:30 pm.
Event Location: Sie FilmCenter
2024 Tickets on Sale soon!

Event Schedule:

THE PRESTIGE

🗓️: August 6th | 6:30pm

Followed by a post-film discussion.

About the Film: Two rival magicians, partners until the tragic death of an assistant during a show, feud bitterly after one of them performs the ultimate magic trick – teleportation. His rival tries desperately to uncover the secret of his routine, experimenting with dangerous new science as his quest takes him to the brink of insanity and jeopardizes the lives of everyone around the pair.


THE FAREWELL

🗓️: August 13th | 6:30pm

Followed by a post-film discussion.

In this funny, uplifting tale based on an actual lie, Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai (grandma), has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there’s a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother’s wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken.


BLACKKKLANSMAN

🗓️: August 20th | 6:30pm

Followed by a post-film discussion.

Ron Stallworth is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman, into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.


THE SHINING

🗓️: August 27th | 6:30pm

Followed by a post-film discussion.

About the Film: Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer’s block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), who is plagued by psychic premonitions. As Jack’s writing goes nowhere and Danny’s visions become more disturbing, Jack discovers the hotel’s dark secrets and begins to unravel into a homicidal maniac hell-bent on terrorizing his family.


 

Denver Film