Every weekend, while you’re sleeping and having an extra cup of coffee, someone somewhere in Colorado makes a movie.
Colorado Springs filmmaker Ralph Giordano calls our state’s film industry “thriving.”
“Here in Colorado Springs or the Pikes Peak area, it’s booming,” he said.
To showcase the courage and passion of Colorado filmmakers, the Independent Film Society of Colorado six years ago established the Colorado Short Circuit, a film festival showcasing award-winning short films by independent Colorado filmmakers in nine categories : comedy, drama, documentary, women in film, animation, music videos, experimental, horror/sci-fi and young filmmakers.
The two-day event at Ivywild School begins at 2 p.m. Friday and ends at 9 p.m. Saturday. Ten prizes are awarded on Saturday evening, including the best of the festival.
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“This year we have more documentaries than ever,” said Giordano, director and creator of the festival. “People decided to be more introspective and do more personal things.”
More than 60 films will be screened this year, ranging in length from two minutes to just under 30 minutes, the maximum length for a film. The shorts were selected from 150 submissions, all reviewed by a selection committee and Giordano, who based his final selections on committee feedback.
“It’s instructive and educational,” Giordano said. “I can see what other filmmakers are doing.”
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About half of the filmmakers hail from the Pikes Peak area, including star filmmaker Steven Sabell, whose drama, “Dead Right There,” is the story of a police officer who struggles with the pressures of work, including looking at a victim of addiction and domestic violence being thrown out of the justice system. The film will be screened on Friday evening.
“Anyone who screens a film there can consider themselves a leader in the community for budding young artists,” said Sabell, who started making films a dozen years ago in high school.
Some of the festival’s most interesting shorts include those in the youth category, Giordano said, which includes 10 films from students at the Youth Documentary Academy, a training ground for 14- to 18-year-olds in the area of Pikes Peak where every summer they learn to direct and produce their own documentaries. Thematically, this year’s deals cannot be pinned. They’re set in Colorado, they’re personal, and they’re about the environment.
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And don’t necessarily expect to see a lot of Colorado Springs scenery, although all the movies were shot in Colorado. There are more dramas this year, as opposed to comedies, which Giordano attributes to the dark mood of the pandemic. The filmmakers also come in a wide range of ages, including some in their early 70s.
Other films chronicle issues of the LGBTQ+ community, inclusivity, and people of color. And on the other side of the spectrum are those on cannibalism in the horror/sci-fi category and the documentary about a young woman so obsessed with social media that she almost destroys her life.
Contact the author: 636-0270
Contact the author: 636-0270
