New short film by local filmmaker Zane Barber wraps

WALSENBURG — “I’m a film student at CU Denver and I like to make films when I’m not making films. ” This is how Zane Barber, a 22-year old Walsenburg native, describes himself. This one-liner is clever, and largely true, but the fact of the matter is that Zane is a man of many talents. Sure, he’s directed several short films, one of which has already premiered at the FOX Theatre in Walsenburg, but when he’s not making films or making films, he also enjoys such leisurely hobbies as studying and teaching Karate.

These interests come together on screen to make incredibly realistic combat sequences in his action-packed short films. His current film project, Seventh Wolf, is set in a medieval fantasy world which draws from various styles in order to tell a story that is full of danger, moral uncertainty, and a bit of magic. The project just wrapped up filming last week, but there are months of meticulous editing and sound design to go before the film is ready for the silver screen. Seventh Wolf is about two siblings, Alyson and Samael Graywing, who see their father get killed by the hand of the king.

Fleeing for their lives, they find their way into a forest where they encounter a mentor who helps them secure justice. Together, they learn of an uncomfortable truth about their father and begin their campaign to avenge his death. The theme of the story is doing what is right in the face of adversity. If you see and ignore a wrongdoing, you are complicit in that injustice.

Zane says that this is something that he has been thinking about a lot lately, particularly in light of the violence that has broken out between protestors and police in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. “I’m pretty conservative,” he said, “but when you see something messed up happening, you have to go out and say no, this isn’t okay. ” The shooting involved over 20 people on set and was tremendously supported by the community. Bob Andreatta let them use his property as an additional location, Arica Andreatta opened up the Lofts in downtown Walsenburg for lodging for actors, Mike Peters and the FOX were financial donors, and the crew was dominantly comprised of volunteers.

Zane sourced actors from as far south as Springer, NM and as far north as Denver including many rising stars like John Davis, Isabel Chavez, Rion Evans, Tyler Eagon, Carlos Salazar, and Phoenix Zito, while also keeping his eye local and recruiting the talents of Walsenburg locals such as Josh, Travis, and Eric Vialpando, Thomas Orr, and Dale VanMatre. This film was shot on a Red Epic Dragon 6K camera, which is a professional grade camera that was used to shoot the Hobbit films and is one of the approved cameras for Netflix productions. Zane hopes that his films can inspire young folk around here to engage in creative pursuits of their own and to highlight the majestic area that we call home as a wonderful and diverse location that can be the setting for a wide variety of film genres. Seventh Wolf will have a run-time of between 20 and 25 minutes and should premiere at the FOX Theatre in Walsenburg during the week of Thanksgiving, COVID willing.

So don your capes and helmets, grab your swords and spears, and show up to support a local creative who is really doing the hard work and making things happen. Rion Evans and Phoenix Zito pose together on set, as the main antagonists. LEFT: fight scene from the movie. Zane Barber, on set, as Brynn.