Film Series - Backstory

The Denver Public Library Film Series presents Backstory. Join us for the screenings as well as after-film discussion. View the complete Denver Scene schedule (PDF).

backstory, n., The experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a literary, cinematic, or dramatic work. 

November 6 - December 4

Noises Off!

Tuesday, November 6, 6:30 - 9 p.m.

Shown in the Central Library, Level B2 Conference Center

1992, Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Starring Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeves. Bogdanovich takes the reins of this very British slapstick farce and transports it to an American setting – a troubled group of actors testing out a Broadway-bound show in Des Moines. Structured like the original Michael Frayn three act play, Noises Off! chronicles every actor’s worst nightmare – an entire show of missed cues, garbled lines, drunken actors and broken props. Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong…and it’s hilarious! 101 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Moon Over Broadway

Tuesday, November 13, 6:30 - 9 p.m.

Shown in the Central Library, Level B2 Conference Center

1997, Directed by Chris Hegedus. Starring Carol Burnett, Phillip Bosco. Carol Burnett returned to Broadway after a thirty-year absence to star in Moon Over Buffalo. There are elements in Hegudus’ documentary that seem eerily like the goings on in the film Noises Off! – overweening egos, flubbed lines, whole set pieces breaking down. But this is for real. Moon Over Broadway records the familiar difficulties of launching a major Broadway show, replete with out-of-town tryouts that would leave the most fearless playwright or director trembling. A privileged and up close examination of what really goes into staging a show. 97 minutes. Unrated.

Vanya on 42nd Street

Tuesday, November 20, 6:30 - 9 p.m.

Shown in the Central Library, Level B2 Conference Center

1994, Directed by Louis Malle. Starring Julianne Moore, Wallace Shawn, Madhur Jaffrey, Andre Gregory. “The appeal of David Mamet's adaptation of the play Uncle Vanya lies not in its conceptual brilliance, but in the way that he – and director Malle – have stripped away the theatrical artifice to cut straight to the soul of the drama. The result is spare and emotionally direct. Dressed in their street clothes and still clutching cups of take-out coffee, the actors slide effortlessly into character, transforming the ruins of the abandoned theater around them into an intimate arena for revelation and confession.” Hal Hinson for The Washington Post. 119 minutes. Rated PG. Watch a preview

Waiting for Guffman

Tuesday, November 27, 6:30 - 9 p.m.

Shown in the Central Library, Level B2 Conference Center

1996, Directed by Christopher Guest. Starring Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey. Not since This is Spinal Tap has a faux documentary, or mockumentary, so perfectly captured the amateur side of the performing arts. Waiting for Guffman showcases an ensemble cast of very talented actors in a movie about a play filled with spectacularly untalented actors. Care to see what it's like to participate in rural, small town community theater? – See this flick! Poking subtle and not-so-subtle fun at everyone you might find in a tiny hamlet, from the resident gay actor and the Jewish dentist to the ice cream jockey who's got her sights set on the Great White Way, Waiting manages to do it all with an empathetic wink. 84 minutes. Rated R. Watch a preview

Stage Door

Tuesday, December 4, 6:30 - 9 p.m.

Shown in the Central Library, Level B2 Conference Center

1937, Directed by Gregory La Cava. Starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers. This screen adaptation of the Edna Ferber-George S. Kaufman play has so much going for it, that it’s hard to list it all. A stunning ensemble cast of Hollywood’s finest including Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Ann Miller, Constance Collier and Adolph Menjou – all trying to upstage each other with some of the pithiest dialogue ever written.  Costumes – yep, they’re sensational. Hepburn and Rogers, as enemies then frenemies, both do their fair share of ‘chewing the scenery.’ And Rogers even squeezes in a snappy dance number with Miller in between bitchy exchanges with Hepburn and the other ladies that inhabit this quintessential story about the tough road neophyte actors must travel in order to catch a break. 92 minutes. Unrated.

A sign language interpreter will be provided upon request with five business days notice. Call 720-913-8484 TTY or contact Lorrie.Kosinski@ci.denver.co.us.