From the Santa Fe Film Festival
Saturday, Santa Fe, NM. Wednesday kicked off the opening night of the 8th Annual Santa Fe Film Festival. Downtown is full of filmmakers, producers, volunteers and, what makes it best, a great audience!
Last night, we went to the gala of The Walker, starring Woody Harrelson, Kristen Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall and Lily Tomlin. Washington DC has never appeared so sinister. The five-day festival includes screenings of about 240 movies (including shorts), panel discussions on filmmaking, parties and the annual Milagro Awards Ceremony at 4 p.m. today at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. The event honors both participating filmmakers and five invited tributees: film and theater actor Alan Cumming, cinematographer John Bailey, film editor Carol Littleton, and documentary filmmakers Marina Goldovskaya and Alanis Obomsawin.
KIDS FIRST! contributed five films to the festival this year, including Relationship Theorem, Dorme, The Child King, Confessions of a Late Bloomer and Rocketboy. On Sunday, a gala performance of The Child King is at 2pm with Confessions of a Late Bloomer. This afternoon at 4, Dorme screens with filmmaker Sylvia Blinsfield in attendance. Relationship Theorem, Dorme, Confessions of a Late Bloomer and Rocketboy all won a Best in Category at the KIDS FIRST! Best Awards in Malibu in October. The KIDS FIRST! Film Festival provides programming to over 150 venues annually, including film festivals, children’s musuems and nonprofit film societies. Laurel Dagnon, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Film institute is in town to absorb ideas on expanding her film festivals. She hosted the first PA KIDS FIRST! Film Festival this last spring and wants to expand the festival to include panels and filmmakers. I hope next year that all our venue directors will join us in Santa Fe for the film festival!
Well, got to go. Dorme is up next.
