Nearly a century after it opened, the Egyptian Theatre in the small Western Slope city of Delta will host its first-ever film festival.
Its centerpiece is a whole day dedicated to locally-made cinema, including comedies, dramas and horror movies.
This Saturday, the Delta Egyptian Film Festival will feature moviemaking by local high school and university students, and the afternoon and evening will showcase two established western Colorado filmmakers: Tycho Wade and Hank Braxtan.
Wade’s horror-mystery “Cinemortal” was shot at the Egyptian. Braxtan’s newest film, “American Vampires” was filmed entirely in Grand Junction and recently showed for a sold-out crowd at Grand Junction’s Avalon Theatre.
University student and new director Stacey Benson, whose short film will be featured this Saturday, was there on that packed, joyful night, watching as the audience cheered on heroes who fought vampires across recognizable sections of Mesa County. While Benson didn’t work on that movie, many of her fellow Colorado Mesa University Tech students did.
It was exciting “to watch it at the end of the day and just be absolutely astounded by the movie itself,” she said. “It was so good. I was just so proud of everybody.”
To have her own movie, a short horror film called “The Mirror,” included Saturday, “means a lot to me,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to put into words truly how life changing it’s been, going down this path. It really has.”
Benson, 34, never thought she’d be a filmmaker, but got into the industry when she was editing YouTube videos she and her friends were making about their gaming pastime. Through CMU Tech, she’s already had her first short film shown to audiences in a few small venues.
Courtesy: Stacey Benson“The Mirror,” a short film by Stacey Benson, is one of many locally made movies that will be featured Saturday the Delta Egyptian Film Festival.
Hearing viewers’ reactions to her film, about a guy who looks in a mirror and sees a disturbing image staring back at him, has been “so satisfying” she said, describing a moment when an audience member screamed at a jump scare.
“I was trying not to sit there and giggle to myself in the theater with a whole bunch of people around me,” she said, “but it was extremely gratifying.”
This past year, the off-kilter horror movies “Backrooms” and “Obsession” were widely popular, and were both directed by young first-time directors.
“It gives me hope for the future,” Benson said.
The Delta Egyptian Festival Saturday Schedule
10:30 a.m. — Colorado Mesa University Student Showcase
Noon — High School Film Exposure Program
1 p.m. — Filmmaker Panel with writer and director Tycho Wade at the Delta Library Comic-Con
2 p.m. — CMU Tech Student Showcase
4 p.m. — Showing of “Cinemortal” directed by Tycho Wade
7 p.m. — Showing of “American Vampires” Directed by Hank Braxton
