Cheyenne International Film Festival at the Atlas Theatre [VIDEO]

Do you love movies? If you do, this event is just the thing for you, 47 films will be screened May 19-22 in downtown Cheyenne.

The Cheyenne International Film Festival begins today through the weekend at the historic Atlas Theatre. Tickets for most events are $10, some are free, while the opening and closing night $30. Advance tickets are available at Phoenix Books & Music at 1612 Capitol Avenue or at the door if not sold out.

Some of the highlights of the four-day event include:

• After School Special on Thursday, May 19, starting at 3:30 p.m at the Atlas Theatre. Showing three kid's movies on 16 mm film rather than digital, in collaboration with the Laramie County Library. The three films are "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (narrated by Bing Crosby), "The Red Balloon" (a film that won an Oscar in 1957 for Best Original Screenplay), and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too."
• On Friday, May 20, from 9:30 to 11:30 it's Late Night Humor at a special price: $5. The program begins with a short film by Jeff Miller of Wyoming called "The Joy of Dating" then it's New Zealand director Jason Stutter's short film "Careful with that Power Tool" and the 91-minute feature is "Punching the Clown," winner of the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival.
• Saturday morning, May 21, from10-noon for$10 at the Atlas Theatre, five short films will be shown, leading up to "The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg." It's a nearly hour-long documentary about the poet directed by Jerry Aronson who spent 25 years accumulating more than 120 hours of film on Allen Ginsberg. Cameos in the film include Joan Baez, Johnny Depp and Paul McCartney.
• The Plains Hotel's Centennial will be celebrated Saturday night at the Atlas Theatre with appetizers and wine beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tribal members and dancers from the Northern Arapaho Tribe will provide a traditional welcome, singing and blessing, then a short film will be shown called "The Six Dollar Fifty Man." Actor Wilford Brimley and his wife Beverly are scheduled to make an appearance, they founded Hands Across the Saddle based in Greybull, Wyoming which is co-sponsoring Saturday's event. See my previous blog for more. The feature film is a never-before-seen black and white silent film about Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1911 that was found in the archives of the Orgon State Historical Office, originally printed on nitrate film, and was preserved by the Old West Museum. Rattlesnake Jake Martin will provide a live spontaneous piano score to the silent film.

And there's even more coming up on Sunday at Cheyenne's International Film Festival. Get out and enjoy the works of some very talented people.