Highlights From The Boulder Film Festival

Daniel Junge during the Q&A for Being Evel.

The Boulder Film Festival was the perfect setting to watch high quality arthouse films plus a great time to connect with the Colorado film community! The highlight (I witnessed) occurred during the Q&A session during the Sunday afternoon screening of Being Evel. With Governor Hickenlooper in the audience, the crowd connected to the Colorado roots of Being Evel thanks to the film incentives. (Plus: My tweet was featured on the screen.)

Here is run down from what I watched:

DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD The Story of the National Lampoon: A fun-loving, amusing, & hyperactive throwback to the devious and irreverent geniuses behind National Lampoons at Harvard was hysterical! You’ll consistently laughing and cringing. There’s too many boobs, dick, and political incorrectness for The History Channel to air the movie that was a Sundance hit! What were they thinking!?! They aren’t HBO so I’m curious to see how a broadcast of this graphic documentary pans out for them.

BEING EVEL: The super cool, riveting & spectacular doc is as wild & flashy as the iconic stuntman Evel Knievel which seamlessly blends archival footage to capture his spirit and legacy. The vintage, historical snapshot of sports moments captures a rustic feel. Generations of bicycles respect his contributions and are inspired to achieve that greatness. A History Channel documentary will be available to watch this summer. I highly recommend it!

WELCOME TO LEITH: This gripping, indictment of a white supremacist group hijacking small-town life will haunt me during its film festival run. The humble community members rally together to take a stand against the calculated hate group as eerie footage from the Southern Poverty Law Center lay it out what’s at stake. The multi-layered snapshot of post-oil boom North Dakota was reminiscent of 2014’s best documentary THE OVERNIGHTERS. With the rise of hate groups in a multicultural diversifying America, this is horrific in its timeliness whether intended or not.

CALL ME LUCKY: Bravely blends humor & heartbreak of angry, politically charged comic Barry Crimmins into a humane, moving portrait. The Liberal activist rants about his worldview and his past with howling laughs amongst serious pain. There are a roller-coaster of emotions into an exhausting but rewarding experience. The AOL showdown shows how idiotic our government always functions but impatient citizens are only finally now paying attention.

IMBER’S LEFT HAND: A joyfully vivid ode about painter Jon Imber coping with ALS was profoundly moving and haunting in its beauty. During the brisk running time, you’ll be touched by his will to live through out this documentary. There’s a lot to unpack with this documentary that blends serious life issues with art, but it was a rewarding experience.

SUNSHINE SUPERMAN: A fascinating tribute to BASE jumper inventor Carl Boenish features breathtaking photography and poignant reflection on the man very few knew. Viewers learn a lot from the activity and the personal life of Carl. This reminded me of the Oscar winner documentary Man on Wire and the audience strongly responded to it. From Magnolia Pictures, it opens May 22nd.

STREAM OF LOVE: My least favorite mostly because everything else was stronger movies. I wouldn’t fault this delightful & humorous doc on rural Romanian seniors discussing in graphic detail sex/marriage played well to older audience. However, I admit this one overstayed its 70 minute running time which doesn’t sound reassuring. This was not one for me.

The buzz from other screenings: I heard Meet the Petals, which I hope will be released, was fantastic. Quite a few people including Lisa Kennedy recommended I check out Human Capital. People couldn’t stop talking about The Wrecking Crew even well into the end of the festival. Social media was abuzz with Racing Extinction, which was the closing night film. The Sundance documentary highlighted ecological awareness which was in full display in this great video: