When people — especially people from other parts of this great, confused country of ours — think of Boulder, they think of the still unsolved JonBenét Ramsey murder case. They imagine CU as a party school whose students spend four to six years skiing, swilling microbrews and occasionally rioting on The Hill. They picture lost, aimless youths smoking pot and playing hacky sack on Pearl Street. They scorn the idealistic hippies of 1960s’ Boulder as sellouts who have become monied, myopic, knee-jerk liberals. The saddest part of these mostly inaccurate perceptions is that they completely fail to see the simplest and truest of Boulder’s identities, a city rich in artistic creation and free expression.

 

This week, for the fourth year in a row, brothers Jeff and Mark Siebert will stare into the face of all who misperceive Boulder and blow a great big raspberry in the form of Toofy Film Fest 2007. Four years ago, the Siebert brothers founded Team Toofy Productions, a Denver-based management, marketing and production company with a focus on films. A year later, these two do-it-yourselfers brought the first annual Toofy Film Fest to life. A slight misnomer, the Toofy Film Fest features not only independent cinema from around the world but also showcases independent contributions to music, fine art and fashion.

 

“There’s really cool stuff out there that I’ve never seen before and I know a lot of other people haven’t seen before, so let’s get it out there. That was our motivation for starting the festival,” explains Jeff Siebert.

 

Over the next three days, that is exactly what Team Toofy will be doing. The festival kicks off with a fine-art opening at JoyEngine (2037 13th St., 303-449-1967) on Thursday, Sept. 6. On Friday, Sept. 7, Trilogy (2017 13th St., 303-473-9463) will host Toofy’s music showcase with Boulder’s own Storytyme playing loud and proud, and on Saturday a fashion show known as Toofy Un-Tied will take place at Seven on Pearl (1035 Pearl St., 303-625-1057). On Saturday and Sunday Toofy takes over the Boulder Theater (2032 14th St., 303-786-7030) for screenings of all the short and feature-length films presented this year. Tickets for individual films run just $7. Full-day passes for either Saturday or Sunday allow you to see every film screened that day for only $19.50, and an all-access pass granting entry to every screening both days runs $32.50.

 

One highly anticipated film featured at Toofy Film Fest 2007 is the Colorado premiere of the Ronalds Brothers production, NetherBeast Incorporated. A comic re-envisioning of vampire mythology, NetherBeast Incorporated takes a hilarious look at a group of vampire-like “netherbeasts” who hide in plain sight as members of a successful, long-lived telecommunications firm. Think The Office meets Love at First Bite. To the Ronalds Brothers’ credit, they have assembled a stellar cast for their film. Saturday Night Live’s Darrell Hammond stars as the befuddled leader of the netherbeasts. He is joined by Dave Foley (Kids in the Hall, News Radio) as a harried middle-management type, Jason Mewes (Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) playing a slightly more buttoned-down version of his famous Jay character from Kevin Smith’s movies, Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire) as the ever-dreaded productivity consultant and Robert Wagner (yes, that Robert Wagner) as former President James Garfield.

 

Acting alongside all the veteran talent in NetherBeast Incorporated is CU graduate and Colorado Shakespeare Festival alum Maiz Lucero, who plays the netherbeast’s parachute pants-wearing, Flock of Seagulls-haired head of security (trust me, it makes sense in context). As excited as he was to share the screen with one of his cinematic heroes, Judd Nelson, Maiz sees NetherBeast Incorporated and the Toofy Film Fest in broader terms. “I hope that it can bring some attention to the film-making community here in Denver and in Boulder. There are some amazing feature films happening here. It’s an exciting time for the Colorado film-making community.”

 

A celebration of the independent, creative spirit that is the true life blood of Boulder, Toofy Film Fest 2007 offers something for everyone.