David liban:
feral filmmaker
february 13-march 16, 2025
Opening reception | March 13, 2025 - 4:00-7:00 pm
A middle-aged man comes to grips with a stark reality by resorting to blackmail, gaslighting and covering up a pair of murders. A family attempts to endure a harsh, unrelenting environment and survive an apocalypse. These are the makings of stories that move forward in a frenzy. There is conflict around every corner. Tension is the stabilizing force.
Feral Filmmaker is a glimpse inside the artistic process of writer and director David Liban. As an independent filmmaker, working outside of the mainstream film industry, Liban does a lot with a little. Ingenuity and resourcefulness are common threads throughout the production of his films. Feral Filmmaker places the behind-the-scenes work of a film front and center. This exhibition explores the creativity, ingenuity, and sometimes audacity required to make a film. Many of the props and scenes in this show are from Liban’s most recent films, A Feral World (2020) and Publish or Perish (2023). Rubber axes, stuffed mannequins, a rhino helmet, and the impenetrable gates of tenure reveal the devices filmmakers use to pull you into their narrative.
The camera has also been turned toward Liban, with a brand-new short documentary about his work and process made by his son, Caleb Liban. With previous experience as an actor and production assistant on David’s films, Caleb has a unique insight into his father’s artistic output.
Films are very collaborative works of art, and you will see credits for the dozens of people who work on them, not only in the end credits, but in the artwork labels on the walls in this exhibition.
This exhibition is generously supported by the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Arts & Media. The gallery is a partnership between CU Denver and the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
David Liban is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker, a film professor, and chairperson of CU Denver’s Department of Film & Television. His extensive filmography includes documentaries, numerous short films, and four feature films. His work explores love, humor, loss, death, and hope. Some works tackle devastating topics, such as Mortal Lessons (2008) which tells the powerful story of two women facing their own mortality, or the inspirational but heartbreaking Live Through This: Survivors of Sex Trafficking (2016). Others are affirming and revealing like Looking for Mr. Miyagi (2014), where Liban tries to earn his black belt in karate before turning 50.
Liban’s feature film, Publish or Perish (2023), won prestigious awards on the festival circuit and can now be seen on multiple streaming platforms. Love Less Likely, a film about a seemingly cursed woman whose lovers mysteriously die, was released on February 21, 2025, at the Beaufort International Film Festival.