The 47th Denver Film Festival is moving all but one its red-carpet screenings to a new venue this year, alongside Colorado premieres of buzzy indies such as “The Piano Lesson” and “The Brutalist,” and in-person guests including Patricia Clarkson, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

The festival, Nov. 1-10 at multiple venues, will offer 185 narrative features, shorts, and documentaries, as well as parties, panels, workshops and a gala, according to nonprofit producer Denver Film.

Single tickets to screenings, plus special and gala presentations and Red Carpets, are on sale to Denver Film members on Thursday, Oct. 3, and the public on Friday, Oct. 4, at denverfilm.org/denverfilmfestival.

For the first time this year, the festival‘s opening and closing-night red carpet screenings will be at Museum of Contemporary Art Denver’s Holiday Theater, a historic building the museum restored in the Highland neighborhood that has lately hosted screenings, panels and musical performances. The Red Carpets are moving there from downtown’s Ellie Caulkins Opera House, a favored and prestigious venue that Denver Film has in recent years struggled to fill — even before the pandemic.

However, the Centerpiece presentation of “The Order” still will be at the Ellie. The film is an adaptation of a nonfiction book co-written by former Rocky Mountain News reporter and current Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn, which looks at a violent, far-right group of neo-Nazis that operated in Washington in the 1980s. It stars Jude Law and Nicholas Holt and plays the Ellie on Nov. 8.

Bookending it are opening and closing-night red carpets at MCA’s Holiday Theater, with the first being the Nov. 1 screening of “The Piano Lesson.” The August Wilson adaptation stars Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington; writer Virgil Williams will appear in person to receive Denver Film’s Excellence in Writing award.

The festival will close with “September 5,” which stars Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro in its dramatization of the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis. It plays the MCA Holiday Theater on Nov. 9.

Several Denver premieres are also slated, including “The Brutalist,” “Better Man,” “The Room Next Door,” “Emilia Perez,” “Blitz,” “Oh, Canada,” “The Last Showgirl” and “Nightbitch” — that last one starring Colorado native Amy Adams.

Fest producers also said they’ll host celebs this year such as Patricia Clarkson (“Sharp Objects,” “Six Feet Under”), who will receive the Cassavetes Award at a screening of “Lilly” at MCA Denver Holiday Theater. Marianne Jean-Baptiste will receive Denver Film’s Excellence in Acting Award following a screening of “Hard Truths,” Denver Film said. Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”), will be on-hand for his CinemaQ LaBahn Ikon Film Award, following a screening of “All That We Love” and short film “It’s Okay.”

Directors RaMell Ross (“The Nickel Boys”), Jason Reitman (“Saturday Night”), Nnamdi Asomugha (“The Knife”), Cristiana Dell’Anna (“Cabrini”) and others will appear in person alongside their screenings.

Denver Film’s Sie FilmCenter will serve as the festival anchor, with additional screenings at the Ellie, Denver Botanic Gardens, AMC 9 + CO 10, and the MCA Holiday Theater.

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Alex Singleton’s season-ending knee injury had a trickle-down effect on several other Broncos inside linebackers Sunday against the New York Jets.

Cody Barton played every snap and relayed defensive calls from Vance Joseph, neither of which he’d done previously.

Justin Strnad started, played 57 snaps defensively — his first non-special teams action since 2021 — and logged his first career sack.

“I think it would be more Alex to Justin because Cody kind of stayed in the same position he’s been playing,” head coach Sean Payton said Monday of the role changes. “I mean Cody had the green dot, but other than that — those guys stepped up. It’s always difficult when you lose someone who’s been as productive and certainly one of the team leaders.

“I was proud of the way those young guys played.”

Another, Levelle Bailey, was elevated from the practice squad and made his NFL debut with 10 special teams snaps.

Who got more bang for their buck, though, than Kristian Welch?

The relative newcomer, signed after the preseason when he didn’t make Green Bay’s initial roster, did not play a defensive snap against Tampa Bay and then got just three against the Jets.

But boy, did he make the most of them.

Welch’s role actually didn’t even change all that much. He played 27 snaps in some mixed downs settings against Seattle and Pittsburgh, teams that are heavier personnel-wise than the Bucs and more apt to run the ball. Another part of his regular workload: Goal line defense.

And he played a central role in Denver coming up with one of its biggest stops of the afternoon against New York.

The Jets found themselves first-and-goal at the Denver 1-yard line late in the first quarter after a pass interference penalty on Riley Moss.

Defensive linemen John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach stood firm at the point of attack on a first-down Breece Hall run, but Hall started to fall back toward the middle of the field and the goal line.

Welch was there to stuff him and make sure he dropped before getting across with help from Barton, who cleaned up at the end of the play.

On second down the Jets ran right at Welch out of the I-formation, with Rodgers again handing the ball to Hall.

Rookie outside linebacker Jonah Elliss violently knocked tight end Tyler Conklin back to disrupt the play from the start. Welch folded outside of Elliss and inside of safety P.J. Locke and thumped Hall, stopping him in his tracks for a short loss.

Then on third down, Rodgers rolled to the right on play action and looked for an opening. Welch started downhill but retreated and, along with Barton, covered just enough ground to keep Rodgers from throwing to Conklin in the back corner of the end zone. Franklin-Myers swam over a block attempt and ran past running back Braelon Allen, quickly chasing Rodgers into a throw-away.

That’s three snaps on the afternoon for Welch: Assisted tackle, tackle, coverage. Then a false start on fourth-and-goal from the 1 for the Jets forced coach Robert Saleh to put his field goal unit on the field.

Those points, of course, ended up being critical in a game that was within one score for all 60 minutes.

One small thing I liked: When the Broncos really needed a third-down conversion in the third quarter, Payton didn’t mess around. He went right to rookie QB Bo Nix’s comfort zone. He dialed up a dagger concept and Nix made his best throw of the day to Courtland Sutton for 29 yards on third-and-11. The Broncos were 0 of 8 on third down to that point but converted three times on their 87-yard touchdown drive.

It was also good that Payton acknowledged Monday the need to be able to branch out with Nix going forward.

“Like anything else, if you repeat something and you get more and more comfortable with it, then it becomes a play you like and then it becomes one of your favorites,” Payton said. “You get to it in a critical situation. That was a big drive, obviously. That was an important drive for us to kind of take it from our end and convert there and go on to score a touchdown.

“I think that confidence level will continue to grow and it’s important that it grows with other route combinations.”

One small thing I didn’t like: Seventh-round rookie WR Devaughn Vele did everything right during camp, made plays day after day, had eight catches in Week 1 (albeit for 39 yards) and then hurt his ribs. He was ruled out Week 2 because of the injury but the Broncos have called him a healthy scratch the past two weeks. Why?

Perhaps his role crosses over too much with Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who’s had a nice start to the season. But given the way Denver’s offense is likely to look for at least the next several weeks, it’s hard to argue that Troy Franklin is the better option right now.

Franklin’s got real speed, but also four catches (10 targets) for 9 yards so far. Nix hasn’t shown he can get the ball over the top to Franklin — he underthrew one deep attempt Sunday — and Vele so far has been a better option blocking and operating in the shallow parts of the field.

One trend to watch: This is not hyperbole: Zach Allen’s playing like one of the best defensive linemen in football through four weeks. He dominated Jets guard John Simpson and whoever else lined up across from him on Sunday.

Allen through four games has already racked up 21 quarterback pressures, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. His 15% pressure rate is comfortably top 20 among all players in the NFL and top 10 among defensive linemen. And on top of it he played every snap against the Jets to tick up to 95% play time for the season. That rate of production at that workload is not normal for his position.

It matters, too, even when the play doesn’t end in a sack. Allen might have saved a touchdown early in the fourth quarter when he looped around Roach and flashed in Rodgers’ face on second-and-11 from the Denver 24. Rodgers had already seen plenty of No. 99 on the day and when Allen flashed, Rodgers immediately flipped the ball out incomplete to the flat. That happened just as Garrett Wilson was breaking wide open up the seam. Assuming Rodgers sees it, it’s a likely touchdown and 13-7 Jets lead. Instead, New York settled for a field goal after — you guessed it — Allen chased down Rodgers and ran him out of bounds on third down.

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Originally Published: September 30, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.

After starting the season 0-2, the Denver Broncos found a way to get back-to-back victories on the road. Against the New York Jets, it wasn’t pretty and it could have gone the other way, but the Broncos still came out with the win.

An 0-2 start would give plenty of teams reason to panic, but the Broncos are now .500 for the season and have faced three quality defenses (Tampa Bay was without several starters and isn’t among the top units). Things could get interesting as the Broncos face some teams who aren’t as strong defensively, though they will face some quality offenses.

What do we know about the Broncos after the first four games? Let’s look at each of the four aspects of this team and how they’ve measured up thus far.

Against the Jets, the Broncos offense was terrible in the first half. Bo Nix’s passes were off, likely because of the rain, and the running game wasn’t there. But the Broncos played in the second half, running the ball well, and Nix had more zip to his passes.

Again, the Broncos have faced three quality defenses in the first four weeks. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks, in particular, rank among the top defenses in the NFL. The Broncos won’t face a unit as strong as those two for at least a few weeks.

But the potential is there for the Broncos to be a solid offense, even a good offense. Nix is doing better with his decision making, the offensive line is doing well even with Mike McGlinchey’s absence and, while the Broncos lack an elite playmaker, they have the players who can get the job done.

It will be interesting to see how the Broncos do against the Las Vegas Raiders, who do not have a good defense. The Broncos need to have a good showing on offense, but if they do that in the Week 5 matchup at Mile High, there will be room for more optimism with the unit.

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Going into the season, there were plenty of concerns about how good the Broncos defense would be. Some wondered if this unit would be the downfall of the team.

After four weeks, it’s clear this defense can get the job done and then some. For the first four weeks, the defense has been the main reason the Broncos have stayed in games and, the past two weeks, they’ve held two quality offenses to just 16 points.

Consider Baker Mayfield, who has been playing well this season, but got just one touchdown pass agains the Broncos. Or Aaron Rodgers, who threw five touchdowns in the first three weeks but didn’t get a single scoring pass against the Broncos.

Despite not having a lot of elite playmakers other than Patrick Surtain II and perhaps Zach Allen, the Broncos defense is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. The Week 6 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, who are doing well on offense despite injuries, will likely test the Broncos defense, but if they come up big, then this unit could find itself among the best in the NFL.

It wasn’t that long ago that the Broncos struggled on special teams. Sure, they had a reliable kicker but they lacked a quality punter and had a coverage unit that was mediocre at best, but often bad.

That’s changed in the past two seasons. The Broncos punt coverage unit has been great, not allowing opponents to get much in the return game. And several times, the punt coverage unit has pinned opponents inside the 5-yard line, making it tough on opposing offenses.

Wil Lutz did miss a 50-yard field goal near the end of the Jets game but he’s been a steady performer otherwise. Riley Dixon did shank one punt against the Jets but he’s been consistent when it comes to his punts.

The Broncos are also getting quality work from Marvin Mims Jr., who has done a good job with fielding punts and knowing when to attempt a return and when to call for a fair catch. While Mims has yet to return a punt for a touchdown, he’s still getting the results you want to see.

Sean Payton hasn’t necessarily done the best job with play-calling, but give him credit for this: He’s not allowing the players to let mistakes get the best of them. The players continue to get after it, no matter the situation, and that’s what you want to see.

And what more can be said about Vance Joseph? He has silenced his critics by getting the most out of the defense.

The Broncos may not have an elite pass rusher, but they have 15 sacks in four games. The secondary, thought to be a weakness going into the season, is doing a good job, and when players have exited the lineup with injuries, others have stepped up.

Let’s not forget the job done by special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica. Since he has come to the Broncos, he has worked wonders with a unit that was among the worst in the NFL. After an abysmal 2022 season, the special teams showed improvement last year and, this year, ranks among the NFL’s best.

There’s always room for improvement, of course, but the coaching staff has these players believing they can win games. That can do a lot for a team that may lack experience in some areas, but has shown it has the talent to come through.

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