Shooting Straight From the Hip: Greeley’s Go West Film Festival screens westerns that aren’t always ‘shoot-em ups’

By Emily Kemme

Ron Edgerton relishes the fact that Greeley’s Go West Film Festival, now in its 9th year, offers film buffs a great deal more than a chance to see classic western flicks rolling on the big screen. From November 6-11, the festival’s ten-member board has corralled a wide range of films for this year’s screenings that include familiar good-guy-on-a-horse stories along with documentaries and examples of how contemporary filmmakers define the western movie genre.

In-person guest appearances and discussion by documentary filmmakers and musical performances, including Maestro Rodney Sauer of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra accompanying the 1922 silent film “Sky High” on the keyboard, add to the audience experience.

Edgerton said the classic genre is one where the myth of the West is portrayed by predominantly male characters who are strong, independent, straight-talking, entrepreneurial, problem-solving, hard-working, honest and loyal. These films, with actors like Gary Cooper, Tom Nicks and Jimmy Stewart, focus on the fight against evil and, armed with an arsenal of towering attributes, they always win.

“But the western doesn’t always have John Wayne and Clint Eastwood,” Edgerton explained. “Throughout the nine years of the festival, we’ve expanded the way people look at the West through films that many wouldn’t think fit the category. For example, those values are even found in crossover science fiction genres like the Star Wars series,” he said. 

Because the American West is still regarded as the place where freedom exists, Edgerton believes people want to see that in films: they go to the theater partly to affirm what they consider to be Western values. 

“Thanks to Hollywood, the western film has permeated American culture,” said Edgerton’s wife, Thelma, who also serves on the board. 

“But people today also question whether any of that is real. They see a misogynistic, multicultural, racist society, one where women don’t put up with second class roles like Miss Kitty in ‘Gunsmoke,’” Ron said. 

With that in mind, the board, led by Edgerton and co-president David Caldwell, chooses powerful, contemporary films that explore the notion of western movies. Often, a film falls into the category simply because its story takes place in the West.

Board members suggest movies which they all review and debate upon before final selections are made.  

In past seasons, the board has taken on issues of homosexuality and bullying (“Power of the Dog,” 2021) and the effect of alcoholism on marriage in the 1983 Robert Duvall film, “Tender Mercies.”

“Duvall is a man recovering from alcoholism who’s establishing a new relationship after his marriage ended. It’s a beautiful story, but there’s not a single gun, horse or any violence in the film,” Edgerton said.

The board also wants to present western women in powerful leadership roles instead of the seductive characters found in traditional westerns.

This year, several films showcase diversity and women’s strength, including “Nope," a sci-fi western directed and produced by Denver resident Amanda Kinsey, and “Los Betabeloros/The Beet Workers (2022),” produced by Larimer County resident Betty Aragon-Mitotes, a film about the immigrant communities working the beet fields. It highlights a family centric culture and the overarching importance of the mothers’ role.

Another Kinsey film, “Jews of the Wild West (2022),” will be shown as one of the High Noon programs which begin daily at noon.

Other films that highlight diversity are celebrated productions, like “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez,” (1982) telling the true tale of a Latino farmer in Belmont-Gonzales, Texas who became a folk hero in the Southwest. Jonathan Alcantar, professor of Chicano Studies at the University of Northern Colorado, introduces and leads discussion after the film. 

The festival also offers a chance for young or upcoming film producers to get a leg up in what is considered a very tough industry, Edgerton said. When a film is accepted for most film festivals, filmmakers are given a laurel to use for marketing purposes, and this festival follows this tradition. 

Falling into that category this year is “Savage” (2022), a documentary produced by Morgan Law about Clayton Savage, a Casper, Wyoming bull rider who progressed to the national bull riding finals. The movie screens in Greeley, thanks to a grant from the Arts Alive program through the Weld Community Foundation and support from the Greeley Stampede. Morgan will give a workshop for budding filmmakers at Greeley Central High School on November 10 at 2 p.m. Savage screens at L I N C at 6:30 p.m. that evening. Clayton Savage and his wife, Cat, will attend the showing, followed by a reception.

Programs will be shown at either L I N C, The Kress Cinema & Lounge, 817 8th Ave., Greeley or Lindou Auditorium at Michener Library on the UNC campus, 1400 22nd St., Greeley. 

For more

For additional details and the complete schedule, visit Go West Film Festival.