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“With so many film festivals that are run around the country and so few documentary film festivals, I felt strongly that there should be a documentary festival here in Colorado that can hopefully become the preeminent documentary festival in the West,” says Wade Gardner, artistic director of the inaugural DocuWest.
Clearly, DocuWest has lofty ambitions, but for a first-year festival, it’s looking pretty good so far. “I anticipated receiving approximately a hundred submissions,” Gardner says. “We wound up with over 250 films. What blew me away was the number of high-quality feature films that I was able to choose from. In hindsight, I really wish we had more days scheduled.” It’s a good problem to have. From those submissions, Gardner selected 37 films, from feature-length to shorts, that will screen today through Sunday.
Tonight’s events include an opening reception, a screening of the noteworthy Kimjongilia, and a celebratory party at the Golden Hotel, 800 11th Street in Golden. The rest of the programming will include everything from “spirituality to science, war to peace, music to art, and a lot of films that really take a look at those who have overcome great odds,” Gardner says. “I think this is a great opportunity for people in Colorado to see films that truly will not be shown anywhere else.”
Screenings will take place at Foothills Art Center, 809 15th Street, and the American Mountaineering Center, 710 10th Street, both in downtown Golden. For tickets and schedule info, visit www.docuwestfest.com or call 303-279-3922.
Aug. 6-9, 2009
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