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Film, TV and Streaming

Everybody’s in showbiz

Local filmmakers among 80+ entries for 2014 Durango Film
Courtesy of Durango Film

It might be the most cumbersome moniker for any annual event anywhere, but Durango Film: An Independent Film Festival is the ninth yearly local showcase of regional, national and international independent film – whatever you choose to call it.

After several years away, films will return to the Animas City Theatre, formerly the Abbey, beginning Thursday. Both screens at the Gaslight Cinema will be dedicated to the festival, starting with Wednesday’s traditional Free Movie Night (sponsored by The Durango Herald). The total of 86 films is about 20 fewer from the previous several years, but in the opinion of at least one writer, that makes for a much better organized and attainable festival.

The films are a mix of features, documentaries, shorts (in several different categories), Native American and Adventure Sports offerings. Also on the slate are several special events, including a day of panels and workshops Saturday at the Durango Arts Center. Hollywood stars Wes Studi and Judge Reinhold are this year’s guests of honor. Studi’s film “The Only Good Indian” is one of the festival’s feature selections, and the star of “Geronimo,” “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Dances with Wolves” also will appear Thursday night at Sorrel Sky Gallery for the Native American Film reception. He will be a guest panelist Saturday morning for the “Lying to Tell the Truth” panel, as well.

Reinhold, who starred in several blockbusters including all three “Beverly Hills Cop” films, will speak before and after a special Friday night screening of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” the iconic 1980s comedy in which he played Brad Hamilton. He’ll also appear Thursday at the Durango Arts Center for a special screening of “Enid is Sleeping.”

This year’s festival includes several local and regional filmmakers, as well. Durango’s Shan Wells’ 9-minute short “Fortifact: Weminuche Travelogue” will show Saturday and Sunday, and Rich Fletcher’s 15-minute “Journey to the Sky” will show Thursday and Sunday. Cortez filmmaker Russell Martin, of “Two Spirits” fame, will debut “Beautiful Faces” Saturday and Sunday. And Telluride residents Suzan Beraza and Scott Ransom entered “Uranium Drive-In” – a review of which will appear in Thursday’s Good Earth section of the Herald – and “Railyard/Nightwatch,” a documentary on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, respectively.

ted@durangoherald.com

If you go

Pass sales for Durango Film: An Independent Film Festival are available at the box office and will call inside the Durango Welcome Center at 802 Main Ave.

Passes can be purchased before the festival or during the festival itself and include an All Festival Pass, All Film Pass, 10-Punch Pass and 6-Punch Pass. Individual Tickets are $12 at the door. Complete schedules and ticket information is available online at durangofilm.org or by picking up a festival program.

More information, including the full schedule, is available at www.durangofilm.org.

Special Guest Appearances

Wes Studi will appear from 5-9 p.m. Thursday at Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave., for the Native American Film reception during Gallery Night. He’ll also appear at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., for the “Lying to Tell the Truth Panel” and will host a Q&A session following the screening of his film, “The Only Good Indian,” at noon Saturday at the Gaslight Cinema.

Judge Reinhold will speak at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Durango Arts Center for a special film presentation of “Enid is Sleeping” (individual tickets available at the venue) as will as at 9 p.m. Friday at the Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, for a Q&E session following a special screening of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

Feb 24, 2014
Local filmmaker finds beauty in all


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