ORIGINALS

Saturday, 8 PM, Sheridan Opera House

Sunday, 6 PM, Nugget

LEO & CHESTER

Andrea Wing

In Person: Filmmakers

Disillusioned with his life of rock and roll, Leo Downey sojourns into the desert of the Sierra Madre Mountains and sleeps beneath the stars. Deep in the desert, Downey undergoes a spiritual experience that changes his life forever. Following his intuition, he leaves his life in California behind and becomes a first-generation buffalo rancher. To gain the acceptance of an animal four times stronger than an ox and faster than a horse, he must face his fears and embrace the herd’s gift.

(Canada, 2023, 9 min.)

Bread Bike

Beth Gage, George Gage

In Person: Filmmakers

Bread Bike Bakery is Sam, Matt and Mariah, three young people on California’s central coast who were unfulfilled with what they studied in college. Each has a passion for dough (the bread kind) and loves making food for other people. Now, with their desire to create friendship and community, and a belief that everyone loves good food, they’ve turned their obsessive hobby into their profession. Bread Bike is creating delicious food, promoting healthy local produce and having fun at the same time.

(USA, 2023, 19 min.)

Colorado Premiere

Freshwater

dream hampton

In Person: Filmmakers

Water is in constant motion and it has the ability to destroy and erase. Set in Detroit, Freshwater is a short film about flooded basements, memory and displacement.

(USA, 2022, 10 min.)

Colorado Premiere

From The Shadow Of A Mountain

Alex Massey

In Person: Filmmakers

Markelle Taylor started running as a way to turn his life around after incarceration in San Quentin, in the shadow of Mount Tamalpais. Today he runs free in the oldest trail race in America, on a mountain that was once unreachable. (USA, 2022, 6 min.)

Light Beams For Helena

Kirk Horton

In Person: Filmmakers

Helena Bourdillon has pushed her limits in the freediving world, using a single breath to dive to seemingly impossible depths. But her path to discovering her diving potential started 20 years ago when she was on the verge of suicide. Light Beams For Helena explores her journey with depression, her ongoing mental health efforts and what diving into the darkness of deep water has taught her about life and light.

(USA, 2023, 10 min.)

Miles To Go

James Saunders

In 2022 alone there have been over 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed in various states across the country. Refusing to sit idly by, trans trail runner Perry Cohen (he/ him) formed a team of fellow runners, who identify as trans men, with an aim to compete in trail races in states proposing and passing oppressive legislation. Miles to Go follows their journey into the world of trail running, where they find the freedom to be themselves.

(USA, 2022, 8 min.)

The Orchestra Chuck Built

Christopher Stoudt

In Person: Filmmakers and Film Subjects

In 2016, the League of American Orchestras conducted a study that revealed a shocking statistic: only 1.8% of the professional orchestra workforce in the US is Black. From an old church rec room in the inner city of Los Angeles, former lawyer-turned-conductor Chuck Dickerson is on a mission to change that. With his majority Black and Latino youth orchestra — the largest of its kind in the country — Chuck is creating opportunities for his community that did not previously exist. The Orchestra Chuck Built is a loving portrait of a tireless mentor and the orchestra members whose lives have been transformed by music.

(USA, 2023, 22 min.)

World Premiere

CoMMitMent Grant Winner 2022