The 10th annual ACT Human Rights Film Festival takes place April 2–6 in Ft. Collins, with a virtual encore beginning on April 7. You can watch films and discussions in-person and/or screen films online (Colorado residents only) afterward. The festival is an absolute gem, and I sincerely hope you get a chance to see films, to interact, and to get involved. I’ll see you there.
From the festival organizers: “Based out of Colorado State University, ACT Human Rights Film Festival screens artistically excellent films from around the world and fosters conversations about social justice and human rights. ACT’s mission is to (A)waken audiences to issues happening around the world, (C)onnect them to our film guests and each other in thoughtful conversations, and (T)ransform the ways in which audiences engage with people, communities, cultures, and ideas.”
The festival opens with Following Harry, an intimate documentary that chronicles the last twelve years of legendary Harry Belafonte’s life, highlighting the artist-activist’s enduring commitment to civil rights. Post–film Q&A with director Susanne Rostock at 6:30PM, Wednesday April 2 The LSC Theater in Ft. Collins.
Separated, screening on April 3 at 6:30pm at The Lyric Theater, confronts one of the darkest chapters in recent American history: family separations. It merges bombshell interviews with government officials and artful narrative vignettes tracing one migrant family’s plight.
One of my recommendations is My Stolen Planet: an intimate self-portrait of Farah, an Iranian woman who is forced to migrate to her private planet to be free. She buys other people’s memories in the form of super 8mm films and records and archives her own to create an alternative history of Iran. She captures moments of joy and defiance in her daily life, navigating the contrast between domestic freedom and external oppression. Screens with short film In Thousand Petals, 4pm April 4, at The Lyric Theater and during the virtual encore.
Tickets and information: https://actfilmfest.colostate.edu/
And in Denver:
Join us for the finale of the Noir Nights film series on Saturday, April 4 at 6:30pm at The MCA Cube in at 8371 Northfield Blvd. You won’t want to miss this one!
Sunset Boulevard is one of the great, classic Hollywood films of all time. Directed by legend Billy Wilder, he fashioned a screenplay about the Hollywood Dream Factory and showed not just the glamorous side but the dark side of Hollywood as well. The film takes its name from the famous street that runs through Los Angeles/Beverly Hills and is still the home of many film stars. And so many stars populate the film itself.
The story concerns down-on-his-luck screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden), who hasn’t sold a screenplay in years and is about to lose his car and apartment. By chance he meets former silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), and she takes him in as collaborator, and later, lover. As Gillis becomes increasingly dependent on Desmond, she becomes more proprietary over him and more delusional about her return to the movies.
One of the first films from Hollywood about Hollywood, it was made at the beginning of a new decade (1950) and in a changing movie industry. Gone were the rah-rah, patriotic films of the 40s, and the movies now took a darker turn and reflected the prosperous yet paranoid 50s. It still had the hallmarks of classic Film Noir: the dark, shadowy, lighting; strange camera angles; characters motivated by selfishness, greed, and cruelty; a fatalism with characters doomed to fail; and of course, a femme fatale. Other elements were added in as well, however, making this is a very unique and fascinating film in many ways. Join us to learn more!
Are you ready for your close-up?
Students from Metro State University Denver will be at the showing to collect food for the MSU Denver food bank, so please contribute if you can.
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