When it comes to championing the arts, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston banged the drum lightly on Friday.

Johnston, whose own path was once leading him to becoming a playwright and actor, spoke to the many ways the arts enhance our lives at a press event officially launching the 18th annual Denver Arts Week, which also serves as the unofficial launch of the annual Denver Film Festival.

Then he walked the walk. Or make that “stroked the stroke.”

After Johnston and other city and cultural officials spoke at the carefully curated kickoff event at the renowned Dazzle Denver jazz club, Johnston joined the beloved Purnell Steen & The Five Points Ambassadors for a smooth song, with drummer Bill Larson briefly ceding the sticks to Johnston.  Afterward, Steen said, “We’re making the mayor an honorary Ambassador.”

For his part, Johnston often talks a lot about making Denver affordable, safe and vibrant.

“And what makes a city vibrant,” he said Friday, “is its art, its culture, its film and its theater. And you can see all of that on display during Denver Arts Week.”

He also noted that the arts account for more than 100,000 jobs in Denver.

The annual celebration of arts and culture in Denver aspires to make art accessible to everyone. This year, Denver Arts Week features more than 620 events representing more than 350 individual organizations across the city now through Nov. 10.

Gretchen Hollrah, executive director of the city-run Denver Arts and Venues, which oversees Red Rocks, the Denver Performing Arts Complex and more, including collaborating each summer with Denver Film for its Film on the Rocks series.

“The funds that we generate at our venues go right back into the arts and culture sector in Denver, supporting grants for arts and arts organizations, free and low-cost community events, art and public spaces, and arts education,” she said.

“We call that ‘Good times for good.’ And every good time you have at one of our venues comes right back here to support our arts and culture sector and helps our community thrive.”

Johnson said he was hoping to attend the Denver Film Festival’s opening-night screening of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” at the Holiday Theatre. Johnston was 13 when he attended his first professional play on a class field trip to the Denver Performing Arts Complex. It was “Fences,” also written by Wilson, and Johnston has often said that performance is what inspired him to become both a teacher and a theater director – “because I directed two August Wilson plays as a school principal,” he said.

In many ways, Denver Arts Week simply calls added attention to what makes Denver a thriving arts city year-round, such as the seven First Friday Art Walks that take place monthly around the metro area. Saturday marks the return of “Free Night at the Museum,” with nearly 20 Denver museums staying open late (and free) from 5-10 p.m., with free shuttles provided by Visit Denver.

For his part, Denver Film CEO Kevin Smith is happy to share the spotlight with Denver Arts Week over the next 10 days.

“We have one of the greatest arts and cultural scenes in the country,” said Smith.“I think the arts are the most valuable thing we have to offer. And when you look at all the things that are going on in the world, to have a place for expression, to have a place to provide different kinds of perspectives, this is really what we need. In this digital age, when people are staying at home more the communal experience is really missing.”

And he encouraged all listening to join one of the many communal experiences at festival screenings taking place at the Holiday, Sue Film Center, Denver Botanic Gardens, the AMC 9+10 and the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

For a full rundown of events, visit the Denver Arts Week website at denver.org

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

It’s only Day 2, and this already promises to be the busiest day of the festival, with 50 screenings on 12 screens at four venues.

SCREENING OF THE DAY

Lilly Ledbetter, who died Oct. 12 at age 88, told her Alabama pastor that when she passed away, “I want him to be able to say at my funeral that I made a difference.”

Consider it done.

Ledbetter was a Goodyear factory worker whose advocacy for fair pay eventually led to Congress passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. “Lilly,” a new film starring the great Patricia Clarkson, will be today’s centerpiece screening at 7 p.m. at the Holiday Theater. Clarkson, perhaps best known for “The Untouchables,” “The Station Agent,” “The Green Mile” and, more recently, 2022 DFF standout “She Said,” will be present to receive the esteemed John Cassavetes Award, joining fellow mavericks including Bill Pullman, Steven Soderbergh, Vince Vaughn, Sean Penn, William H. Macy, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, J.K. Simmons, Elliott Gould and Judy Greer.

TRIBUTE TO GENA ROWLANDS

The Denver Film fest does not often show classic films, but, speaking of Cassavetes, attention must be paid to the recent passing of his wife, Gena Rowlands. “Gloria,” about a tough woman who becomes a reluctant guardian to a neighbor boy whose family is killed by the mob, showcases the longstanding partnership between Rowlands and Cassavetes. 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Sie FilmCenter, with an introduction by festival founder Ron Henderson.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART

“Color Book,” says Denver Film Artistic Director Matt Campbell, “is really going to be a big standout,” and not only because it has a sweet local angle. “It’s a black-and-white film about a young African-American father with a young son who has Down syndrome. They are trying to get to their very first baseball game, but this day has a lot of twists and turns and things don’t go as planned.”

The boy is played by Jeremiah Daniels of Aurora, who also has Down syndrome. “He has a huge support community here, so it’s sort of a home screening for him,” Campbell said.

There’s so much interest in this film, which blew audiences away at the Tribeca Film Festival, that Campbell moved one of its three scheduled screenings (Sunday’s) to the festival’s largest venue, the Holiday Theatre next to North High School. (Screenings today and Monday are already sold out.)

Campbell sees hundreds of films every year. “This is one of the few that got the emotions swelling in the old chest,” he said.

A LOOK AT ‘LUTHER’

Screening today only is a documentary look at the life and death of singing star Luther Vandross, who was only 54 when he died from a stroke in 2005. Featuring interviews with Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Roberta Flack; concert highlights; and rarely seen archival footage. 2 p.m. Saturday at the Sie FilmCenter.

DOCUMENTARY: ‘HOMEGROWN’

Perfectly timed for Tuesday’s election is “Homegrown,” a documentary that follows three right-wing activists from 2016 through their participation in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. One is a newly politicized father-to-be in New Jersey; another an Air Force veteran; the third an activist from Texas.

“One interesting thing about this documentary is that the director (Michael Premo) is African-American and has a journalism background,” Campbell said. “So he’s following these guys and really embedding himself within their little subsection of communities.”

“Homegrown” has been called “an unflinching chronicle of Americans at war with each other, offering an unprecedented look at right-wing activists as they search for purpose and power – with dire consequences. The result is a chilling portrait of a growing movement pushing American democracy to the brink.” 6:30 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. Sunday and 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, all at the AMC 9+101.

SPOTLIGHT ON ROCKY FLATS

One of the most highly anticipated documentaries of the festival will hit many audiences way too close to home. Jeff Gipe’s “Half-Life of Memory: America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory,” chronicles the ever-evolving disaster at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility, where a staggering 70,000 plutonium “triggers” for nuclear weapons were produced over four decades just west of Arvada, leaving behind dumped nuclear waste that contaminated the surrounding area. All buried beneath just six feet of soil and leaving behind a radioactive legacy that will persist for generations.

The plant’s fires, leaks and illegal dumping – including a massive plutonium fire in 1969 – contaminated the immediate vicinity with radioactive and toxic chemicals and sparked a decade of mass protests, eventually leading to an unprecedented FBI raid that shuttered the plant. Gipe’s film offers interviews, rare footage and first-person testimonials from former workers, activists, officials and community members.

“The contamination at Rocky Flats will long outlive our efforts to control or even remember it,” environmental journalist Hannah Nordhaus says in the film. 4:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Wednesday and 2 p.m. Friday, all at the Sie Film Center.

FUN TITLE OF THE DAY

“Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other,” 10 a.m. Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Sunday and 1:45 p.m. Monday at the AMC 9+10.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Jazz is the only art form created in the Western Hemisphere. And it came out of the African American church. It is ours. We created it, and this is the best cultural export the United States has.” – Local jazz legend Purnell Steen at the launch of Denver Arts Week.

INFORMATION AND TICKETS

Go to denverfilm.org

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