Drawing to a close on Sunday night, the 35th Aspen Filmfest showcased an eclectic mix of fall previews, critically acclaimed documentaries and new narrative features that captured the imaginations of an enthusiastic festival audience. Film fans of all ages and inclinations repeatedly filled Aspen’s Isis Theater and Paepcke Auditorium to catch an array of independent and international productions and hear filmmakers share the stories behind their work.
“This year’s Filmfest far exceeded our expectations,” says Aspen Film Executive Director Kip Hubbard. “Even with venue changes and a smaller slate of films, we had one of the most successful and well-received festivals in recent memory.”
An audience festival unspooling in the midst of Rocky Mountain fall color, Aspen Filmfest attracted movie lovers from all around the country who filled the theaters for Bill Condon’s electrifying dramatic thriller THE FIFTH ESTATE (Disney) and Asghar Farhadi’s evocative family drama THE PAST (Sony Pictures Classics), which played as the Closing Night and Surprise Film, respectively. Other warmly received screenings that drew capacity crowds included Justin Chadwick’s powerful and moving MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM (The Weinstein Company), Alexander Payne’s glorious wide-screen comedy NEBRASKA (Paramount Vantage), John Wells’ emotionally compelling AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (The Weinstein Company), David Frankel’s sweetly inspiring ONE CHANCE (The Weinstein Company), Bruno Baretto’s beautiful and engaging drama REACHING FOR THE MOON (Wolfe Releasing), and Rob Meyer’s affectionate A BIRDER’S GUIDE TO EVERYTHING. Audiences were also taken by Destin Daniel Cretton’s emotionally absorbing SHORT TERM 12, Kore-Eda Hirokazu’s deeply resonant LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON, and Kim Mordaunt’s Laos-set drama, THE ROCKET. Kenji Uchida’s comic KEY OF LIFE (Film Movement) and Janis Nords’ beautifully rendered character study, MOTHER, I LOVE YOU rounded out the feature program.
Documentaries shared center stage at Aspen Filmfest, attracting full houses for many of the screenings. With funding from the Embrey Family Foundation, Aspen Filmfest hosted representatives for all the documentary presentations including co-director Katherine Knight for the U.S. premiere of her poignant artist portrait, SPRING & ARNAUD; Boulder-based director Greg “Freddy” Camalier with his filmmaking debut, MUSCLE SHOALS (Magnolia Pictures); producer Allen Lu for LINSANITY about basketball phenomenon Jeremy Lin; co-directors Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling with THIS AIN’T NO MOUSE MUSIC!, a celebration of American roots music; director Nicholas Wrathall for his thoroughly captivating GORE VIDAL: THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA; director-ER medicine doctor Ryan McGarry and executive producers Dr. William “Billy” Mallon and Dr. Jan Schoenberger for the second festival outing of their L.A. Film Festival jury winner, CODE BLACK; co-director Peter C. Jones, scholar John Osbourne, editor Drew Martinez and subject Father Thomas Keating were in attendance for the world premiere of THOMAS KEATING: A RISING TIDE OF SILENCE; and New Zealand director Anthony Powell and assistant director Christine Powell came to altitude for one of the first North American screenings of ANTARTICA: A YEAR ON ICE. Other filmmakers in attendance were director Bruno Baretto (REACHING FOR THE MOON) and director Rob Meyer and producer Kirsten Fuller (A BIRDER’S GUIDE TO EVERYTHING).
The Aspen Filmfest 2013 Audience Award Winners are:
Audience Favorite Feature
MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
Directed by Justin Chadwick
(South Africa, The Weinstein Company)
Audience Favorite Documentary
CODE BLACK
Directed by Ryan McGarry
(USA, C Booth LLC Production)
Audience Special Recognition – Feature
SHORT TERM 12
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
(USA, Cinedigm)
Audience Special Recognition – Documentary (shared)
GORE VIDAL: THE UNITED STATES OF