Greeley’s Go West Film Fest is on for 2021, with special guest Temple Grandin set to make an appearance
By Dan England
The organizers of the Go West Film Fest hate the pandemic as much as you do, but it did offer one small advantage this year.
“We saved a lot of time by using last year’s list,” said David Caldwell, the co-president of the festival.
It is indeed a time-consuming process to select the 12 events that are put on by the Greeley film festival, now in its seventh season (well, eight if include last year’s cancellation, which they understandably don’t). The board tries to offer films that fit categories, including a comedy, a classic western, a documentary about the west, a silent film and one that offers non-traditional takes on the West (HBO’s “Westword,” for example, fits that bill).
The 10 board members then bring their own selections, and those are narrowed down into a finalists’ list. Board members then watch all the films and vote on their favorites.
“I think we are the only entirely western-focused film festival,” said Ron Edgerton, the other co-president. “We thought that would be somewhat limiting. But it’s not limiting at all. There are hundreds of films. It’s a lot of fun.”
This year’s festival runs the week of Nov. 8. Highlights include a silent film accompanied by a live pianist, an independent production that features University of Northern Colorado alumni as the cast (“Country Mustard”) and an appearance by Temple Grandin during a screening of the 2010 HBO biopic starring Clare Daines and based on Grandin’s memoir. Putting off the festival offered another advantage: Grandin, an autistic woman and faculty member at Colorado State University, known for her many advancements in the livestock industry, agreed to appear in person this year.
The board members select some films because they are fun, but others have had scenes that some may find difficult to watch. “Stagecoach,” the John Wayne breakthrough vehicle released in 1939 and screened at the festival one year, has many shots of Wayne shooting down dozens of Native Americans.
“We like to include films with parts that make us uncomfortable from today’s perspective,” said Caldwell, who founded the film studies minor at UNC and recently retired as a faculty member. “They will provoke good discussion. That’s part of the fun.
“Westerns were not particularly nice to Native Americans. The West was romanticized with westerns, and they are fun, but we also view them critically.”
There’s also a short film showcase with nine pieces that will make up a two-hour event. The board and audience will have the chance to select their favorites.
The movies are free, thanks to many sponsors, but will only be shown once and take place in various spots around Greeley, including the Farr Library, Kress Cinema, UNC, Aims Community College and Zoe’s Cafe.
The board hopes they can show the movies more than once in the future, maybe even as soon as next year, and offer them in other locations.
“There are more and more good venues in Greeley,” Edgerton said. ‘We have lots of room to grow.”
To attend
You will need to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative test (48 hours at the most) for admission, and masks are required.
The films start Monday, Nov. 8. A different film runs every day at noon and in the evening through Saturday, Nov. 13, in various locations. The films are free and do not require a ticket, but they are asking you to reserve a spot for the Temple Grandin evening program on Nov. 8. You can do that, and see a list of movies and their times and venues, at gowestfilmfest.org.