Entertainment and education unite at International Film Festival

Kurt Johnson
Las Cruces Bulletin

For more than a decade, the Las Cruces International Film Festival has quietly become one of the Southwest’s most compelling cultural celebrations, a story of community, education and cinematic ambition unfolding each spring on the sun-drenched stages of southern New Mexico.

What began in 2016 as a spirited experiment, a small festival of independent films anchored at the Allen Theatres Cineport and New Mexico State University, has grown into a marquee event that draws thousands of film fans, filmmakers and industry guests to Las Cruces each year.

The inaugural festival featured roughly 60 films and welcomed around 3,000 attendees, a humble beginning that belied the grand vision of its founder, filmmaker and NMSU professor Ross Marks.

“It’s a film festival that was designed for the students — and for me — because of the experience I had as a young filmmaker at Sundance,” Marks said. “I wanted to duplicate that here in Las Cruces for my students. It’s a bit of a convention, a bit of a gathering of filmmakers from around the world.”

From that first spark, the festival has blossomed into what could be seen as a southwestern Sundance, combining global cinema with hands-on training and community participation.

Over its first 10 years, LCIFF has screened films from dozens of countries, expanded its programming to include feature films, shorts, documentaries and animation, and welcomed celebrated actors and directors for screenings and conversations — from Danny Trejo in the early years to Academy Award winner Helen Hunt during the 10th anniversary festivities.

Beyond its role as a showcase, the festival is deeply educational. Entirely run by students in NMSU’s Creative Media Institute, LCIFF provides emerging filmmakers and media professionals with real-world experience in programming, production and festival operations — a mission that has shaped hundreds of careers and helped make it one of the largest student-run film festivals in the country.

“I would say over the 11 years we’ve had well over a hundred students get jobs because of the film festival,” Marks said. “Through interactions with producers, filmmakers, actors, directors and production companies, they land jobs and earn professional credits on their resumes.

“Students in the fall program the festival and can list that they were a programming coordinator for a specific category. In the spring, they might be a marketing director, a celebrity handler or a theater manager. It’s a real-world event — not just a theory class, but a practice class and a resume builder.”

Students experience the very real pressure of putting together an event from which locals and visitors from around the country have come to expect excellence.

“At the beginning of the semester, they’re thinking, ‘Oh man, I don’t think we can pull this off. This is scary,’” Marks said. “By the end, every single one of them is empowered and confident because they pull it off. It’s the pressure of an event that brings in 12,000 people and 168 filmmakers. It’s the second-largest event in southern New Mexico and one of the largest film festivals in the Southwest.”

Marks said he’s consistently impressed by how students rise to the challenge.

“They run it. They put it together. I just guide them and give them the tools to be successful,” he said. “It’s experiential learning — the film festival is as much a lab and a classroom as it is an event. They take responsibility, and they have to deliver.”

Students typically serve on two or three committees, managing different aspects of the festival and gaining a view of the operation from multiple angles.

Barrow Williams doesn’t remember exactly when he became interested in making movies, but he knows it started early.

“My mom says when I was two, she showed me Mary Poppins, and we had an oven that reflected like a mirror,” Williams said. “She said I would do the ‘Step in Time’ dance in front of it. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to make movies. I’ve never really considered anything else.”

Williams transferred from a film school in New York and said the hands-on opportunities at NMSU far exceed what he experienced elsewhere.

“They’re letting the students run a film festival,” he said. “You don’t see that at other schools. You might have student volunteers, but they’re not actually running the show. Here, we are — and they’re telling us to go for it.

“It’s something that looks great on a resume, and honestly, it’s something most film schools don’t even offer.”

One key element of the festival is its Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers. Students moderate discussions following screenings, an experience Elijah Garcia said proved invaluable.

Garcia first became interested in film in middle school, making YouTube skits with friends.

“That was such a cool creative outlet,” he said. “We did a lot of comedy sketches, then got more into music in high school. I just carried it with me into college.”

Preparing for the Q&A sessions helped him understand the business side of filmmaking — something he said often gets overlooked.

“The Q&As were the most challenging part for me because public speaking isn’t my strong suit,” Garcia said. “But I met so many people, and I saw how many people around the world are interested in creating things.”

Sebastian Garcia said the networking opportunities were one of the most rewarding aspects of working the festival.

“It helps just getting out there and meeting people who make films,” he said. “When you really work the festival, you get access to things you wouldn’t normally see as an attendee.”

Angie Hernandez, a senior graduating in May, said film has long been her creative outlet.

“I feel like sharing my emotions and ideas through film is a really important part of my life,” she said. “I’ve always liked making small documentaries and series. I’m just enjoying the ride.”

She said the camaraderie among students is one of the most meaningful parts of bringing the festival to life.

“I really enjoy engaging with my peers,” Hernandez said. “For my job, I do a lot of behind-the-scenes management and recruiting, so this class lets me apply what I’ve already learned to something I care about. It’s a great opportunity to grow.”

This year, she’s helping plan the awards show — a chance to celebrate the work of filmmakers and students alike.

Nathan Lindley entered NMSU as a biology major before finding his way to film. He now spends countless hours reviewing submissions.

“These aren’t high-budget productions — they’re short films,” Lindley said. “I contacted a little over a thousand filmmakers about submitting their work.”

He served on the narrative shorts committee.

“We received more than 372 films,” Lindley said. “I watched every single one. I had about a month and spent close to 80 hours watching them. A lot of them were really good.”

Nathan Willis is now helping produce an event in which he once competed. As a high school junior, he won the festival’s 48-Hour Film Challenge.

“We were filming about 12 hours a day,” Willis said. “I’d never worked that hard before. I was exhausted by the end, but we pulled through. We were given a prompt and built a sci-fi story about a kid stranded alone on a planet.”

Over the years, the festival’s footprint has grown not only in audience size, now drawing up to 12,000 attendees annually, but in impact, welcoming filmmakers from around the globe and building bridges across the borderlands.

As the festival heads into its 11th year this April, it remains rooted in its original purpose: to spark imagination, build creative skills and celebrate storytelling from every corner of the globe, while highlighting the unique spirit of Las Cruces and the students who bring the event to life.

“Everywhere I go in town, I hear, ‘I can’t wait for the film festival,’” Marks said. “People here get a taste of Hollywood — red carpets, celebrity photos, premieres and after-parties. I went to the American Film Institute, where we had major filmmakers visit weekly. We don’t get that here year-round. But during the film festival, we do.”