{"id":7740,"date":"2017-09-21T19:50:11","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T19:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2796424&amp;preview_id=2796424"},"modified":"2017-09-21T19:50:11","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T19:50:11","slug":"lighting-up-the-screen-colorados-first-ever-cannabis-film-fest-to-open-in-fort-collins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/lighting-up-the-screen-colorados-first-ever-cannabis-film-fest-to-open-in-fort-collins\/","title":{"rendered":"Lighting up the screen: Colorado\u2019s first-ever cannabis film fest to open in Fort Collins"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/lighting-up-the-screen-colorados-first-ever-cannabis-film-fest-to-open-in-fort-collins\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Sep 21, 2017, 12:56 pm \u2022 Updated: Sep 21, 2017, 12:56 pm<span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/jwenzel\/\" rel=\"author\">John Wenzel<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Despite being the first state to debut recreational cannabis on Jan. 1, 2014, there are puzzling gaps in Colorado\u2019s otherwise tightly packed weed culture.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of cannabis-themed cultural events, from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2014\/12\/10\/sexpot-comedy-retools-for-2015-with-new-lineups-lessons-in-hand\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">comedy<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/theknow.denverpost.com\/2017\/02\/28\/snoop-dogg-wiz-khalifa-announce-joint-red-rocks-show\/137789\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hip-hop<\/a> shows to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2014\/05\/23\/colorado-symphony-orchestra-rolls-out-first-cannabis-linked-concert\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">classical-music fundraisers<\/a> and fashion gatherings, have waved their green flags over the state in the last three years.<\/p>\n<p>But this weekend, Colorado will finally host its first substantial marijuana-centric film festival \u2014 which remedies the lack of one in a state that\u2019s found a way to capitalize on seemingly every other aspect of legal weed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of times it really boils down to who is organizing and what level of support they\u2019re getting,\u201d said Tim Mattson, director and founder of the <a href=\"http:\/\/cannabusculturefilmfest.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CannaBus Culture Film Festival<\/a>, over the phone from New York City. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve been getting an incredible amount of support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mattson\u2019s CannaBus event, sponsored by Infinite Wellness Center, Willie\u2019s Reserve and others, comes to the Magnolia Theatre at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lctix.com\/cannabus-culture-film-festival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fort Collins\u2019 Lincoln Center Sept. 22-23.<\/a> It\u2019s so-named because Mattson and festival partner David Walters designed it as a touring event \u2014 first held last year in New York, and now expanding to a trio of cities in 2017, including Fort Collins and Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe plan to eventually have an actual bus with a projector built into it \u2026 similar to what HBO does for movies in Bryant Park here in NYC,\u201d Mattson said. \u201cWe\u2019d like to host outdoor screenings at least half of the year and the other half inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mattson identifies the country\u2019s first official weed-themed film fest as Northern California\u2019s Cannabis Film Festival in 2015 (now being held in San Francisco), with his own <a href=\"http:\/\/nyccff.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Cannabis Film Festival<\/a> close behind. The federal illegality of cannabis and its long-simmering cultural stigma have largely kept it off most programmers\u2019 radars, he said, even as states have increasingly legalized pot across the board.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s starting to show: FilmFreeway.com, a festival submission site, is already advertising the <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/festival\/ColoradoInternationalCannabisHempFilmFestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colorado International Cannabis &amp; Hemp Film Festival<\/a> for April 18, 2018, at Denver\u2019s Bug Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado\u2019s CannaBus event is relatively modest in its programming goals, offering a pair of features and several shorts in two screening blocks 8-11 p.m. each night, with a free after-party at Maxline Brewing in Fort Collins on Sept. 22, and $5 awards-night after-party to be announced on Cannabus\u2019 social media feeds Sept. 23.<\/p>\n<p>Comic Rob Cantrell will play host, having once toured with Comedy Central\u2019s \u201cThe Marijuana-Logues,\u201d the off-Broadway show that helped launch the careers of stoner favorites Doug Benson and Arj Barker.<\/p>\n<p>Cannabus Fest\u2019s first feature is \u201cBaked in Brooklyn,\u201d starring Josh Brener (Big Head from HBO\u2019s \u201cSilicon Valley\u201d) as a guy who begins selling weed after losing his job, according to festival materials, with Alexandra Daddario from this summer\u2019s \u201cBaywatch\u201d reboot co-starring. The second is the moody crime thriller \u201cDark Harvest,\u201d the first cannabis-related movie to feature Cheech Marin since his legendary stoner-comedy duo\u2019s last live-action film (1985\u2019s short-form Cheech &amp; Chong video \u201cGet Out of My Room\u201d).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/lighting-up-the-screen-colorados-first-ever-cannabis-film-fest-to-open-in-fort-collins.jpg\" alt=\"DarkHarvest_CheechMarin\" width=\"1650\" height=\"691\" class=\"size-full wp-image-88525\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dark Harvest\u2019s lawless marijuana landscape creates a web of sexual intrigue and violence in which the cop and grower are forced to settle their moral differences to stop a cunning psychopath. (Courtesy CannaBus Culture Film Festival)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>CannaBus marks the first big cannabis-themed entertainment event to hit Fort Collins\u2019 Lincoln Center since its $8 million renovation in 2010 \u2014 or ever, as far as anyone there can remember.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I have any misgivings, seeing as how we are a city-owned and -operated facility, and as such we want to makes sure not to trample on anyone\u2019s rights,\u201d said Jack Rogers, executive director of the Lincoln Center. \u201cI don\u2019t present cannabis-centric events, but I\u2019m not going to stand in the way of anyone\u2019s First Amendment rights to rent the building and present something \u2014 as long as they meet the same standards as any other client.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those standards, of course, include not bringing or consuming any cannabis on-site (which is illegal in Fort Collins), even if it\u2019s safe to assume a majority in attendance will be smuggling plenty of THC in their bloodstreams. Willie\u2019s Reserve will also hand out coupons to be redeemed at area dispensaries, Mattson said, noting that his event will adhere to all state laws regarding cannabis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe considered Denver (for the festival), but our deal is we\u2019re trying to hit more millennials, so college towns are a focus,\u201d Mattson said. \u201cBoulder was another option, but we really like Fort Collins and feel like it\u2019s a natural fit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Natural, and casual. When the CannaBus fest debuted last year, it was at a private residence in New York\u2019s Hudson Valley with about 50 people in attendance. The second event was a 2-day screening at an art studio in Times Square that drew a little more than 150 people.<\/p>\n<p>Mattson is confident this year\u2019s Fort Collins event \u2014 which costs $16 per day or $29 for a festival pass \u2014 will exceed that, filling all 226 seats at the Magnolia for both nights. He spent $15,000 to put it together and promote, versus $10,000 for the most recent CannaBus event in Brooklyn in June.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStoners have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/06\/30\/top-20-stoner-movies-reefer-madness-big-lebowski\/82460\/\">their top 10 favorite films<\/a>, as do I, but I\u2019ve seen them so many times so I wanted to up the ante and make it more diverse in subject matter. Maybe less male-based, maybe more gay,\u201d he said of the mix of films, which are curated from an online submission process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to grow our budget so we can see a full weekend of programming in the future. \u2026 It\u2019s all about the showing the current state of affairs in the world of cannabis, so it\u2019s a bit of info-tainment mixed in with showing cannabis in a positive light.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/jwenzel\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/lighting-up-the-screen-colorados-first-ever-cannabis-film-fest-to-open-in-fort-collins-1.jpg\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">John Wenzel writes about comedy, music, video games, books, film and other popular culture as an A&amp;E reporter for The Denver Post. He is the author of the Speck\/Fulcrum nonfiction book &#8220;Mock Stars&#8221; and has contributed to Rolling Stone, Esquire,&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>This weekend, Colorado will host its first substantial marijuana-centric film festival, the Cannabus Fest in Fort Collins. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6811,6813,4995,77,5667,9,7273,1602,392,5019,7327,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[6816,6818,4996,2655,5673,7274,4170,2970,5022,7328],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}