Reader: Denver, I Did Not Think I Would Fall for You — But I Did

Colorado is lovely in the snow, but it's hard to beat a day like the one Denver enjoyed yesterday, when people poured into the parks and out on the streets, grabbing seats on every hastily opened patio. But one new resident had already found enough reason to love in Denver. Keep reading for Brooke Weber's account:

Love Letter to Denver

After spending the last two years living in a country as beautiful as it is dangerous, deficit of a culture full of original music and films, I was desperately seeking to get back to Washington State, where I knew I could see live music after dark, go to independent film theaters like the Pickford Film Center in Bellingham or the Uptown in Seattle, or see live music at the Shakedown or the Comet Tavern. Yet I got a job offer in Denver and would be moving from sunny El Salvador, to sunny Denver, Colorado.

I now teach at the International School of Denver in Colorado, and it was really scary at first. Everyone was so damn happy, fit and well...Denver. What frightened me most was that I would be continuously trapped by conversations surrounding hiking, skiing or biking (all things I can get behind, but not really as a conversation piece). I longed for the dull skies, damp air and smart, clever people who shared in the misery of the Seattle freeze, and intellectual but critical conversation. Knowing that this was a distant dream, except for over winter breaks, I decided to look into film theaters here in Denver. What I found was something out of a dream.

It was the Denver film center known as Sie. Not only did it have great films, but events that centered around filmmakers and social issues. I found myself there every weekend, and still do to this day. In fact, I can say that without the Sie FilmCenter I probably would still be considering the move back to the gray skies of Seattle. That little corner of heaven on Colfax with Tattered Cover Books, Twist & Shout (I won free Built to Spill tickets there, my second week in town) and the Sie has become somewhat of a safe haven for me, if I do need to hide from the sun and RANGAR stickers.

So there you go, Denver: I did not think that I would fall for you, but I did, and the beer helps as well.

Go check out the many events at the Sie. My middle school students were lucky enough to be invited to the Film Forward series events, we will continue to take advantage of what the film center has to offer — and I suggest that you do the same. 

The Sie has partnered with the Sundance Film Festival to Push Film Forward, a program that includes two free movies this week. Find out more in Keith Garcia's story on Push Film Forward.