Father Geek here with a great fest for any of you who live in the great Rocky Mountain time zone. Denver is hosting their 23rd International Film Festival Oct. 12-23 and ol' Father Geek really wishes he could be there, but alas, that is the exact same time frame as The Texas Screenwriters Conference & Austin Film Festival and we are all obligated to be there instead, but you mountain men and women trek on over to the Mile High City and prepare for the time of your lives...

Shirley MacLaine and Sean Penn will be honored at the 23rd AT&T Broadband Denver International Film Festival, which will unfold October 12-21. The 10-day festival, which is presented by Starz Encore, will showcase more than 100 feature films from around the world, including eight world premieres and seven North American and U.S. premieres, festival director Ron Henderson announced. More than 75 directors, actors and filmmakers are scheduled to make in-person appearances.

"We are delighted to be able to honor two extraordinary actors, representing two different generations, at this year's festival and to screen a wide array of films from around the world that otherwise might never be seen in Denver," festival director Ron Henderson said.

Actress Gena Rowlands will present the festival's 10th annual John Cassavetes Award to Penn for his achievements in American independent filmmaking.

The Saturday evening, October 14, "Centerpiece" event will feature a clips program highlighting Penn's career, which spans nearly two decades and includes more than 25 films. His performance in Dead Man Walking garnered an Academy Award nomination, an Independent Spirit Award and the Berlin International Film Festival Award for best actor.

Past Cassavetes award recipients have included Charles Burnett, Hal Hartley, Jim Jarmusch, Errol Morris, Alan Rudolph, John Sayles, Steven Soderberg, Robert M. Young and Barbara Kopple.

In conjunction with the 10th anniversary celebration of the Cassavetes Award, the festival will present the world premiere of Charles Kiselyak's A Constant Forge: An Exploration of the Life and Art of John Cassavetes, a definitive three-hour documentary on the maverick actor/director.

A panel, featuring actors Peter Falk and Seymour Cassel, director Kiselyak and Boston University film professor and Cassavetes' scholar Ray Carney, will explore the life and work of the man who has been called "the spiritual godfather of American independent film."

MacLaine will receive the Mayor's Lifetime Achievement Award on the festival's closing night, Saturday, October 21. Film critic-historian Leonard Maltin will present the award to MacLaine following a clips program tracing MacLaine's rich and diverse acting career. MacLaine, whose career has spanned 45 years and includes more than 40 films, received an Oscar for best actress for her portrayal of Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment.

She will also appear at the screening of her feature-film directorial debut, Bruno, starring MacLaine, Kathy Bates, Gary Sinise and Jennifer Tilly. The festival will also present tributes to two European directors and host an evening with Frank Capra, Jr. A tribute to the noted French director Claire Denis will anchor a 12-film celebration of new French cinema. She will appear in person at the screenings of three of her films, including the critically acclaimed Beau Travail.

The award winning Swiss documentarian Richard Dindo will also receive a festival tribute and will present the U.S. premiere of his latest film Genet A Chatila. Newsweek critic David Ansen will present Frank Capra, Jr. a "Lest We Forget" award on behalf of his father in conjunction with a screening of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Other special programs include a Special Event Screening of Shadow of the Vampire with director E. Elias Merhige appearing in person and a 10th anniversary salute to Milestone Film & Video. In addition to A Constant Forge, the following films will receive their screening debuts at this year's Denver festival: A House on a Hill, by Chuck Workman; Cuba: Island of Music, by Gary Keys; Death Row, USA, by Ali Pomeroy; Fearful Symmetry, by Charles Kiselyak; Hey Vinny, by John Huba; John Lee Hooker: That's My Story (Germany), by Joerg Bendschuh; House on Fire, by Mustapha Kahn and produced by Academy Award winner Donna Dewey; and Spare Some Change, by Joachim Lombard.

Showing for the first time in North America are: AudioVisions: New Videos + Music From Austria, a package of short avant garde films distributed by Sixpack Film; Juliane (Denmark), by Hans Kristensen; Johnny Famous (Hungary), by Gergely Fonyo; and Why Get Married the Day the World Ends (Belgium), by Harry Claven.

In addition to Genet A Chatila, Waiting for Godot at de Gaulle, by Alexis Kouros, will make its American debut in Denver.

Other high-profile films included on the festival's 100-plus film slate are Dominik Moll's Harry, He's Here to Help, Gerald Stembridge's About Adam, Christopher Guest's Best in Show, Jerzy Stuhr's The Big Animal, Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliott, John Berry's Boesman & Lena, Ken Loach's Bread and Roses, Paul Cox's Innocence, Jason Alexander's Just Looking, Amos Gitai's Kippur, Volker Schlondorff's The Legends of Rita, Lech Majewski's Wojaczek, Alejandro Gonzolez's Amores Perros, Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, Robert Mugge's Rhythm 'N' Bayous, Maggie Greenwald's Songcatcher, Tony Vitale's Very Mean Men, Bahman Ghbadi's A Time for Drunken Horses, Raymond DeFelitta's Two Family House, Stephano Grossi's Two Like Us, Not of the Best, Tonie Marshall's Venus Beauty Institute, Francois Ozon's Water Drops on Burning Rocks, James Gray's The Yards, Edward Yang's Yi Yi, and Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me.

Details on these and other films are available on the festival Web site, http://www.denverfilm.org , and on the Verizon Wireless Festival hotline at (303) 820-FILM. Festival tickets went on sale to the general public Sept. 30.

FACT SHEET

23rd AT&T Broadband Denver International Film Festival

Oct. 12 - 21, 2000

By the Numbers:

-- Number of films: 180

-- International submissions: 900

-- Short films: 64

-- World premieres: 8

-- North American premieres: 5

-- U.S. premieres: 2

-- Screens used: 11

-- Venues: 4

-- Number of available seats over entire festival: 34,456

-- Minutes of film screened in festival: 11,160

-- Longest film: 200 min.

-- Shortest film: 1 min.

-- Number of guests (filmmakers and actors): 75+

-- American films: 60

-- French films: 12

-- British films: 6

-- Countries represented: 31, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan.