April brings one of my favorite festivals of the year, the ACT Human Rights Film Festival. Sundance has taken up most of the oxygen recently, but Colorado has had an active film festival scene for a long time, and this one is a gem.

We also continue our Cube Cinema Series with Join or Die on Friday, April 10; doors open at 6:30pm, and the film starts at 7pm. The film builds on the work of legendary social scientist Robert D. Putnam, whose groundbreaking book Bowling Alone chronicles, according to the filmmakers, “How America’s decades-long decline in community connections could hold the answers to our democracy’s present crisis.” For tickets, go to mca80238.com and search for Cube Cinema.

Join or Die

In attendance at the screening will be the Rotary Club of Northeast Denver and other local groups already doing the work discussed in the film. I will add that our Cube Cinema Series itself is a civic engagement activity where we come together to mingle, watch films, and discuss the films and the issues raised by them. Join or Die is highlighting what we do every month. I hope you can join us and make even more community connections.

ACT Human Rights Film Festival

One of the most illuminating weeks of the year comes again this April with the ACT Human Rights Film Festival in Fort Collins. From the Festival: “Colorado State University’s ACT Human Rights Film Festival is celebrating its 11th year showcasing excellent new films that educate and inspire in northern Colorado. This year’s festival will screen 28 films from around the world both on CSU’s campus and at The Lyric, Fort Collins’s independent movie theater.” The full festival lineup, as well as festival passes and event tickets—which are all pay-what-you-can—are available now at actfilmfest.colostate.edu/.

Note that there is an encore portion to the festival where you can access some of the films online after the in-person screenings conclude.

One specific film I will point out is Fiume o morte!, a darkly comedic documentary from Croatian director Igor Bezinović. It tells the story of a historical moment in the Adriatic port city of Rijeka, where Italian aristocrat and poet (and cocaine addict) Gabriele D’Annunzio led a takeover of the city after WWI. That takeover and subsequent 16-month occupation were so bizarre and inexplicable that it defies a simple summary. Suffice to say that the drama of that period had lasting ramifications for Italy and Croatia and, in many respects, led to Mussolini’s rise to power in Italy.

Fiume o morte!

The film itself is a powerful piece of art that uses locals to reenact some of the historical drama. The results are both comic in their execution and tragic in their implications. Italian Fascism, Baltic independence wars, and current geopolitical issues are all wrapped up in the hilarious staging in the film. The political showmanship of D’Annunzio presages so much of what would follow in WWII and beyond, right up through many of today’s world leaders.

I will host the screening and discussion on Saturday, April 11 at 10am in The Lyric at 1209 N. College Ave., Fort Collins. The director will join us for a Zoom interview immediately following the screening. If you can’t make that screening, the film is offered in the online encore portion as well.

Another film of note at the festival: “In celebration of Colorado’s 150th anniversary of statehood, ACT will also feature several films that explore Colorado identity and history, including Creede U.S.A. (Saturday, April 11 at 7:30pm at The Lyric), which showcases the value of democracy when a remote Colorado mining town becomes an unexpected model for public discourse.” It is interesting and fascinating. I hope you can make some of these screenings in person.

Vincent Piturro, PhD, is a professor of film and media studies at MSU Denver. Email him directly at vpiturro@msudenver.edu. For more reviews, search The Indie Prof at FrontPorchNE.com.