Santa Fe International Film Festival gets backing of Deadline, Panavision

Fifteen years.

In that time the Santa Fe International Film Festival has shown hundreds of films and honored dozens of filmmakers.

It’s also undergone plenty of change.

This year’s festival will mark the milestone in a big way, as both Deadline Hollywood and Panavision have stepped up as sponsors for the festival.

“This is a big deal,” says Liesette Bailey, SFiFF executive director. “To have one of the biggest trade magazines lend their support to the festival is special. We’ve worked all these years to showcase and highlight film and filmmakers as artists.”

This year’s festival is slated to take place Oct. 18-22 in Santa Fe.

Bailey says Deadline’s presence at the festival increases the potential for SFiFF’s films to receive acknowledgment exponentially.

Panavision will award over $100K in prizes, including $90,000 in camera and post-production prize packages for SFiFF’s Grand Prize: the Best Narrative Feature presented by Panavision. Santa Fe Film Institute will also provide cash awards in six categories, including the inaugural $500 cash prize for Best Short by an Indigenous Filmmaker.

In addition to cash awards and prizes, SFiFF also bestows the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, whose past winners include champion innovator Godfrey Reggio, three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone, and “Killers of the Flower Moon” actress Tantoo Cardinal.

The festival collaborates with Santa Fe theaters such as George R.R. Martin’s Jean Cocteau Cinema, Violet Crown Cinema, Center for Contemporary Arts, and the historic Lensic Performing Arts Center.

“All of the collaborations come together to showcase Santa Fe and the festival in a positive light,” Bailey says. “There is a vibrant film industry in the state and the festival, along with the collaborations, display the artistic value of Santa Fe.”

Bailey is excited to see what the next 15 years will bring for the festival as it becomes one of the long-standing events in Santa Fe.

She says SFiFF’s annual gala is back at La Fonda on July 22.

“It will be a night of glitz and glamour,” she says. “Music will be by the Daniel Murphy Trio. The proceeds from the event goes to the Santa Fe Film Institute, which gives back to local filmmakers through the annual grant cycle.”

Educational programming has increased for the festival since its inception more than a decade ago.

Bailey says one program hosts middle and high school students, where each student spends a day at the festival.

“It’s curated specifically for students,” she says. “Some of the filmmakers at the festival will talk to students about the industry. It’s really exciting for the students to experience this firsthand. It’s very different from what they would experience in a classroom.”

The festival also invites film distributors to the event so filmmakers can learn the do’s and don’ts of getting a film distributed.

Bailey says the festival has been fortunate to curate programs that are a nice mix of everything film related, along with showcasing some of New Mexico’s top films.

“For us, we’re proud of staying true to the filmmaker as an artist and focusing on the artistry,” she says. “We’re also helping to spark and develop creativity with the next generation of filmmakers.”