Colorado Short Films Program
The Mountain Forum for Peace funded a screening of Colorado Short Films at the Backdoor Theatre in Nederland. The event featured films by Kelly Sears, Geoff Marslett, Emilie Upczak, Sarah Biagini, Eric Coombs Esmail, Christian Hammons, and Emma Needell. Two filmmakers were in attendance and engaged in a lively Q&A after the films. The selected projects represented a wide variety of forms and social perspectives.
Program
The Phantom 52 – Geoff Marslett (8 mins)
Loneliness is a trucker who calls out on his CB radio waiting for a reply that never comes; A ghost that haunts the deserted highways; and a whale that sings at a frequency no other whale can even hear.
Life Rendered – Emma Needell (23 mins)
Set in the near future, Mark Redman leads a double life: one in rural Colorado, where he takes care of his disabled cowboy father and tends to their family ranch; another in virtual reality, where he builds epic worlds and has found romance as a gay man.
Western Dolly – Sarah Biagini (12 mins)
A film concerned with the tools, technologies, and practices designed to bring Nature up to snuff. Shot in Ettrick, Scotland, Western Dolly looks at the role of aesthetics in sheep farming.
PHASE II – Kelly Sears (7 mins)
In the near future, the forces of gentrification use sonic assaults on a vulnerable area of a city as protesters and activists find ways to resist.
Messengers – Eric Coombs Esmail and Chris Hammons (16 mins)
At the end of his career, Professor Van Gerven reflects on his life with the mummies and their afterlife in the United States speaking to the problems of poverty and discrimination.
Silt – Emilie Upczak (10 mins)
A Native botanist, grieving the death of a beloved aunt, travels alone to northern Mexico, where she is nourished by images of the last trip they took together traversing the Colorado River.
Report
The Mountain Forum for Peace funded activity, a screening of Colorado Short Films at the Backdoor Theatre in Nederland, on Sunday May 21st, brought out 35 audience members from the local community. We screened 6 films with two filmmakers in attendance and engaged in a lively Q&A after the films. Audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the Backdoor Theatre expressed interest in screening more independent films in the future. The screening was promoted on Facebook (Ned Heads and NMSHS pages), through Instagram, through the Backdoor Theatre's e-mailing list and on their website. Individual members of the community were invited and also asked to share the listing. The Backdoor Theatre staff were accommodating and the picture and audio quality were excellent. The Mountain Forum for Peace was given name recognition for supporting the program verbally at the screening and on all written materials. The program represented a diverse range of perspectives and formats and successfully met the MFP mission to offer the opportunity for the greater Nederland community to be exposed to new ideas. Thank you again for the support.
-Emilie Upczak, May 24, 2023