Boulder Fest with Big Ambitions Takes a Big Step

Toofy Film Fest 2006 Starts Tonight

By Mark Phillips, 9-27-06

Boulder's Toofy Film Fest 2006 runs Thursday through Sunday this week at several venues in downtown Boulder. The backstory on Toofy's name has been fairly well documented, so I'll leave it to your googling self to discover. I'm into the movies! In 2004, Toofy debuted with 15 films on one night's program. 2006 brings the 3rd Toofy with over 50 films shown over three days and two extra days of fashion, fine art, and music thrown in for good measure.
I spoke with Toofy Festival Director Jeff Siebert last night about the history of the festival, its future, and this year's offering. While they screened over 500 submissions for the festival (compared to 300 last year), Siebert and his co-founder brother Mark focused most of their energy this year on building buzz and driving attendance. In 2005, 1500 people showed; this year they plan on 2500+. The Plan? Keep ticket prices low ($6.50 per show; $15 for a day pass; $25 all access), bring good, hard-to-find independent film to Boulder, and sign up hip sponsors like The Onion, Altitude TV, and Myspace too help get the word out. In what feels like a huge coup, Myspace put Toofy on the film page and offered an enviable featured profile spot on their home page.


What kind of festival is Toofy, you ask? Siebert has little interest in normal festival trappings like premiers, workshops, and industry panels. "We prefer to be an exhibition for people to see films they can't see anywhere else." An outlet for local film either isn't a priority either or, at the very least, isn't practical given the quantity and quality of the international response. Asked about the number of state or regional films submitted, Jeff shook his head and said that, of over 500 entries, only 10 or 20 were local. "The independent film scene is here, but nobody's been successful at rallying the troops." As an example, Siebert mentioned the unexpected departure of Colorado Film Commissioner Martin Cuff in May, after making big plans and spending less than one year in that position. "He had good ideas, but now he's gone. That's not a good sign."

Toofy's growth is a good sign, however, and if Siebert's ambitions play out, several years from now Boulder will brag about a week-long festival of film and music, presumably still with an eye toward quality and affordability. Early ticket sales are higher than this time last year, so they're definitely on the right track.

Details and Don't Misses

Toofy launches tonight with a kickoff party at Trilogy Wine Bar. Japan Implosion will screen-print one of your t-shirts for free on the spot and several live bands, including Waiting for Roger and Storytyme start at 9. Cover $5.
Friday night, the fashion and fine art portion of Toofy starts at 9PM at the new Seven Eurobar. No Cover.
Movies start at 5PM on Saturday and run through late Sunday. All will be screened at the Boulder Theater.
More information, film clips, directions, etc. at www.toofy.com

ps. I haven't figure out exactly how they're involved, but an enigmatic design/retail store next to Trilogy, called Cypher 13 is definitely worth a visit. They're on Toofy's promo material, so they're involved somehow. They have some of the most exciting and creative art work, toys, and t-shirts I've encountered in a long time.

10MPH was shot by Colorado filmmaker Hunter Weeks. Come out for the local boy on Sunday at 5PM.
Pirates of Salt Lake is filmed in...you guessed it...Salt Lake. Come out to support the...um...regional...um...subject matter.
Jeff actually rated Pirates of Salt Lake and a short called Hooked on Sunday's 7PM program as the best "Date Movie" bets. Hooked features a number of well-know TV actors, including Zach Braff, Fred Savage, and Gilmore Girls regular Matt Czuchry.
The festival's must see, American Storage, features Steve Carell (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and shows in Saturday's 7PM Short Film Program.

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