Go West Film Festival Opens with Live-Scored 1927 Silent Western and Closes with Director Q&A
Greeley, United States - October 8, 2026 /Go West Film Festival/
GREELEY, Colo., Oct. 6, 2026 - The Go West Film Festival returns to downtown Greeley November 9-14 with twelve feature films and a night of short films drawn from submissions worldwide, all free to attend. Now in its twelfth year, the festival screens classic and contemporary westerns at two venues on 8th Avenue: the Kress Cinema & Lounge and the High Plains Library District's LINC Library Innovation Center.
The 2026 program pairs a daily High Noon matinee of classics with an evening screening at the Kress that examines the American West from a range of perspectives. Every screening is followed by a moderated audience discussion.
Opening night, Monday, November 9, features Blazing Days (1927), a silent western comedy directed by William Wyler and preserved by the Library of Congress, with live keyboard accompaniment by Rodney Sauer of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. The evening opens with A Matrimonial Deluge (1913), a newly remastered Colorado-made silent short introduced in person by film historian David Emrich, and an opening reception at 5:30 p.m.
The festival closes Saturday, November 14, with Tokyo Cowboy (2023), in which an idealistic Japanese businessman attempts a corporate turnaround on a rugged Montana ranch. Director Marc Marriott, who apprenticed under Japanese filmmaker Yoji Yamada, will attend and take audience questions after the screening. A closing reception begins at 5 p.m.
The evening slate between opening and closing nights includes A Thousand Pieces of Gold (1990), Creede U.S.A. (2025) - a documentary about the Colorado mountain town and its celebrated repertory theater - and Chloe Zhao's debut feature Songs My Brother Taught Me (2015), shot on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Shorts Showcase on Friday, November 13, presents western short films selected from more than a thousand submissions worldwide, judged by audience vote, followed by a panel with visiting filmmakers Haynes Brooke, Chris Crowley and Aydan Metsch.
High Noon screenings at 12 p.m. include Budd Boetticher's The Tall T (1957), John Wayne in Chisum (1970), Felipe Galvez's The Settlers (2023), Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider (1985), John Ford's Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and Laurel and Hardy in Way Out West (1937), the last preceded by a short film made by local high school students.
"Westerns have always been where America argues with itself about who we are and what the land is for," said Khris Gamer, co-president of the Go West Film Festival. "This year's films do that from a Chilean frontier, a Chinese immigrant's mining camp, a Lakota reservation and a Montana ranch, and they do it for free in a 1930s movie house in Greeley. That's the festival."
The 2026 festival poster, One for Each of You, is the latest in a decade-long series of original paintings donated by Northern Colorado artist Cody Kuehl. Frameable prints will be available at the festival for a donation of $50 or more, with all proceeds supporting the festival.
Admission to every screening is free. Seating is limited; free reservations for Kress Cinema screenings are available at kresscinema.com. The full schedule, film descriptions and volunteer information are at gowestfilmfest.org.
2026 Schedule at a Glance
High Noon screenings begin at 12 p.m.; evening screenings begin at 6 p.m. LINC Library Innovation Center, 501 8th Ave. Kress Cinema & Lounge, 817 8th Ave. All screenings free.
| Day | High Noon (12 p.m.) | Evening (6 p.m., Kress) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon., Nov. 9 | The Tall T (1957), 1h 18m - LINC | Blazing Days (1927), silent with live score by Rodney Sauer; preceded by A Matrimonial Deluge (1913). Opening reception 5:30 p.m. |
| Tue., Nov. 10 | Chisum (1970), 1h 51m - LINC | A Thousand Pieces of Gold (1990), 1h 45m |
| Wed., Nov. 11 | The Settlers (2023), 1h 37m - Kress | Creede U.S.A. (2025), 1h 34m |
| Thu., Nov. 12 | Pale Rider (1985), 1h 55m - LINC | Songs My Brother Taught Me (2015), 1h 38m |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Sergeant Rutledge (1960), 1h 51m - LINC | Shorts Showcase, followed by filmmaker panel |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Way Out West (1937), 1h 6m - LINC; preceded by a local student short | Tokyo Cowboy (2023), 1h 58m; Q&A with director Marc Marriott. Closing reception 5 p.m. |
Festival Guests
- Rodney Sauer, founder of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, performs live accompaniment for Blazing Days and discusses the history of silent-film scoring (Monday, Kress).
- David Emrich, award-winning film editor and historian, presents his newly remastered A Matrimonial Deluge (1913) (Monday, Kress).
- Haynes Brooke, Chris Crowley and Aydan Metsch, filmmakers, join the panel following the Shorts Showcase (Friday, Kress).
- Marc Marriott, director of Tokyo Cowboy, takes audience questions after the closing-night screening (Saturday, Kress).
- Cody Kuehl, festival artist, meets attendees and signs prints of One for Each of You throughout the week.
Admission
All screenings are free and open to the public. Seating is limited and first come, first seated. Free seat reservations for Kress Cinema screenings are available at kresscinema.com. Every screening is followed by a moderated audience discussion.
About the Go West Film Festival
The Go West Film Festival celebrates the western film genre each November in Greeley, Colorado. Through classic and contemporary westerns, the festival explores the social and environmental issues shaping the West today and the nexus between western myth and reality. Founded in 2014 and run entirely by volunteers, the festival is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization; admission has been free since its first year. Screenings take place at the Kress Cinema & Lounge and the High Plains Library District's LINC Library Innovation Center. Learn more at gowestfilmfest.org, facebook.com/GoWestFilmFestival and instagram.com/gowest_filmfest.
Media Contact
Ryan Green, Go West Film Festival Board of Directors
970-301-2480
High-resolution images of the 2026 poster, festival venues and past screenings are available on request. Film stills are available with permission of the respective rights holders.
Contact Information:
Go West Film Festival
P. O. Box 337164
Greeley, Colorado 80634
United States
Go West Film Fest
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