ALSO: COLORADO FILMMAKERS HAVE THEIR SCREEN MOMENTS

DISPATCH FROM THE DENVER FILM FESTIVAL • DAY 9

Dec. 11, 1983. The day The Duke of Denver was born.

John Elway had been benched for much of his sporadic rookie season. But on this day, he engineered his first fourth-quarter comeback against the team he had refused to play for. Baltimore had used the No. 1 pick on Elway, who demanded and received a trade. Three months into his rookie season, Elway led the Broncos on three fourth-quarter touchdown drives. Denver 26, Houston 24.

For anyone old enough to have witnessed the Elway years, telling the young folk of today “The Elway Stories” is a little like passing on sacred family ancestries around a campfire. It’s great fun. There are so many tales to tell, it sounds like they could not possibly all be true.

This one is:

Jan. 4, 1992. Houston led 21-6 in an AFC divisional playoff game, and Denver’s offense was going nowhere. After the Oilers’ defense forced yet another Denver punt, a TV camera caught Houston receiver Ernest Givins on the sideline, laughing in Elway’s face. That’s when KOA play-by-play man Bob Martin uttered the immortal words: “That’s not the smartest thing you’d want to do.” And the Broncos made him pay.

As Denver was closing within 24-16, Denver defender Charles Dimry turned Givins on his head – literally – on an out-of-bounds play. Elway then led an 80-yard drive that made the score 24-23 with 6:53 left. The Broncos got the ball back on their own 2-yard line with 2:07 left and no timeouts remaining. Elway then converted two fourth-and-6 plays to set up David Treadwell’s game-winning, 28-yard field goal. Denver 26, Houston 24.

Of his fourth-down heroics, Elway later said: “When you do it twice, it proves that the first time wasn’t lucky.” That was The Elway Swagger. You tell ’em, Duke.

Maybe those moments will be covered in the upcoming Netflix documentary “Elway” – maybe not. Directors Ken Rodgers and Chris Weaver certainly had more magical material to choose from than they could possibly fit into a 98-minute documentary.

And just as Elway knew how to close out a game, Denver Film knows how to close out a 10-day festival. “Elway” will be shown tonight for an audience of up to 1,000 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, with Elway taking questions from the stage afterward.

And, as anyone who has attended a home game is aware, the Broncos certainly know how to put on a show. The team has arranged for alumni players (including Terrell Davis and Keith Bishop), cheerleaders and all three of the team’s Lombardi Trophies (from their three Super Bowl wins) to be on hand for a pre-screening red-carpet party from 5:30-7 p.m., with the film to follow.

“Elway,” coming to Netflix at a date to be announced, will cover his career as a college and professional football player, including his baseball draft and two Super Bowl wins with the Broncos – as well as his more challenging role later on as a team executive. It is being produced in part by Peyton Manning‘s Omaha Productions.

There was a time when it seemed Elway’s popularity in Denver would never fade. My God, the Hollywood drama of it all. After 14 mostly unfulfilling seasons that included three progressively more embarrassing Super Bowl shellackings, Elway finally climbed the mountain by leading the Broncos to a victory over Green Bay. That would have been a spectacular way to ride into the sunset. But, no. Elway came back and repeated the feat against the Falcons. That’s Duke.

As the Deputy Sports Editor at The Denver Post for those later years, I felt most of us in the media were somehow complicit in building the Elway legend to impossible proportions. All the posters, the special sections, the 600-point headlines that likely still hang in bedrooms around town. In retrospect, the Elway years now seem mythic. That 14 of them were miserable or ended in heartbreak only adds to the legend.

In one random week of 1989, the local media reported that Elway had been seen at a popular Cherry Creek bar playing backgammon; that he is a terrible tipper; and, most infamously, what Halloween candy brands were being handed out from his porch.

In 2000, when Denver’s quintessential country-rock frontman of the day, Slim Cessna, moved his family to Rhode Island, he told me: “The thing that made it easier for me to move was that John Elway retired. I didn’t have much left in Denver after that, because I love him so much, and I’m not being sarcastic.”

In 2007, as The Denver Post’s theater critic, I attended a play in which a character compares Fidel Castro’s ability to avoid assassination to Elway’s ability to escape the rush.

It was said after his 1999 retirement that Elway, who to that point had shown zero public interest in local politics, might run for governor as a Republican. I remember polls at the time showing that Elway would win in any statewide race with 80% of the vote. I don’t know if this is true, but it was said at the time that Elway thought better of entering the race because it would be the first time in his life that 20% of his fans would be against him. In those days, almost no one was against him.

But it’s fascinating to consider that this latest “Elway moment” is coming now, in 2025, a full 25 years since he last stepped onto the field. And 10 since he personally delivered Manning to Denver’s doorstep.

From today’s lens, “The Elway Legacy” is nothing if not complicated. It includes triumph, heartbreak, controversy and recent tragedy. He’s universally hailed as the franchise’s greatest player, but 42 years in the constant public eye have invited debate over his successes and off-field missteps.

Among them: There was a lawsuit settlement (with no admission of wrongdoing) after a Black coaching prospect accused Elway of conducting an alleged “sham interview” with no intent to hire. In 1998, Elway famously declined a minority ownership stake in the Broncos that would be worth more than $500 million today. And sure, everybody has a right to be happy – but did he have to fall in love with a Raiders cheerleader? (I know: They’ve been married for 16 years. Bygones.)

You can be sure this new Netflix documentary will focus instead on Elway’s unassailable on-field accomplishments. On that score, the Elway legacy is simple, clear and untouchable.

TURN THAT TRIANGLE UPSIDE DOWN!

There has been a lot of talk at this year’s Denver Film Festival about the benefits and utter inadequacies of the state’s $5 million annual commitment to filmmaking incentives. One way the state’s film office could turn those frowns upside down would be by turning its incentives triangle upside down.

Colorado’s better-than-nothing commitment to filmmaking in the state has conditions – a key one being that a benefitting company must spend at least $100,000 to qualify for a piece of the pie.

These incentives are amazing; that’s a given. It has been estimated that every dollar spent yields an $18 return to the local economy.

Problem is: That does nothing, zip, nada for Colorado’s scrappiest, most experimental, most-in-need filmmakers. The ones who created the nine winning short narrative films that were celebrated with two screenings at the Denver Film Festival this week. I did a random poll of the winning filmmakers, all of whom scramble to balance multiple jobs and financing hustles to make their moviemaking craft even a doable pastime. Their budgets ranged from zero to $14,000. In other words: No one here is touching $100K.

Read more: A consequential conversation on film incentives

But what if the state were to invert the triangle and instead start by supporting the least-funded  projects and go from there? That would benefit the local economy, too, because these filmmakers have to pay the rent like everyone else. Whether that money goes to big projects or small, it’s all money that is infused into the Colorado economy.

Fiona McNeal is the screenwriter of a provocatively titled satire titled “The House of P*ssy.” It’s a comic variation on “The Handmaid’s Tale” in which a beautiful middle-aged wife is checked into a bizarre rehab facility by a husband who wants her cured of her desire for sex.

I asked McNeal what life is like for a Colorado filmmaker who’s trying to make it all work without much financial help from … anyone.

“Honestly, it’s incredibly stressful, and I think at times it can be very defeating,” McNeal said. “But, it’s weird. You go through periods of lows, but then you get real periods of highs when you’re making art with people that you love and trust. So it’s a roller coaster of emotions.

“This is not unique to Colorado, but filmmaking at this level is a very unstable and unpredictable environment to be in. It has been for us, at least.”

It is as well for Robbie C. Ward, another winning filmmaker, brilliant visual artist, musician and new father. Ward has been developing his mysterious 15-minute short “Animal Farm” for seven years while enduring seven hospitalizations for Crohn’s disease.

Still, he has persisted. “Animal Math” is an animated fantasia with thousands of hand-drawn cutouts and painted backgrounds. Ward said his intense commitment to developing the film has helped him to work through his often isolating health challenges.

Actor Laura Lounge, who starred in “The House of P*ssy,” said, “We’re already doing the thing. We just need to keep funding it so that we can build and nurture this rich ground that we’re already working.”

That means incentives programs for micro-budget projects. That also means festivals like this one paying artists for showing their work to sold-out audiences. “Unfortunately, you just saw two hours’ worth of great content, and no one here is getting paid for it,” Lounge said. “That’s true for all festivals. The system needs to be reworked.”

Thursday’s program also revealed where the cream of the Colorado film community’s creative minds are at right now.

The 2025 winning slate, Denver Film Programming Manager Ambriehl Turrentine pointed out, spans horror, sci-fi and fantasy exclusively. “This is a weird and wacky and hilarious – and potentially as scary and gory – package,” she said to the crowd’s delight.  

WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY

Actor Lucy Liu will receive the festival’s highest honor, the John Cassavetes Award, before a screening of her new film, “Rosemead.” Liu (“Kill Bill,” “Charlie’s Angels”) is internationally recognized for her roles in films that have grossed more than $3.7 billion worldwide. “Rosemead,” produced by and starring Liu, follows a Chinese American family that is shaken when a mother discovers her teenage son’s violent obsessions. 4:15 p.m. at the Denver Botanic Gardens

SCREENING OF THE DAY 
People in the know say “The Secret Agent” is maybe the best film of the entire festival. It’s a richly textured thriller set in Brazil, 1977: A widowed academic finds himself on the run after clashing with a corrupt minister intent on seizing his research. It’s in Portuguese. 1 p.m. at the Denver Botanic Gardens

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Put your money where my hands is!” – Denver actor and filmmaker Laura Lounge, to anyone willing to support local filmmaking

EARLY HEADS UP ON 2026

Next year’s Denver Film Festival dates have not yet been determined, but there’s a good chance it’ll be moving up a week on the calendar, for a variety of reasons unrelated to the first Sundance Film Festival in Boulder coming up in January 2026. This is all a crapshoot, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pencil Oct. 24-Nov. 1 into your heads as probable ’26 Denver Film Fest dates.

DISCOUNT TICKETS

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

Saturday’s $5 films or events:

• “Top Secret!” 12:45 p.m. at the Sie FilmCenter (U.S.)

• “Heads or Tails? / Testa o croce?” 1 p.m. at the Holiday Theater (Italy, U.S.)

• “Kontinental ’25,” 8:45 p.m. at the Sie FilmCenter (Romania)

TICKETS AND INFORMATION

Go to denverfilm.org

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

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Nov. 3

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Nov. 4

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Nov. 5

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Nov. 6

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Nov. 7

• Daily Dispatch from the Denver Film Festival: Nov. 8