Celebrating cinema
THE 22ND ANNUAL SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL
Since it began screening films for movie lovers in 2000, the Santa Fe Film Festival served as the setting for an annual gathering of local, regional, national, and international industry professionals and audiences, recognizing individual films and filmmakers with honors for Best American Independent Film, the Independent Spirit Award, and an Audience Award, to name a few.
This year, award-winning actor, producer, and director, Anthony Edwards (Zodiac, Top Gun, ER) receives the festival’s highest tribute, the Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented following a gala screening of the Edwards-produced feature film The Tricky Part, directed by Raphael Sbarge and adapted from writer Martin Moran’s OBIE Awardwinning one-man play (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Scottish Rite Temple). Tickets for the event are $25 for the screening, audience Q&A and after-party and $122.50 for a SFFF 2022 membership and the screening, Q&A, and after-party (purchase tickets at sfnm.co/ sfff-tricky-part).
The 2022 festival continues to celebrate the cinematic arts with an eclectic mix of narrative and documentary features, shorts in a variety of genres, and local and New Mexico-made films, bringing international filmmakers to the Santa Fe audience. Below are a few of the films being featured.
ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT
Trailer vimeo.com/609262031 3 p.m. Feb. 12, at the Jean Cocteau Cinema Tickets: $10 (available at the box office)
From director Steve Balderson (Firecracker) comes a visually poetic experience in pure cinema in the tradition of the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Stan Brakhage. It’s the genre-bending story of artist Oliver Black (Xander Berkeley), who wakes to discover his wife, Evelyn (Sarah Clarke), died in their bed overnight. Infused with magical realism, the film challenges the audience’s conceptions of solid reality and illusion, and explores the mysteries that transcend the physical universe, opening a doorway into a different dimension where the evolution of life continues in the aftermath of death. Mystery/horror/science fiction, 91 minutes. Includes a Q&A with Balderson and some cast and crew.
THE END OF BLINDNESS
Trailer youtu.be/k13YseN3vUE
5 p.m. Feb. 12, at the Scottish Rite Temple Tickets: $10 (available at bit.ly/SFFFScottishRite22) More than 1 million people live without sight in Ethiopia, ranking the nation as one of Africa’s highest for blindness. But Dr. Samuel Bora, the only ophthalmologist for a population of 3 million, performs up to 60 cataract surgeries daily in an effort to combat the crisis. He’s dedicated his life to serving poor and underserved communities. The End of Blindness brings the viewer into the operating theater to witness the impact of one man on thousands of lives. Documentary, not rated, 55 minutes. Includes a Q&A and presentation with director AJ Martinson and ophthalmologist Dr. Jim Guzek.
HOLY ISLAND
Trailer vimeo.com/397649718 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Jean Cocteau Cinema Tickets: $10 (available at the box office) Rosa and David (Jeanne Nicole Ní Áinle and Conor Madden) are two lost souls trapped in purgatory in the form of a run-down port town. They meet while awaiting a boat to leave the island, both longing to return home. They piece together the events of their past lives through shared conversations and memories, discovering in the end that only one of them can be saved. Drama, not rated, 87 minutes
SHOVELING PIXIE DUST: A MEMOIR
Trailer youtu.be/bNunUI3jzY4
6 p.m. Feb. 13, at the Jean Cocteau Cinema Tickets: $10 (available at the box office) This documentary feature, by and about Walt Disney Imagineer Tim Landry, is a memoir that covers the artist’s career from film school through retirement.
He’s an Emmy Award-winning visual effects artist with work in commercials, television, and feature films such as The Sixth Sense (1999), the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and George of the Jungle (1997). The film follows his adventures and challenges in making visual magic. Documentary, not rated, 81 minutes. Landry will be in attendance.
THIRD ACT
8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, at the Center for Contemporary Arts Tickets: $10 (available at the box office) After receiving the news of their pending eviction, a lovable and talented theater company plots a heist to pay their rent while filming at a local bank. This New Mexico-made feature includes actors Kristin K. Berg, Vic Browder, Kelsey Leos Montoya, Jodi Lynn Thomas, and Keith Allen West. The film was written and directed by Doug Montoya, who began the project as a way of exploring his feelings about acting in film and theater and the challenges of running a company in difficult financial times. Montoya is the co-artistic director and owner of Cardboard Playhouse Theatre Company and The Box Performance Space in Albuquerque. “There had been times when we were several months behind on our rent, had lost grants to other non-profits, and I thought ‘What would happen if we decided to rob a bank to save the thing we love?’” says Montoya in a press release. Comedy, not rated, 120 minutes