|
|
|
|
|
||
|
CEC Home Page
Editor Log-in |
Bob Newman
E-mail: Bob_Newman@dpsk12.org |
| CEC student filmmakers hit Telluride Film Festival Telluride Film Festival or Bust! Provided by Beth Kenny   
Contributed by Beth Kenny on 9/11/2006 DPS Career Education Center Middle College of Denver H.S Digital Film Students Attend 2006 Telluride Film Festival It's a safe assumption that the nine Career Education Center Middle College of Denver H.S. (CEC) Digital Film Program students were probably the only ones among the 6,000 film buffs at the Telluride Film Festival who had financed their $340 passes through babysitting money, Burger King paychecks and "CEC Bronco Parking" game day sign holding on Federal Boulevard. These funding sources along with silent auction donations from Starz Film Center, Hyatt Regency Denver, My Brother's Bar, Heidi's Bagels, Chipotle, Gaetano's, Colorado Cinemas, and other Denver businesses allowed the teen filmmakers to enter a premier film festival called "an extraordinary fusion of life and art" by Newsweek magazine. The four-day celebration of film over the Labor Day weekend offered the CEC filmmakers a chance to gain a new perspective on the art and business of cinema. Senior Mayra Mena said, "going to the Telluride Film Festival has influenced me as a filmmaker. I saw different techniques and various ways of story telling that have really inspired me." One of Mena's favorite films in the festival was British director Christopher Smith's twist on formulaic slasher films, "Severance." The slim plot involved a group of employees from a weapons manufacturing plant heading off to Hungary for team-building exercises. Quickly events turn bad as the chartered bus driver refuses to drop the group at their destination, forcing the coworkers to head off into the forest filled with landmines, booby traps, and mysterious masked men. "It's chilling in a comical way. It's a slasher film that will keep you laughing," stated Mena. Telluride offers film buffs a chance to see rarely screened treasures such as the 70mm version of Jacque Tati's 1967 film "Playtime." Normally shown in 16mm or 35mm, the festival version was a must for junior Dylan Banowitz. "The film has virtually no story; the brilliance of Playtime is in its images, its jokes and its ideas. Gags and optical illusions pile up, one after another and the film begins to descend into chaos. By the end of the film there are at least 50 characters and 10 different visual jokes in one shot. This is a film like no other - if you can ever see it on the big screen it will blow your mind." Finally, along with premiers of features and documentaries, Telluride offers classic films with musical accompaniment for a whole new live experience. Senior film student Jessica Membrano enjoyed the 1928 mostly silent love story gem "Lonesome" by director Paul Fejos. A regular Telluride Film Festival attraction, the Alloy Orchestra created their own score for this and many other silent films. Clanging bells and whistles interspersed with an accordion, drums, and organ create a rich film experience. "Lonesome" is the fast-paced story of Mary, a young telephone operator who meets Jim a punch-press worker as they escape the hot city one summer day for Coney Island. The film takes the audience through their work-a-day urban isolation. Eventually we see the couple finding love, losing love and miraculously reconnecting back in their New York City apartment building. "It's "Serendipity" meets the Alloy Orchestra," said Membrano. "This movie shows that if your love was meant to be you can never lose sight of it." If you would like to make a donation to the CEC Digital Film Program Telluride Film Festival Fund for the 2007 trip, please contact Digital Film director Robert Newman at robert_newman@dpsk12.org or call (720) 423-6600. |
This site is using the DPS2.0 theme.