The stars are aligning for this year’s Denver Film Festival.
The annual festival — scheduled to launch later this month on Oct. 31 and continue through Nov. 9 — has revealed the roster of honorees, guests, jurors, creative conversations and additional screenings.
Zoey Deutch, who has received critical acclaim for playing Jean Seberg (and speaking French) in Richard Linklater’s love letter to French New Wave cinema Nouvelle Vague, will receive a rising star award on Nov. 5. The award presentation will follow a screening of the Netflix release. Her other credits include Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2, Something From Tiffany’s, Not Okay, Set it Up and Everybody Wants Some!!, the latter of which marked her first collaboration with Linklater.
Also on Nov. 5, Ben Foster will appear in Denver to accept the festival’s inaugural Outlaw Award. Created to “recognize the fearless dedication an actor must apply to their craft to excel in transforming into an unsavory character,” the prize will be given to the veteran star as he touches down to support Christy. The David Michôd-directed film casts Sydney Sweeney as former professional boxer Christy Martin, with Foster playing her trainer/manager/husband. He’s turned in similarly electric performances in Hell or High Water and Leave No Trace, among many others.
“Zoey Deutch and Ben Foster add energy and excitement to every movie they’re in,” praised Denver Film CEO Kevin Smith. “We can’t wait to bring that same enthusiasm to this year’s festival with an amazing lineup of guests, conversations, and experiences you won’t have anywhere else.”
Also on the honoree roster this year is Charlie Polinger. The auteur wrote and directed the psychological drama The Plague, which had its world premiere earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received rave reviews. The film, which stars Joel Edgerton in a supporting turn, follows a socially awkward tween who is forced to endure a ruthless hierarchy at a water polo camp, causing his anxiety to spiral into psychological turmoil over one summer. Polinger will receive the fest’s breakthrough director prize, while his film will screen Nov. 1 and Nov. 6. (The filmmaker will be present at the Nov. 1 showing.)
Filmmaker Peggy Ahwesh is set to be honored with a Stan Brakhage Vision Award, “given every year to filmmakers whose work represents courage, boldness, uncompromising integrity and vision.” The presentation will take place following a special event at which seven of the director’s short films will be screened at the Sie FilmCenter on Nov. 2.
In other festival news, programmers have added Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada, starring George MacKay and Callum Turner. The selection, which screened last month at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers on two men lost at sea for over 30 years who mysteriously reappear in the harbor of their remote fishing village.
DFF will also present a series of retrospective screenings to honor artists who have recently passed away. Those include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for Robert Redford, The French Connection for Gene Hackman, Mulholland Drive for David Lynch, Something’s Gotta Give for Diane Keaton, 3 Women for Shelley Duvall and Top Secret! for Val Kilmer.
Said Denver Film Festival artistic director Matthew Campbell: “The awards, panels and conversations with the creators behind the work give audiences a rare opportunity to engage directly with the voices shaping today’s cinematic landscape. That exchange — between the artists, both on screen and behind the camera, and the audiences who celebrate them — is what has always defined and distinguished the Denver Film Festival as a truly special experience.”
The competition jury, charged with selecting the Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for best feature film, includes veteran critic David Ansen, Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis and actress Clara McGregor. The Maysles Brothers Award for best documentary will be decided by a jury comprised of The Hollywood Reporter’s senior writer Chris Gardner, Minding the Gap documentary filmmaker Bing Liu and arts administrator Lisa Lucas.
The American Independent Award will be decided by Juror #2 screenwriter Jonathan Abrams, TikTok film influencer Megan Cruz and Deadline senior film reporter Matt Grobar. The shorts competition will be overseen by a jury that includes Neon manager of screening events and festivals Lucie Boulet, Task actress Coral Peña and The Great Debaters actor Denzel Whitaker.
More information on ticketing and this year’s festival programming can be found here.
