The Santa Fe 2010 Independent Film Festival is going to run this year October 19th through the 24th, but more importantly for filmmakers out there, they are still taking submissions through Withoutabox.com for the fest through September 7th. This is a great opportunity to get your film in front of a diverse audience and in a place more and more film projects are coming to fruition every day thanks to the generous tax credit program in New Mexico and the workforce of film industry professionals able to handle both the technical and creative aspects of filmmaking. The focus of the festival is on underground cinema, art films, and other innovative or experimental work. The festival states its purpose very succinctly, saying "Our objective is to put film in New Mexico back into the hands of the community through a grass roots movement of filmmakers. By doing so we plan to create a model for the democratization of film all over the world." They add that "We do not host lavish parties, stroke movie stars, or charge outrageous ticket prices. It is the belief of the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival that art is for the people and going to the movies should cost six bucks or less." This is what it is all about and I love this kind of thinking, as many festivals have gone outrageous with their prices and fawning over "stars" instead of fostering a community atmosphere that The Santa Fe Independent Film Festival seems to be building.
Last year's festival hosted films from talented independent filmmakers such as Norman Patrick Brown, winner of the fest's Body of Work Award last year, Wes Studi, and Gary Farmer among many others. Among the highlights to look forward to at this year's festival, one of the great Native American actors working in Hollywood today and long time activist for Native American rights, Russell Means (The Last of the Mohicans, Natural Born Killers, Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm) will accept The Santa Fe IFF 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award. Also of note will be the opening of this year's fest on October 19th with a free screening of Salt of the Earth, the powerful and controversial film about a strike by zinc miners in 1950s New Mexico. Salt of the Earth was blacklisted for its content and contributions by many of the filmmakers who were themselves blacklisted thanks to the rise of McCarthyism and the HUAC, making its creation alone a great feat, but the film itself is actually very powerful and a well crafted piece of cinema.
Look for the release of their full lineup coming sometime after the September 7th submission deadline. For continuing coverage of film festivals like The 2010 Santa Fe Independent Film Festival as well as other film festivals in the future, you can receive these articles directly as they are published by clicking on the “Subscribe” button at the top of this piece. You can also follow me on Twitter by searching for ericshlapack or by clicking the link below.
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2010 Santa Fe Independent Film Festival
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