Myth America

Sita Sings the Blues, an animated full-length feature, made its Denver debut at the Starz Denver International Film Festival last year, “and it was just one of the runaway hits,” remembers programming director Keith Garcia. “It’s just one of those movies that gets you; it’s highly original from beginning to end.”

Filmmaker Nina Paley created Sita entirely on her laptop when her life suddenly started imitating mythology: Her husband moved to India for a job and ended their marriage via e-mail. Paley took heart in the story of Sita, a Hindu goddess in the Ramayana who was abandoned by her husband, Rama, and Sita follows both women, stitching their stories together with beautiful songs.

“It’s a musical, so all these key elements of the Ramayana are told via Annette Hanshaw, this jazz singer from the ’30s,” Garcia explains. “She has all these really great little ditties about being left alone and broken hearts, and they fit perfectly with the story. So it’s bouncy, it’s visually fantastic, and after all is said and done, you’re just like, ‘What a great experience that entire film was.’” Experience Sita starting June 26 at Starz FilmCenter in the Tivoli; the film runs through July 2. Tickets are $6 to $9.50; visit www.denverfilm.org or call 303-595-3456.
Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: June 26. Continues through July 16, 2009