CHEYENNE — A terrified girl running alone through the woods from a psychopath on the hunt is the basic plot of a new Wyoming-made film that will debut this week at the 12th annual Wyoming International Film Festival.
What this campy horror-comedy mashup has that most other slasher films don’t is puppets.
All the action features multi-colored hand puppets that look like the cast was on a “Sesame Street" field trip when they somehow got lost in the woods and everything went horribly wrong.
“Threat Valley Massacre” is the work of a Sheridan filmmaker and Reign Studios, and it’s one film that definitely is not coming to a theater screen near you.
Cheyenne is the only place to see the premiere of this horror-comedy-puppet project that festival Operations Manager calls “probably the most hilarious film we’re playing this year, and we’ve got a strong comedy block.”
The five-day movie event begins Wednesday in Cheyenne, and will feature 170 films, including many made in the Cowboy State.
Laramie County Community College is hosting the festival, with screenings at its three theaters: the SPA, Pathfinder and Playhouse.
In addition to entertaining audiences, festival director Rudi Womack said it’s a vehicle for filmmakers to network, get work, meet potential agents, managers, salespeople and distributors, and connect with the audience directly.
“It’s an opportunity for folks here to see films they otherwise would probably not get the chance to see,” said Womack, who is a film and TV editor in Hollywood when he isn't directing the festival.
‘Heart Of A Lion’
Each year the festival opens with a film with a Wyoming connection.
This year it’s “Heart of a Lion,” about a scientist who studies and tracks mountain lions. Two mother lions are featured, one in Washington state and the other in Jackson Hole.
“It’s a beautifully shot wildlife documentary,” Womack said. “I know for a fact that the audience is going to fall in love with it. One of its producers will be at the festival.”
“Heart of a Lion” will be screened at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the SPA theater. An after-party gathering is set for the Westby Edge Brewing Company at 9 p.m.
Several Wyoming-themed wildlife documentaries will be shown Saturday night at LCCC’s Pathfinder theater, including “399 Forever,” about the world’s most famous bear, Grizzly 399 in Grand Teton National Park, during the final year of her life.
Another documentary certain to spark local interest is “Hole in the Wall: The Ultimate Outlaw Fortress,” about the legendary gang that included Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It will be shown Saturday night at the SPA.
“We have a Western block we put together every single year,” said Holmes, who is an independent web designer. There are short documentaries in a two-hour block about life in the West, including ranching, conservation, Western culture, and a film about a barrel racer.
The films will be preceded by a performance by the Cheyenne Gunslingers. Spectators can see actors shoot ‘em up on the street and then watch the same on the screen in “Hole in the Wall.”
Blurry-Eyed Volunteers
If you see 20 or so bleary-eyed people wandering around Cheyenne before the festival even starts, chances are they're members of the festival’s programming committee.
Newer members around the world start watching the 650 submissions to the festival in September, rank them, and pass their recommendations to a senior panel that does the same. Members, who are all volunteers, watch more than 300 hours of movies.
“By that time we know that a lot of the movies are very good,” Womack said. “Whether it’s selected or not depends on if we think the audience is going to like (a film) and if the filmmakers are going to bring some value to the festival.”
“If you treated it as a full-time job, it would keep you busy for weeks and weeks.”
Womack said the festival team deliberately selects a diverse lineup, so there are programs of all genres for all ages and tastes. The only films that won’t be shown on the LCCC campus are a family-friendly block at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Cheyenne Children's Museum.
“It’s directed more toward young children and families, but it’s by no means just for kids,” Womack said. “Some are just mind-blowingly good.”
Womack and Holmes are excited about “She Cried That Night,” a documentary filmed in New Mexico about murdered and missing Indigenous women. A question-and-answer session with the filmmakers will follow.
“In addition to being a beautiful, touching, and emotionally moving movie, it’s also relevant to Wyoming,” Holmes said. “Unfortunately, this issue is pervasive across the state; 22 of the 23 counties in Wyoming have open cases.”
“She Cried That Day,” the story of a sister’s love and the spirit, strength and will of Indigenous women who refuse to let loved ones remain invisible, will be shown at 2:35 p.m. Friday at the SPA theater.
‘Backyard Movies’
Holmes said he and Womack grew up in Cheyenne making “backyard movies,” and by the time they finished college they had made about 100 films.
“We would have loved to bring our really, really bad films to something like this and have some professionals tell us, ‘No, this is how you do it,’” Holmes said.
“We didn’t have any help growing up, so we went on and actually built careers in film and television. Now that we’re established, we can turn right around and give people the opportunities we didn’t have.”
One of the most challenging activities is called the “48-Hour Festival,” a timed event that’s open to all Wyoming filmmakers.
“It’s one of our development programs disguised as a fun weekend,” Holmes said, laughing.
Entrants are each given a prompt on Friday with three different elements: a prop, an action and a genre. They have 48 hours to write a script, shoot a movie, edit and submit the film. The ones who successfully complete the task will have them screened live Sunday morning.
“It’s awesome to see young filmmakers, up-and-coming filmmakers, semipros and even professional filmmakers all make these movies,” Womack said. “Then they’re at the festival and they’re sitting next to Emmy Award winners out of New York and Toronto.”
“It’s so good to get all of these people with such different backgrounds all in a room together and watch these films,” Holmes agreed. “It’s a really fun event, and it’s how we identify growing Wyoming talent and people we want to put a lot of support behind.”
He added that for the first time, the festival will have a grant program to help financially support fledgling Wyoming filmmakers.
Tickets for the five-day festival and the list of events is available at www.wiff.com and may also be purchased at the box office at LCCC.
“It’s on a first-come, first-served basis, and some of our more popular blocks like horror and comedy fill up pretty quick,” Holmes said. “But 95% of the time no one is turned away.”
