Filmmaker’s new movie is a love letter to Denver and music

Festivals like Denver Film Festival are a great place to launch independent films. “Lovers” is one of those films. Written and directed by Colorado native Taylor McFadden, the film is a love letter to Denver and music. It screened at the Denver Film Festival as a special presentation with a Q&A session after, which included McFadden and two of the actresses from the film. Denver singer/songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff also performed. He wrote an original song for the movie.
McFadden shot the film largely in Denver, working with the Colorado Film Commission.
“We had an incredible experience with our local crew. They rose really rose to the occasion. People are extremely talented here,” McFadden said.
Most of “Lovers” is shot in a bar named, Lovers, which is actually a bar on South Broadway.
“I actually worked in this bar,” McFadden explained with a laugh.
It’s an unassuming store front on Broadway, and a self-proclaimed dive bar and music venue called the Hi-Dive.
“The bar is really a character in the film,” McFadden said.
The bar is the gathering place for a group of long-time friends who are mourning the death of one of their own. The movie explores the complexities of coming home again, and the characters are forced to reconcile the loss of their friend with their own shortcomings.
“There is this really beautiful thing that happens when people lose someone that they come together. You sort of have to look at your life and say, ‘Am I doing what I want? Do I like what I’m doing? Am I living to my fullest,” McFadden explained. “There is this really complex sadness, as well as beauty that can come out of it. I just felt like I needed to express that personally.”
The characters come together for several days remembering old times, slipping into old rolls, and getting a different perspective on their current lives. “Lovers” feels reminiscent of the 1983 classic “The Big Chill.”
“‘The Big Chill’ is one of my favorite films,” McFadden told CBS News Colorado. “I was thinking, ‘How could you do this in a modern way? How could you do it more about women, and could I write the music into the movie and have the performances be in the film?'”
Music is definitely infused in the film. Musicians are characters and perform at Lovers at key moments. And then there’s that original song by Nathaniel Rateliff. Music heals and provides a soothing balm for these characters.
“Lovers” is a journey. By going back home, the characters can see themselves in a new way and open back up to life again.
LINK: For Tickets & Information for the Denver Film Festival
There’s still a few days left for the Denver Film Festival. “The Order” starring Jude Law screens tonight. It wraps up on Sunday with the critically acclaimed film, “September 5.”