Salida Film Festival will showcase curated features, Colorado shorts and industry conversations SALIDA, CO (May 2, 2022) - Today, Arts & Culture Salida announced its dates and full program for their inaugural Salida Film Festival, scheduled for May 12-15, 2022 at the SteamPlant Event Center.
The City of Salida’s first event of its kind, Salida Film Festival will offer a four-day program with new features including A24’s C’MON C’MON (the festival’s opening night film starring Joaquin Phoenix) and FIDDLER’S JOURNEY TO THE BIG SCREEN (narrated by Jeff Goldblum), as well as documentary programs with short films from notable Colorado creators including Ben Knight (Salida, CO), whose film LEARNING TO DROWN recently took home the Audience Award at the 5Point Adventure Film Festival in Carbondale, Colorado.
In addition to film programming, Salida Film Festival has slated a behind-the-scenes table read of an upcoming Salida-based romantic comedy, an event celebrating filmmakers from Salida and the surrounding area, a free movement class with dancer and filmmaker Alexandra Lockhart, and a conversation with SeriesFest co-Founder and CEO Randi Kleiner and Film/TV Producer Britta Erickson to discuss the evolving landscape of television and the incredible opportunities and challenges existing in media today.
“To program and produce this multi-day festival is something that we have wanted to do for some time now,” says City of Salida Arts & Culture Supervisor and Director of Salida Film Festival Patrick O’Brien. “While audiences today have different options to view films, we felt it important to do an in-person festival where the films are connectors for a shared, community experience.”
O’Brien leads programming and events at the Salida SteamPlant Event Center in the heart of the Salida Creative District. He has introduced a number of film series to the City of Salida and was tapped to direct efforts for a multi-day film festival after receiving a Blueprint 2.0 grant from the Colorado Office of Film Television and Media. Previously, O’Brien was part of the executive team at Denver Film Society, where he led development efforts to support and expand programs for Denver Film Festival and several other annual mini festivals.
“The films being presented highlight a range of character-driven and topical stories, some serious in tone and subject matter but others providing inspiration and levity. The program unfolded in a way that it embodies this year’s festival tagline ‘See. Feel. Live.’” 4-Day Passes are only $80 and AVAILABLE NOW at the Salida SteamPlant Box Office. Festival Passes provide access to all film programs, conversations and events. Individual tickets are also available for only $12 per program with the Special Presentation “Celebrate Local Cinema” available at only $9 admission.
FEATURE FILMS
C’MON C’MON Director: Mike Mills 7:30pm - Thursday, May 12th Radio host Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) is busy going around the country interviewing young people about their lives, dreams, and fears when he receives a call from his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman). She asks him to temporarily take care of her son Jesse, as her husband has just suffered a mental breakdown. Johnny agrees and immediately heads to Los Angeles. Though the relationship of the uncle and nephew is strained at first, the two grow closer as they spend time together. Film is Rated R.
CHARLOTTE Directors: Eric Warin, Tahir Rana 7:30pm - Friday, May 13th An animated drama that tells the true story of Charlotte Salomon (voiced by Keira Knightley), a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Later, while living the in the south of France, her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only the extraordinary will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.
STANLEYVILLE Director: Maxwell McCabe-Lokos 9:45pm - Friday, May 13th Prim and proper Maria Barbizan unceremoniously walks away from her boring job, her inept husband, and her obnoxious daughter. Moments later, she is swept up in a bizarre contest alongside a handful of idiosyncratic characters, all competing for the chance to win true enlightenment…and one slightly used habanero-orange compact sport utility vehicle.
PAPER & GLUE Director: JR 7:00pm - Saturday, May 14th * Cinema Celebration and DJ set immediately following the screening in the Ballroom In PAPER & GLUE, JR turns the camera on his own work as he builds some of his most monumental projects. From early illicit graffiti videos captured on Paris rooftops at night, to the US-Mexico border, to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, to a current collaboration at a California supermax prison, the film follows the director as he turns these communities inside out, turning images of residents into eye-catching and immersive art installations. PAPER & GLUE follows the Oscar-nominated FACE PLACES, which was directed by JR along with Agnès Varda.
FIDDLER’S JOURNEY TO THE BIG SCREEN Director: Daniel Raim 5:15pm - Sunday, May 15th A richly detailed examination of the nuts and bolts of moviemaking, this fiftieth anniversary celebration of Norman Jewison’s “Fiddler on the Roof,” narrated by Jeff Goldblum, shows how the beloved musical made its triumphant, hazardous journey to the screen. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Daniel Raim puts us in the director’s chair and in Jewison’s heart and mind, drawing on rare behind-the-scenes footage, original storyboards, and never-before-seen stills as well as original interviews with Jewison, Topol (Tevye), and the actors that portrayed Tevye’s daughters. The film explores how the experience of making Fiddler deepens Jewison as an artist and revives his soul.
SEE MORE THAN… DOCUMENTARY SHORTS Take a journey with the SEE MORE THAN… shorts programs - a series of stories, topics and themes that can at once appear familiar yet alien depending on your perspective and lived experiences.
SEE MORE THAN… Shorts Program #1 3:00pm - Saturday, May 14th * includes filmmaker Q&A BREAKING TRAIL (Dir. Jesse Roesler; USA; 30 min) CHILDREN WILL LEAD THE WAY (Dir. Beth Gage, George Gage; USA; 5 min) HUMAN (Dir. Erin Brown Thomas; USA; 4 min) LEARNING TO DROWN (Dir. Ben Knight; USA; 40 min) STORIES WITHIN (Dir. PJ Raval; USA; 10 min)
SEE MORE THAN… Shorts Program #2 2:00pm - Sunday, May 15th * includes filmmaker Q&A DURANGO 550 (Dir. Nathan Ward; USA; 27 min) FOLLOW THE FLOW (Dir. Alexandra Lockhart; USA; 13 min) NATIVE HORSES (Dir. Julie Jackson; USA; 28 min) SILT (Dir. Emilie Upczak; USA; 10 min)
SPECIAL PRESENTATION Celebrate Local Cinema 5:00pm - Friday, May 13th @ SteamPlant Theater A special event not to be missed with some of the talented filmmakers that call Salida and the surrounding region home. Moderated by Leslie Matthews, each participating filmmaker will present a short clip of a current or recently completed project and share their motivations, process, challenges and more.
EXTRA FRAMES Extra Frames is an offering of panels, discussions, workshops and more that take place over the festival weekend. Become inspired, entertained and “centered” with special engagements by filmmakers and guests. Open to the public.
Behind the Scenes Table Read 11:00am - Saturday, May 14 @ SteamPlant Ballroom Experience an original TV pilot script written by local filmmaker Julie Jackson and writer Amy Turner, inspired by the culture and community of Salida. Participate in the development of this up-and-coming TV Series. Title TBD. Storyline: While trying to secure her international corporate position, a sporting goods heiress falls for a rough and tumble sales rep and outdoor adventurer, in rural Colorado.
Flow Movement Class 10:30am - Sunday, May 15 (Location TBA) An open-level dance class with dancer and filmmaker Alexandra Lockhart based around utilizing your body to understand and move creatively through the natural landscape using improvisational techniques Lockhart used during her creative process for her film FOLLOW THE FLOW.
Independent Look with SeriesFest 11:30am - Sunday, May 15 @ SteamPlant Theater SeriesFest is a non-profit organization dedicated to championing artists at the forefront of episodic storytelling, culminating in a highly celebrated Denver-based festival. We are thrilled to present three exciting and diverse independent pilots from the recent SeriesFest: Season 8 Competition slate. Following the screening, we will host a special conversation with SeriesFest co-Founder and CEO, Randi Kleiner and Film/TV Producer, Britta Erickson, to discuss the evolving landscape of TV and the incredible opportunities and challenges existing in Media today.