2016 Denver Film Festival

The Denver Film Festival is the largest premier film celebration in the Rocky Mountain Region, and this year the international spotlight is on Spain.

The 39th Denver Film Festival, produced by Denver Film Society, is the city’s premier cultural event of the fall, with more than 250 films and over 55,000 tickets sold. This year, DFF focuses its international spotlight on the country of Spain.

Dead Slow Ahead

On Sunday, November 6 at 4:15 pm. Buy tickets.
On Monday, November 7 at 4:15 pm. Buy tickets.
On Tuesday, November 8 at 9:15 pm. Buy tickets.
All screenings at Sie FilmCenter DFF.
Directed by Mauro Herce, Spain, 2015, 76 minutes.
In Spanish with English subtitles. View trailer.

The freighter Fair Lady crosses the ocean. The hypnotic rhythm of its gears reveals the continuous movement of machinery devouring its workers: the last gestures of the old sailors’ trade disappearing under the mechanic and impersonal pace of 21st century neocapitalism. Perhaps it is a boat adrift, or maybe just the last example of an endangered species. Although we don’t know it, the engines are still running, unstoppable.

Food and Shelter

On Sunday, November 6 at 7:15 pm. Buy tickets.
On Tuesday, November 8 at 8:45 pm. Buy tickets.
All screenings at UA Pavilions.
Directed by Juan Miguel del Castillo, Spain, 2015, 90 minutes.
In Spanish with English subtitles. View trailer.

Young Rocío (Natalia de Molina) and her soccer-crazy eight-year-old son face eviction from their humble apartment in provincial Spain. As ordinary life goes on all around them in the face of obvious economic austerity, we witness close up her wild oscillations between hope and panic, her constant fight to maintain dignity and, ultimately, her impotence as poverty tightens its grip bit by bit.

Kiki, Love to Love

On Friday, November 11 at 9 pm. Buy tickets.
On Saturday, November 12 at 6:30 pm. Buy tickets.
On Sunday, November 13 at 6:45 pm. Buy tickets.
All screenings at UA Pavilions.
Directed by Paco León, Spain, 2016, 102 minutes.
In Spanish with English subtitles. View trailer.

Through interwoven stories, five couples revel in and struggle with sexual fetishes in one of Spain’s biggest box office hits of the year. Actor-director Paco León’s (Carmina or Blow up) kinky comedy recalls the uninhibited spirit of Pedro Almodóvar with a knack for hilarious set pieces that is uniquely his own.

The Olive Tree

On Saturday, November 12 at 6:45 pm. Buy tickets.
On Sunday, November 13 at 7:15 pm. Buy tickets.
All screenings at Sie FilmCenter DFF.
Directed by Icíar Bollaín, Spain, 2016, 100 minutes.
In Spanish with English subtitles. View trailer.

A Spanish family facing collapse after the consequences of one decision is at the heart of this affecting drama laced with astute humor by director Icíar Bollaín. Its charming but insecure, sometimes illogical driving force, Alma, believes her dying grandfather is haunted by the loss of an heirloom olive tree and begins a quest to heal him.

The Search for Emak Bakia

On Saturday, November 12 at 4:45 pm. Buy tickets.
On Sunday, November 13 at 11:30 am. Buy tickets.
All screenings at Sie FilmCenter DFF.
Directed by Oskar Alegria, Spain, 2012, 84 minutes.
In Spanish with English subtitles. View trailer.

An avant-garde film by Man Ray called Emak Bakia (“Leave me alone” in Basque) inspires this story of a quest. The house near Biarritz where Man Ray’s film was shot in 1926 bore that peculiar name and the creator of this new film decided to undertake a search on foot to find it. Only three views of that mansion exist: the image of its front door, two columns of a window, and a section of nearby coast. A search based on these old images would not be easy. There was nothing listed in the archives and no one today remembers the house. Therefore, he would ask for help and assistance from other informers, such as chance and the wind.

The Shepherd

On Friday, November 4 at 6:30 pm. Buy tickets.
On Monday, November 7 at 4 pm. Buy tickets.
All screenings at Sie FilmCenter DFF.
Directed by Jonathan Cenzual Burley, Spain, 2016, 105 minutes.
In Spanish with English subtitles. View trailer.

Jonathan Cenzual Burley beautifully captures one man’s struggle to live the way he pleases in a rapidly changing world. As a shepherd, Anselmo leads a quiet life, shunning modern conveniences and enjoying simple pleasures on the Spanish plains. When developers approach him with an offer to buy his land, where they plan to build luxury condos, he declines—after all, he likes things the way they are, and his family has lived there for generations.

All of Anselmo’s neighbors, however, have taken the offer, so his refusal to sell makes him the lone obstacle to the project’s future. As the stakes become ever higher and the pressure on him builds, Anslemo’s peaceful life is turned upside down.

The Tip of the Iceberg

On Sunday, November 6 at 11:15 am. Buy tickets.
On Tuesday, November 8 at 6:30 pm. Buy tickets.
All screenings at UA Pavilions.
Directed by David Cánovas, Spain, 2015, 95 minutes.
In Spanish with English subtitles. View trailer.

A large, multinational Company is badly shaken when three of its employees commit suicide. Maribel Verdu (Y Tu Mamá También, Pan’s Labyrinth) plays Sofía Cuevas, one of the company’s top executives, is chosen to prepare an in-house report to try and shed some light on the events.

Spanish Shorts

Add Contact

On Wednesday, November 9 at 3:45 pm, Thursday, November 10 at 6:45 pm and Friday, November 11 at 3:45 pm.
All screenings at UA Pavilions. Screening prior to Pikadero.
Directed by David Oeo, Spain, 2016, 3 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.

As he does every weekend, Jamie returns home after a party, but this time it will take a little longer to get there.

Decorado

On Friday, November 4 at 6:45 pm, Saturday, November 5 at 11:30 am and Sunday, November 13 at 7:00 pm.
All screenings at UA Pavilions.
This film is playing as part of Shorts 5: Close Encounters of the Animated Kind.
Directed by Alberto Vazquez, Spain, 2016, 11 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.

The world is a wonderful stage, but the casting is deplorable.

Timecode

On Saturday, November 5 at 7 pm and Sunday, November 6 at 2 pm.
All screenings at UA Pavilions.
Directed by Juanjo Giménez, Spain, 2016, 15 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Luna and Diego are parking-lot security guards. Diego does the night shift, and Luna works by day.

View full program.