City Haul

"We come back to Denver in triumph," says Maggie Renzi, the producer of Silver City, John Sayles's new movie that premieres here on September 10. "We pulled off something pretty miraculous. We started to shoot a movie last September, and we're coming back with it in September."

Details

7 p.m. Friday, September 10, Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place, $20-$50, 303-830-TIXS or www.ticketmaster.com

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More About

• Maggie Renzi
• John Sayles
• Michael Murphy
• Mary Kay Place
• Dickie Pilager

Not only that, but they started to shoot a movie in Denverlast September, bringing this cinematically starved city a film project with major prestige, if not a big budget.

Oh, and about that $6 million budget. "We pulled the money out of thin air and have managed to navigate the distribution system," Renzi adds. "Not only can we show our film, but we have a fabulous distributor, Newmarket." That's the same outfit that distributed The Passion of the Christ, and on September 17, it will give Silver City, a political film noir, an impressive rollout in major markets across the country.

But first, Silver Citywill glitter in Denver. The day's events start with a lunchtime appearance by John Sayles at the Denver Press Club, followed by a Sayles book signing at the LoDo Tattered Cover at 3 p.m. Steve Earle will support the effort with an in-store performance of songs from The Revolution Starts Nowat Twist & Shout at 5 p.m., then offer a thirty-minute set before the 7 p.m. screening of the movie at the Paramount Theatre.

Proceeds from the showing benefit the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network and Colorado Conservation Voters, and the evening features not just Sayles and Renzi, but also stars Mary Kay Place and Michael Murphy and a special appearance by Dickie Pilager, the grammatically challenged Colorado gubernatorial candidate at the heart of the Silver City mystery. (See Bill Gallo's take on the film.)

"It's always fabulous to come back and show a movie in the city where we made it," Renzi says, "but it's so exciting to come back and show it in a city where there will be so many people who were involved. Normally, it's a handful. Here, it's a hundred.

"And they'll be very proud of what they've done," she adds. "If that's not a triumph, what is?"