40TH Denver Film Festival Announces Award Recipients And Full Guest List Of Attendees

The Denver Film Society (DFS) has announced the recipients of its annual Festival honors, highlighting both actor/director Kyra Sedgwick with the prestigious John Cassavetes Award and Aaron Sorkin with the Career Achievement Award.



"This year we are pleased to be giving the John Cassavetes Award to Kyra Sedgwick, one of the industry's most recognizable faces," says Festival Director, Britta Erickson. "Not only has she graced the screen throughout the history of the Festival, with memorable appearances in The Woodsman, Personal Velocity and The Edge of Seventeen, she joins us this year with her directorial debut, Story Of A Girl, featuring performances from both her husband Kevin Bacon and their daughter, Sosie Bacon. We are honored to bring Kyra back to the Festival to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We are equally honored to have first-time Festival attendee, Aaron Sorkin, with his directorial debut, Molly's Game. After showcasing his brilliant talents as a writer with The Social Network, Moneyball and A Few Good Men, Molly's Game will be a touchstone for Aaron as a director as this film is already receiving early Oscar buzz for performances by Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba."


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Kyra Sedgwick will be in-person for her Red Carpet premiere of SUBMISSION on Friday, November 3 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Her Award presentation and conversation will immediately follow the screening. Ms. Sedgwick will also be appearing at the Sie FilmCenter on Saturday, November 4 with STORY OF A GIRL and the SeriesFest presentation of TEN DAYS IN THE VALLEY.

Aaron Sorkin will appear at the Big Night Presentation of MOLLY'S GAME, co-presented by Wish of a Lifetime, on Thursday, November 9 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. He will be joined onstage by the subject of the film, Molly Bloom, for a post-film conversation hosted by Jeremy Bloom.

Actor Bill Pullman will also be in attendance at DFF40 with his latest film, THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN, Wednesday, November 8 at the Sie FilmCenter.

Director Jan Kidawa-Błoński will be on hand to receive a tribute for his considerable contributions to Polish cinema over the years. Jan will be appearing in-person at the screenings of his retrospective films LITTLE ROSEand DIARY IN A MARBLE as well as his latest work, STARS. Bob Denerstein will also conduct a one-on-one conversation with Kidawa-Błoński called Politics and Freedom of Expression. Information on these screening dates and times can be found at denverfilm.org.


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DFF40 will also be honoring filmmaker Robert Beavers with this year's Stan Brakhage Vision Award for his work in the medium of experimental film. Mr. Beavers will be in-person at the presentation of two of his films, NOTES FROM THE NOTEBOOK OF..., and A PITCHER OF COLORED LIGHT on November 5 at the Sie FilmCenter.

Individual tickets to these events and more are currently on sale at www.denverfilm.org or the Sie FilmCenter (2510 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80206).

Considered one of the nation's premier film festivals, DFF is known for presenting Academy Award– and Independent Spirit Award–winning films, along with hosting some of the world's leading directors, producers and actors.

Feature Filmmaker Guests Appearing In-person:


32 PILLS: MY SISTER'S SUICIDE – Director: Hope Litoff
ACORN AND THE FIRESTORM – Director: Reuben Atlas
ACTS & INTERMISSIONS – Director: Abigail Child
AMOK – Screenwriter: Richard Karpala
AMY & SOPHIA – Director: Adam Lipsius
AND THEN I GO – Director: Vincent Grashaw
Producer: Laura Smith
THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN – Actor: Bill Pullman
BERNARD & HUEY – Director: Dan Mirvish
DIARY IN A MARBLE – Director: Jan Kidawa-Błoński
EXPERIMENTAL CITY – Director: Chad Freidrichs
EYESLICER ROADSHOW – Director: Dan Schoenbrun
FUTURES PAST – Director: Jordan Melamed
GNAW – Director: Haylar Garcia
Writer/Producer: Jim Brennan
Producer: Michael Haskins
Producer: Betsy Leighton
Producer: Stephan Shelanski
Producer: Richard Turner
THE HAPPINESS OF THE WORLD – Director: Micheł Rosa
HIDDEN FREQUENCIES – Director: Monteith McCollum
HOME TRUTH – Director: Katia Maguire
Director: April Hayes
Subject: Jessica Gonzales
HONDROS – Editor: Davis Coombe
INFINITY BABY – Writer: Onur Turkel
Actor: Trieste Kelly Dunn
JONBENET'S TRICYCLE – Director: Andrew Novick
Producer: Theresa Mercado
LITTLE ROSE – Director: Jan Kidawa-Błoński
LIYANA – Director/Producer: Aaron Kopp
Director/Producer: Amanda Kopp
Editor/Producer: Davis Coombe
Art Director/Animator: Shofela Coker
LULLABY KILLER – Director: Krzysztof Lang
THE MISOGYNISTS – Director: Onur Turkel
Actor: Trieste Kelly Dunn
MOLLY'S GAME – Director: Aaron Sorkin
Subject: Molly Bloom
Special Guest/Wish of a Lifetime: Jeremy Bloom
MOVING PARTS – Director: Emilie Upczak
Producer: John Otterbacher
Producer: Rhonda Chan Soo
Writer: Nicholas Emery
Director of Photography: Nancy Schreiber
NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL – Producer: James Brown
NEW CHEFS ON THE BLOCK – Director: Dustin Harrison-Atlas
THE NEW FIRE – Director: David Schumacher
PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW – Director: Sherwin Shilati
Actor/Producer: Kaily Smith Westbrook
SERENADE FOR HAITI – Director: Christy McGill
SOLLERS POINT – Director: Matthew Porterfield
Actor: Lynn Cohen
STARS – Director: Jan Kidawa-Błoński
STORY OF A GIRL – Director: Kyra Sedgwick
STRAD STYLE – Director: Stefan Avalos
Producer: Suzan Ortemeier
Subject: Daniel Houck
THE STRANGE ONES – Director: Christopher Radcliff
Director: Lauren Wolkstein
SUBMISSION – Director: Richard Levine
Actor: Kyra Sedgwick
THOROUGHBREDS – Director: Cory Finley
VIGILANTE: THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF CURTIS SLIWA AND THE GUARDIAN ANGELS – Director: David Wexler
Editor: Brad Coleman
Subject: Curtis Sliwa
WALDEN: LIFE IN THE WOODS – Director: Alex Harvey
Actor: Chris Sullivan
Actor: Lynn Cohen
Actor: Jamie Horton
Actor: Anthony LoVerde
Actor: Eric Hellman
Screenwriter: Adam Chanzit
Animator/Composer/Producer: Laura Goldhamer
Executive Producer: John Finn
Producer: Shane Boris
Producer: Mitch Dickman
Producer: Patrick Hackett
Producer: Michael Haskins


Shorts Filmmaker Guests Appearing In-person:

CHOCOLATE SPOKES – Director: Brendan Leonard
Subject: Gregory Crichlow 
CHOWDER – Co-Writer/Director: Travis Lindner
Co-Writer/Director: Justin Tyyrell
THE DAY BEFORE – Co-Writer/Director: Geoff Marslett
Actor: Jesse Wardak
DEATH BY SCRIPT – Director: Jason Kessler
Producer: Zachary Gutierrez
DIVING MONKEYS – Director: Elizabeth Henry
Assistant Editor: Tony Gault
DREAMSPOOK - FEAR IN LOVE – Director: Joseph Kolean
Producer: Zachary Gutierrez
THE EDGE OF ALCHEMY – Assistant Animator: John Romano
FED TO FIRE – Director: Joseph Dasteel
FINAL FOUR – Director: Dario Ortega
HOMELAND – Director: Sam Peeters
I'M IN HERE – Director: Willy Berliner 
Production Designer: Jenny Calivas
MAILMAN – Director: Eric M. Levy
MRS. DRAKE – Producer: Jon Diack
Actor: Rachel Fowler
MUTT – Director: Erin Sanger
NEW NEIGHBORS – Director: E.G. Bailey
Producer: Sha Cage
OH, OPHELIA – Director: Dakota Nanton
THE OUTSIDER – Director: Scott Takeda
PAUL IS HERE  – Director: Valentina Maurel
PET FRIENDLY – Director: Catherine Licata
POLYNA - I JUST WANNA HAVE SOME FUN – Director: Ekaterina Belinskaya
Musician: Polyna
THE POOL – Director: Kate Gleason
THE ROMANTIC METHOD – Writer/Director: Maggie Hart
SEE YOU YESTERDAY – Actor: Parish Bradley
THE SHUTTLE – Director: Lu Han
Actor: Alice Ko
Producer: Ahleena Zama
STAN BRAKHAGE VISION AWARD RECIPIENT – Director: Robert Beavers
TETE A TETE – Director: Natasha Tonkin
UNSEEN – Director: Kaleb Kohart
Executive Producer: Jordan Arrick
WHERE MOTHBLOODS BLOOM – Producer: Dorian Thomas
Editor: Peter Brown
Cinematographer: Chandler Cearley
WILD HORSES – Producer: Rebecca Smith

To schedule an interview with any of the in-person guests, or for advance interviews with guests not attending, please contact the PR department. For additional information, short films, panels, creative conversations and film descriptions please visit the website: denverfilm.org


The year-round home of DFS, the Sie FilmCenter will serve as the anchor venue for the Festival with all Red Carpet Presentations at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Screenings will also be presented at venues around the city, including the UA Denver Pavilions on the 16th Street Mall. DFS will also be returning to the Festival Annex, located inside the McNichols Building at Civic Center Park. The Annex will play host to panel discussions, community engagement, virtual reality, the Capital One Café and a Festival lounge for the public.

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