The Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival Goes Virtual from March 4-7, 2021

Denver Film and Colorado Dragon Boat have announced the line-up for the 6th Annual Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival, opening March 4 and running through March 7 on Denver Film’s Virtual Cinema. The Festival will be available at www.denverfilm.org and by downloading the Denver Film app for Roku TV or Apple TV.
 
Founded in 2016, this year’s Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival continues its second-year partnership with Denver Film. The four-day all Asian and Asian American Film Festival is programmed with the theme, “representASIAN,” which focuses on films, organizations, and individuals that boldly highlight our culture and identity.

The March 4 Opening Night will kick off with a special presentation of Definition Please, a film about a former Scribbs Spelling Bee champion who must reconcile with her estranged brother when he returns home to help care for their sick mother. The Festival will wrap up on March 7 with the Closing Night presentation of Moonlit Winter, a drama about a teenager who accidentally learns about her mother’s first love after reading a letter.

Titles also include Angry Rice Wives, Days, Death of Nintendo, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom and Quezon’s Game.

Sara Moore, Colorado Dragon Boat Executive Director, states,

We chose the theme of ‘representASIAN’ for this year’s film festival because now more than ever it is important to boldly highlight the amazing accomplishments coming out of our community. The amount of talent coming from the Asian and AAPI community is vast and too often hidden from the mainstream media. We are working to change that.

The festival will feature virtual Q&A’s, panels, and conversations with filmmakers and the Denver community. The Q&A’s will be shown post-film for the following: Mechamorphosis, The Loyal Betrayal, Voices, The 3 Day Nun, Duo Pandemia, Ib Tsug 13 Hnub, Ntuj Tsim Txom, #AsianAmCovidStories, I Put the Bi in Bitter Season’s 1, 2, and 3, and Checkbox: Other.

A new highlight for this year’s festival is the “storytelling” panel where we will hear from community members on their journey of coming to America as a refugee or immigrant. Attendees will also hear from our first-generation Asian Americans on their experiences of being Asian American today.
 
Other highlights include: The Emerging Artist Showcase which will boldly highlight the amazing films of our student filmmakers. The festival is honored to be showcasing Marin Lepore’s final season of I Put the Bi in Bitter, Maddy Santamaria’s Checkbox: Other, and Steven Thai’s Safe.

Matthew Campbell, Denver Film’s Artistic Director, states,

We are very excited to present the Colorado Dragon Boat program. The selection of films really speaks to this year’s theme of representation; with several films addressing identity, history, and one’s place in the world. A variety of countries, cultures and stories comprise the program, offering a tightly curated sampling of contemporary Asian cinema.

Full festival passes are $55 for Denver Film Members/$65 Non-Member and Individual film tickets are $12 for Denver Film Members/$15 Non-Member. Individual tickets are currently on sale and full festival passes are available at denverfilm.org. 

Click here to see the full schedule and purchase passes.