Hey, cinephiles, time to get off the couch and quit binge-watching "Breaking Bad" on Netflix. It's the first week of March, and that means Durango Film's annual independent film festival is upon us.
This year's slate brings 91 independent films in the animation, short, documentary and feature genres to three venues in a five-day film festival, Wednesday through Sunday, replete with panel discussions, Q&A sessions, parties and events.
Now in its 10th season, Durango Film is celebrating a full decade of delighting, inspiring and educating the Durango community through the art of film.
Daring to be DIFFerent
Over the years, Durango Film has carved out a place for itself on the film festival circuit among larger, better known, big-budget film festivals in Colorado and throughout the Southwest by embracing programming that resonates with its demographic and rings true to its own cultural landscape.
Adventure films consistently are a huge draw, and Durango Film is among the few film festivals in the country with a dedicated category for Native American films.
"We feel we put on a great show," Durango Film Executive Director Joanie Fraughton said. "We offer something different."
In nearby Telluride, Fraughton noted, MountainFilm is more cause-oriented and heavy on documentaries, and Telluride Film Festival focuses on screening and premiering star-studded films that have been shortlisted for Oscars.
"We are probably more like Sundance," said Fraughton, who used to live in Park City and attended the first Sundance Film Festival 21 years ago. "I like their programming because there's a little bit of everything."
Like Sundance, Durango Film showcases a mix of features, documentaries, animation and shorts. And while shorts are treated like red-headed stepchildren at most film festivals, they're a big part of Durango Film.
Durango Film also has cultivated several different focus categories in the films it selects each year, including family-friendly programming and Native American and LGBT films.
A filmmakers' festival
Durango Film has developed a devoted audience over the years, made up of about 80 percent locals and 20 percent out-of-towners, "with a lot of New Mexicans," Fraughton said.
Durango Film has raised Durango's reputation as a cultural destination, Fraughton said, pointing to studies showing that people who travel for arts and culture spend more money and stay longer.
The film fest has also developed a reputation as a filmmakers' festival, rather than focusing on celebrities.
Although filmmakers must travel to Durango on their own dime, once they get here, they are given VIP treatment and perks that include one free night of lodging, a filmmakers party, free rides on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and complimentary Ska beer in the Filmmakers' Lounge.
Most of the filmmakers "are what you call on the festival circuit," Fraughton said. "They look at all the festivals and decide where they want their film to screen," so that it gets the most exposure possible. "The ultimate goal is to get it picked up by a distributor," she said.
Movie stars aren't typically what makes Durango Film shine, but the festival has been lit up by Hollywood heavyweights from time to time. This year, actor Gary Farmer will be in attendance for a special 20th anniversary screening on Friday night of the psychedelic Western "The Dead Man," starring Farmer, Johnny Depp, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop and others.
And although Durango Film has had its share of premiers, Fraughton is not all that impressed with the kind of hype that typically swirls around a high-profile premier.
"I think premier is a dirty word," she said. "There is too much emphasis at most film festivals based on premiers. Do people really care? Does the audience really care? We just want to see good films."
On the other hand, "we have had some distribution deals come out of Durango," she added. "That's what it's about for the filmmaker."
Reel Learning
Student outreach has always been a big part of Durango Film's mission. Through its program Reel Learning, Durango Film brings independent films and filmmakers in-person to students in schools throughout Durango and dedicates a portion of its film screenings to family-friendly programming.
This year, Reel Learning has expanded to Ignacio, with a special focus on Native American films.
Although Durango Film doesn't have a student category, it has accepted quite a few student-made films over the years.
In 2013, 11-year-old cancer patient Sterling Bachman made the short film "Sterling's Special Love Holds," and in 2014, Durango middle-school student Nick Brieger received the Future Filmmaker Award for his short film, "Don't Forget to Look on the Inside."
Durango Film has also inspired at least one local student - Arthur Love - to pursue a career in filmmaking. Love, 24, attendrf the Los Angeles Film School after graduating from DHS and now has his own production company in Los Angeles.
Big love, small budget
Durango Film organizers are proud that they live within their means and run a tight ship, financially. The annual film festival runs mostly on thousands upon thousands of hours of volunteer power. Fraughton is the only paid full-time employee.
"We do amazing work, I feel, on less than $120,000 a year," she said.
One thing that helps keep expenses under control is the amazing in-kind community support that Durango Film receives - from comped hotel rooms to food and beverages from local sponsors which allow festival organizers to put on "amazing parties," to gift bags that are "some of the best I've seen at festivals," Fraughton said.
In recent years, Durango Film has expanded its scope of events throughout the year by presenting the global Manhattan Short Film Festival each fall, as well as Dinner & Movie events and other events and film showings throughout the year.
"One of our core mission statements was that we would only do the festival we could afford, and we have been really careful not to expand too fast," Weiss added. "We keep it smaller so that it's really about the filmmakers."
New venue
Durango Film has always been an intimate festival, with its two main venues - the Animas City Theater and the Gaslight Theatre - within a Raisinet's throw of each other in downtown Durango. This year, festival organizers have added a large new venue, using one of the screens at Durango Stadium 9 in Bodo Park.
Although it isn't downtown, Fraughton points out that the theater has plenty of parking, and plenty of seating - with 160 seats, compared to 117 in the Animas City Theater and 75 each at the Gaslight.
Festival films will screen at Durango Stadium 9 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including a special screening on Sunday evening at 7 p.m., where film fest organizers have teamed with fellow Durango nonprofit organization Music in the Mountains to bring a film about the Cliburn International Piano Competition called "Virtuosity" to the screen.
What's next?
Fraughton dreams of a day when Durango Film is funded well enough to cover filmmakers' transportation costs to attend the festival and comp them for more than just one night of lodging.
More new venues are also potentially on the horizon. "We are trying to add fun new elements each year, but we always have to have an eye on the budget and not burn out our volunteers," Fraughton said.
"We have a lot of ideas," Weiss added. "We would love to do a Durango Film on the road, take a 'Best of the Fest' to Bayfield and Farmington. There's so much for people to learn from film."