Denver Documentary Society Hosts Its First Civil Rights Film Screening

“I guess it’s in my blood,” says Denver Documentary Society founder and award-winning filmmaker Wade Gardner, explaining that his passion for civil rights activism stems from a movement that began before he was born. “I come from Russian descent. My grandfather was a Bolshevik who was kicked out of Russia and sent to the United States and started the Communist Party of America in California.” Now Gardner uses his family’s storied past as inspiration for his filmmaking and curation work. His 2017 award-winning documentary, Marvin Booker Was Murdered, spotlights the death of a homeless Black preacher at the hands of five Denver jail guards.

Gardner is still passionate about civil rights issues, and has curated five films for the Denver Documentary Society’s inaugural Mile High Human &…