Starz Denver Film Festival Tuesday must-see: Brit Withey on Teddy Bear

By Michael Roberts Tue., Nov. 6 2012 at 10:00 AM

Categories: Festivals, Film

Video below.

Again this year, Starz Denver Film Festival artistic director Brit Withey is offering his must-see picks for each day of the fest -- including many flicks that movie lovers might otherwise miss amid the flood of silver-screen goodies.

Here, he shares his Tuesday pick, Teddy Bear.

Brit Withey.

Teddy Bear
Directed by Mads Matthiesen
4:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 6
Denver FilmCenter/Colfax

"It's an Austrian film that's very touching and poignant and sad," notes Brit Withey. "It's about a weightlifter" played by Kim Kold. "He's a gigantic man -- and he's actually a real weightlifter. The character's at the waning end of his career, and he still lives at home with his overbearing mother, a tiny woman who tells him exactly what he can and can't do. All he really wants to do is find a girlfriend, but he's painfully shy."

At one point, Withey continues, "a rather sleazy uncle tells him that all he needs to do to get a girlfriend is to go to Thailand, and he does -- but he doesn't really understand the ramifications of everything there. He accidentally takes home prostitutes and then has to extract himself from the situations, because that's not what he wants. We find him sort of stumbling through Thailand, looking for love."

Such a set up could be played for laughs, but not in this case, Withey emphasizes. "He eventually makes his way through everything and finds some sort of camaraderie there. But does it end well? You kind of have to see it and decide for yourself."

Look below to see a trailer for Teddy Bear.

Click here for more information, and visit Show and Tell throughout the festival for more of Brit's picks.