The DFS had already announced that actress Emma Stone will be at the opening night festivities for the screening of her new film, La La Land, and to receive the festival’s Excellence in Acting award. Now it's revealed that Oscar-nominated actor Demián Bichir will be given the George Hickenlooper Honorary Award after the screening of his directorial debut, Un Cuento de Circo & A Love Song. And Hayden Szeto — the young co-star of red-carpet matinee selection Edge of Seventeen — will be given the festival’s Rising Star Award.
“One of the great things about any film festival is the opportunity to interact with filmmakers whose work you’ve just seen, and we’ll have more than 130 guests in town this fall,” says Brit Withey, artistic director for the Denver Film Society. “Directors, actors and producers will be here from Poland, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, India, Czech Republic, Israel, Argentina, Canada, Lebanon, the U.K. and, of course, all corners of the U.S.”
Filling out the ranks of award winners at this year’s festival, indie actor Alex Karpovsky will receive the Reel Social Club Indie Voice Award after the screening of his new film, Folk Hero & Funny Guy; actor/directors Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon will receive the Rare Pearl Award for their body of work, including their new film, Lost In Paris; and experimental filmmaker Saul Levine will receive the fest’s longstanding Stan Brakhage Vision Award.
Keep reading for the full list of local, national and international guests who'll be honored over the eleven days of the DFF:
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL GUESTS
ACTOR MARTINEZ
Mike Ott / Director / Writer
Lindsay Burdge / Actor
Adam J. Minnick / Cinematography
ACTORS OF SOUND
Gregg Barbanell / Subject
Lalo Molina / Director
AMERICAN EPIC SERIES
Bernard MacMahon / Director
Allison McGourty / Producer
Patrick Ferris / Musician / Subject
Jake Faulkner / Musician / Subject
Zac Sokolow / Musician / Subject
ANGELTOWN
Nancy Liu / Director / Writer
BEAT AROUND THE BUSH
Brianne Kylie Nord Stewart / Director / Writer
BREAK
Tim Rush / Producer / Editor
Adam Chanzit / Director / Writer
CATHOLICS VS. CONVICTS
Patrick Creadon / Co-Director
Christine O’Malley / Co-Director
THE CINEMA TRAVELLERS
Shirley Abraham / Director / Producer
CHECK IT
Trayvon Warren / Subject
CLOUDY ALL DAY
Dylan Pasture / Director
UN CUENTO DE CIRCO & A LOVE SONG
Demián Bichir / Director / Actor / Writer / Producer
Stefanie Sherk / Actor
DANNY BROWN - WHEN IT RAIN
Mimi Cave / Director
DEATH BY DEATH
Xavier Seron / Director
Jean-Jacques Rausin / Actor
DEBRIS (ESCOMBROS)
Mary-Lyn Chambers / Director / Writer
Kate Nichols / Actor
DONALD CRIED
Kyle Martin / Producer
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN
Hayden Szeto / Actor
FOR LOVE – MISSING PERSONS
Joe Stillwater / Director
Thomas Galasso / Actor
FLOWN
Mark Blumberg / Director / Writer
FOLK HERO & FUNNY GUY
Jeff Grace / Director / Writer / Producer
Ryland Aldrich / Producer
Alex Karpovsky / Actor
FRAUD
Dean Fleischer-Camp / Director
GREEN HORSE RUSTLERS
Dan Wlodarczyk / Director
GROWING UP COY
Jeremy Stulberg / Producer / Editor
GUANTANAMO’S CHILD: OMAR KHADR
Michelle Shephard / Director
HUGO
Theo Pavlou / Director / Writer / Producer
HUNTER GATHERER
Josh Locy / Director / Writer
THE IMPACT POINT
Sydney Guthrie / Director
Sally Shafroth / Producer
THE ITALIAN GAZE
Sandro Del Rosario / Director
THE ITCHING
Adam Davies / Animator / Producer
JACKSON
Jamie Boyle / Producer / Cinematographer / Editor
JIRÍ MENZEL: TO MAKE A COMEDY IS NO FUN
Robert Kolinsky / Directors / Writer
KATIE SAYS GOODBYE
Wayne Roberts / Director / Writer
LA LA LAND
Damien Chazelle / Director
Emma Stone / Actor
THE LAST FAMILY
Andrzej Seweryn / Actor
LIAR
Natalie Neal / Director
Natchez Zan Fowler / Casting Director
LIGHTNINGFACE
Brian Petsos / Director / Writer / Producer
LIVE CARGO
Logan Sandler / Director / Writer
LOST IN PARIS / RUMBA / THE FAIRY
Dominique Abel / Director / Writer / Actor / Producer
Fiona Gordon / Director / Writer / Actor / Producer
LUPE UNDER THE SUN
Rodrigo Reyes / Director / Writer / Producer
MA
Celia Rowlson-Hall / Actor / Director / Writer
MIDDLE MAN
Jim O’Heir / Actor
Ned Crowley / Director / Writer
MOTHER TONGUE
Nadim Iqbal / Director / Producer
MR. GAGA
Tomer Heymann / Director / Writer
NADIA COMANECI: THE GYMNAST AND THE DICTATOR
Pola Rappaport / Director
Thorsten Thielow / Cinematographer
A NEW CIVILIZATION
Williams Naranjo / Director / Writer / Producer / Editor
THE NINE
Katy Grannan / Director / Writer / Producer
PLEASE HOLD
Jerell Rosales / Director / Writer
Michael Ball / Actor
THE POLAROID JOB
Mike Plante / Director
THE PROMISE
Karin Steinberger / Director / Writer
THE RAIN COLLECTOR
Bella Wing-Davey / Director / Writer / Producer
SCORE: A MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Jonathan Willbanks / Subject
Matthew Schrader / Director / Writer
Kenneth Holmes / Subject
Nathan Gold / Cinematography
THE SEARCH
Melina Tupa / Director / Producer / Cinematographer / Editor
THE SHEPHERD
Jonathan Cenzual Burley / Director / Writer / Producer / Cinematographer
[SOLITARY]
Derek J. Pastuszek / Director / Writer
SOY CUBANA
Robin Ungar / Producer
STAN BRAKHAGE VISION AWARD RECIPIENT
Saul Levine / Director
SUBMARINE
Mounia Akl / Director / Writer / Editor
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA - FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS
Kiani Del Valle / Co-Director
James Lees / Co-Director
Daniel Kent / Producer
VISITOR’S DAY
Nicole Opper / Director
Kristan Cassady / Producer
WALK WITH ME: THE TRIALS OF DAMON J. KEITH
Jesse Nesser / Director / Producer
Sally Davis / Producer
WINNER GAGNANT
Laura Bergeron / Director / Writer / Producer
A WOMAN, A PART
Elisabeth Subrin / Director / Writer / Producer
WRESTLING ALLIGATORS
James Eowan / Producer
YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU
Nicholas Haefner / Co-Director
Tianyi Yin / Co-Director
COLORADO GUESTS
ACOUSTIC NINJA
Robert Bevis / Director / Producer / Editor
ACTOR MARTINEZ
Arthur Martinez / Actor
Kenneth Berba / Actor
Britta Erickson / Producer
Katie Shapiro / Producer
Patrick Hackett / Producer
DENIZÉN - DEVAN
Rob Shearer / Director / Editor / Producer / Cinematographer
DOG POWER
Kale Casey / Producer / Co-Director / Narrator
Jordan Schevene / Cinematographer
EDGES
Katie Stjernholm / Director
Jonathan Hiller / Cinematographer
ELEPHANT REVIVAL - PETALS
Laura Goldhamer / Director
ENLIGHTED
Noah Kloor / Director
FERAL
David Liban / Director
Jessica McGaugh / Cinematographer
Caleb Liban / Actor
HAPPY F-ING VALENTINE’S DAY
Jeremy Dehn / Director
Sheila Schroeder / Producer / Co-Writer
Kate Burns / Co-Writer
Frazer Lockhart / Cinematographer
INSTRUCTIONS
Joseph Kolean / Director
Paul Michel / Actor
JONBENET’S TRICYCLE
Andrew Novick / Director
Theresa Mercado / Producer
THE JOURNEY IS THE DESTINATION
Olivia Friedman / Director
KICK ASS KATIE LEE
George Gage / Co-Director
Beth Gage / Co-Director
LESS THAN ANGELS
Christa Nicole Apone / Director
Adam Loehr / Editor
LINGO
Chase Bortz / Director
Robert "Tryke" Roark / Sound Producer
MA
Karl Kister / Producer
NOVA INITIA
Scott D. Thompson / Director
Aaron Johnson / Sound Designer
ON THE TRACKS
Erik Sween / Director / Editor
PHOBIA
Chris Barron / Director / Producer / Editor
Travis Volz / Producer
THE PLACES WE’VE BEEN HAVE BECOME ALL BUT GHOSTS
Caleb Andrew Ward / Director
Geoff Marslett / Actor
Jamie Bibo / Production Designer
Aaron Hunt / Cinematographer
RATIONS
Alexander Rhodes-Wilmere / Director
Nichole Perlmutter / Writer
RAT NEST
Kelly Spencer / Director
Wen Tan / Producer
REENGINEERING SAM
Brian Malone / Director
Cindy Malone / Producer
SCATTER GATHER - WHAT MORE?
Zachary Antonio / Co-Director
Carmine Gabbianelli / Co-Director
A SONG FOR THE LIVING
Colin James Floom / Co-Director / Producer
Greg Nemer / Co-Director / Editor
Emanuel Isler / Producer
Michael Haskins / Producer
TERRENE
Leigh Ann Kleber / Writer
Bryant Kennedy Tovrea / Producer
VALLEY MAKER - OH LIGHTNING
Joseph Kolean / Director / Producer / Cinematographer / Editor
WANDER
AJ Koch / Co-Director
Will Kingston / Co-Director
AWARD JURORS
KRZYSZTOF KIE?LOWSKI AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
Patrick Hackett
Adam Kersh
Ula Sniegowska
MAYSLES BROTHERS AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Chiké Okonkwo
Kevin Polowy
Kaily Smith Westbrook
AMERICAN INDEPENDENT NARRATIVE AWARD
Jasmine McGlade
Jefferson Moneo
KJ Reith
SPIKE LEE FIRST LOOK STUDENT FILM AWARD / LIBERTY GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FILM AWARD / BEST ANIMATED STUDENT SHORT FILM AWARD
Diana Reichenbach
Chris Robinson
Kelly Sears
SCREENWRITING COMPETITION WINNERS
EVELYN X EVELYN
Eric Pumphrey / Writer
THE SILENCE
Thomas Thonson / Writer
The 39th Denver Film Festival begins Wednesday, November 2, and runs through Sunday, November 13, with screenings at the Sie FilmCenter, the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and the UA Denver Pavilions. For tickets and the full film schedule, go to denverfilm.org.
