DISPATCH FROM THE DENVER FILM FESTIVAL • DAY 4

Actor Delroy Lindo was in Denver on Saturday night, but his thoughts were 2,200 miles away – in Jamaica.

Lindo was taking turns speaking with local media on the red carpet at the Sie Film Center moments before receiving a career achievement award at the 48th Denver Film Festival.

At such times, it’s natural to ask a person what’s left on your bucket list at age 72. After the four Spike Lee Films, after performing August Wilson and Lorraine Hansberry on the stage, and most recently, after appearing in the cultural shape-shifter film “Sinners.”

So I did. But Lindo’s mind was elsewhere.

“Well, it’s not quite the answer that you’re expecting,” he told me in that red-carpet press line, accented by dozens of surrounding camera flashes.

“If I could do anything right now, I would send all the aid that I could muster to the honor of Jamaica.”

The answer required no explanation. On Tuesday, Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane with winds up to 185 mph. The damage is catastrophic.

Melissa is the most powerful hurricane to ever strike the island nation, bringing torrential rains and damaging winds, killing at least 28 in Jamaica alone, and 60 across the Caribbean. Hundreds of thousands have been left without power. Many homes have been destroyed.

Lindo’s parents were Jamaican immigrants who moved to England in 1951. Lindo was born there the next year. The family moved to Toronto when he was a teenager, and later to San Francisco.

To help deliver lifesaving aid to Jamaica, go to give.projecthope.org.

FOLLOWING JOAN CHEN

At this time last year, Denver Film was bestowing its career achievement award upon Joan Chen, who is a friend of Lindo’s. The two appeared together in the 1989 science-fiction cult film “Salute of the Jugger” (also known as “The Blood of Heroes”). It’s a wild film that starred Rutger Hauer and has inspired a real-life blood sport and spawned a global community.

“Joan Chen is an incredibly, profoundly talented, smart, compassionate human being and artist,” Lindo said. “I had no idea that Joan had gotten this award last year, but following her … that’s pretty great.”

DOUBLE TAKE

As he was exiting the Sie FilmCenter, Lindo took a short, private moment to stop and acknowledge framed photographs of actors Danny Glover and Alfre Woodard. He didn’t say anything, but he was clearly pleased to see their faces on the wall. Glover and Woodard are both previous Denver Film Festival award winners and attendees.

SCREENING OF THE DAY

“Is This Thing On?” is Bradley Cooper’s third directorial feature after “A Star Is Born” and “Maestro.” This one is a deliberate change of pace – a more relaxed, intimate crowd-pleaser that highlights his versatility as a filmmaker. Cooper is being praised for coaxing a career-best performance from comic actor Will Arnett in a rare leading dramatic role. Arnett’s Alex uses stand-up comedy as a therapeutic outlet for processing his crumbling marriage to Tess (Laura Dern) as the ex-couple are forced to navigate co-parenting and exploring whether love can take a new form. The film will be released nationally on Dec. 19. 7 p.m. Monday at the Holiday Theater

CHARLIE’S ‘PLAGUE’

Stories of adolescent bullying, and specifically the toxic behavior of (and on) pre-pubescent boys, are certainly having their moment in 2025. “The Plague” is an intense psychological thriller that has been favorably compared to the global Netflix phenomenon “Adolescence.” Both in their ways explore the brutal consequences of bullying, social hierarchy and toxic masculinity on 12-year-old boys.

In the story, set in 2003, young Jake is a charismatic yet cruel ringleader of a group of boys at a summer water-polo camp. He is the main instigator of the bullying against a boy named Eli, who has a skin condition the group cruelly nicknames “the plague.” But the protagonist of the film is Ben, who is forced to choose between group acceptance and his own moral compass.

“The Plague” was a rare breakthrough American drama to make it into the 2025 Cannes Film Festival lineup, where it garnered an 11-minute standing ovation from French audiences who tend to take a perverse fascination in the failures of contemporary American life. But the film seemed to have had a similarly profound impact on a Denver Film Festival audience Saturday at the Sie FilmCenter. Afterward, young Charlie Polinger was presented with Denver Film’s Breakthrough Director Award. 

“It’s a huge honor,” Polinger said. “I mean, this is such a small and personal film, and so to see it getting some recognition, and being out there in the world, is really exciting.”

Polinger describes the film as “like an immersive experience of being a 12-year-old boy. So it’s a pretty intense emotional roller coaster. It’s very high anxiety, and hopefully we’ll bring back some memories.”

The film will be released nationally Jan. 2.

FAMILY MATTERS

Remember the name: Everett Blunck, who plays the main character of Ben in “The Plague,” is being favorably compared to Owen Cooper, who at 15 recently became the youngest male actor to win an Emmy Award for best actor in a limited series (“Adolescence.”)

Blunck, who lives in Bozeman, Mont., was not able to join his castmates at Cannes because of his school schedule. And he wasn’t in Denver on Saturday, either, because – curse of the successful – he’s working on another project. But you know who was here? The 15-year-old’s aunt, Cynthia Blunck, who moved to Denver 21 years ago.

“It’s magnificent, and I’m just thrilled for Charlie,” she said. “A friend of mine lives in the south of France, and she sent me all the reviews from the French press. One of them said this movie should be shown in every single junior high school in France.”

Asked what she hopes those kids get out of seeing it, she continued: “Well, I hope they identify with Ben and not with Jake, right? Because Jake is a horrible little bully, and the actor (Kayo Martin) played the part really well.”

“The Plague” will be released in Colorado on Jan. 2.

THE IMPORTANT, UNASKED QUESTION

I was armed with the crucial, hard-hitting question of the festival for Polinger – but I chickened out. Joel Edgerton could be called the face of the 2025 Denver Film Festival, with major roles in both “The Plague” and “Train Dreams.”

In “The Plague,” Edgerton plays Daddy Wags, the youth water-polo coach. In “Train Dreams,” based on Denis Johnson’s beloved novella, Edgerton plays a simple man who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly changing America of the early 20th century. Just for fun, I wanted to know: “Who got the better Edgerton performance?” which turns out to be an unfair question, as Edgerton is already being talked up as a strong contender for a Best Actor nomination for his role as the logger in “Train Dreams.”

But he’s already an Oscar winner to Polinger.

“Joel just really connected with the script,” he said. “I think these themes of young boys and bullying really connected with his own experiences as a 12-year-old boy in Australia. He basically just said, ‘Look, I’m happy to produce the film or act in it. I’ll do anything I can to help get this made.’ And that really was our pathway to finding financing.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

Today is perhaps the lightest day of the festival schedule, and yet the lineup includes a dizzying array of global films that will take audiences from 1957 Budapest to Guatemala to Tunisia to Stalin-era Russia to a maternal shelter near Liège. Then there is the love story of a grieving Irish woman and a hawk. Something for everyone.

I AM MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO …

That said, I am what I am, and as such I can’t wait to see “Cover-Up,” a U.S. documentary tracing the explosive career of investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, whose exposes have included My Lai, Abu Ghraib and the present cycles of impunity in the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. There’s never a bad time to be reminded of the essential need for investigative journalism and speaking truth to power, but it seems especially urgent right now. And this documentary unfolds with the pace of a thriller. Co-directed by Oscar-winner Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus. 7 p.m. at the Sie FilmCenter

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“One of the aspirations that I had, and many actors of my generation had, was that we thought that theater could change the world. And I still believe that, absolutely.” – Delroy Lindo

DISCOUNT TICKETS

Adventurous moviegoers looking for a bargain will find them for the first time at this year’s fest. Each day, Denver Film is designating a few titles or events that can be had for $5 when tickets are purchased in person. Box offices open 30 minutes before the first showtime of the day.

Monday’s $5 films or events:

• ”Student Shorts: Animation Competition,” 1 p.m. at the Sie FilmCenter (U.S.)

• ”Comparsa,” 3 p.m. at the Holiday Theater (Spain)

• “A Poet”/”Un poeta,” 3:30 p.m. at the Sie FilmCenter (Colombia, Germany, Sweden)

TICKETS AND INFORMATION

Go to denverfilm.org

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at john.moore@denvergazette.com.

MORE OF OUR DENVER FILM FESTIVAL COVERAGE:

• Our interview with Delroy Lindo

• Here are five films you don’t want to miss

• Look who’s coming to Denver 

• Spotlight on Colorado films like ‘Creede U.S.A.’

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Oct. 31

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Nov. 1

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Nov. 2

• Donald Zuckerman out as Colorado Film Commissioner