‘Sundance of Southwest’ returns to Las Cruces for another year

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – From its early awkward days to now being called the “Sundance of the Southwest” by none other than Academy Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser, the Las Cruces International Film Festival is back for its 11th year.

Photos from last year’s Las Cruces International Film Festival, including a celebrity guest appearance by Helen Hunt. Photos courtesy of NMSU.

The LCIFF – the brainchild of New Mexico State University film professor and film director Ross Marks – will be held from Wednesday, April 8 through Sunday, April 12.

This year, more than 1,200 filmmakers submitted entries for consideration into the film festival, which has become one of Southern New Mexico’s largest events of any kind.

One hundred and sixty-eight films have been selected to be shown over five days at the film festival, Marks said.

“If you like movies, you will have a great time,” Marks said. “If you love movies, it is nirvana. Again, 168 movies over five days.”

Most films will be shown at the traditional home of the festival – the Allen Theatres Cineport at the Mesilla Valley Mall. But this year, the film festival added a second venue – the historic Fountain Theatre in Old Mesilla.

“Last year was our 10th anniversary, and it was amazing,” said Marks, who is a professor at NMSU in the Creative Media Institute and the executive director and founder of the Las Cruces International Film Festival.

“Our attendance was 30 percent higher than it has ever been – almost 10,000 people over five days last year,” Marks said. “The challenge is how do you top that.”

Marks said they have added the Fountain Theatre to keep up with the growing festival.

They also will screen movies from 30 different countries this year.

“That really underscores the ‘international’ in the Las Cruces International Film Festival,” Marks said.

This year’s celebrity guest lineup may be the best it has ever been “across the board,” Marks said.

Celebrity guests include Michael Rooker of “Guardians of the Galaxy” fame, Shane Black, who is famous for writing the “Lethal Weapon” movies and actors Steve Zahn, Bruce Davison and Kimberly Beck, Marks said.

This year, the festival will also feature about a dozen panels and workshops including acting, stunt choreography, an inside look at horror movies and financial planning in a gig economy.

Other highlights include Rooker giving a talk on campus at 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 9 at the ASNMSU Center for the Arts, 1000 E. University Ave., and a conversation with Black at 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 10 at the Cineport.

In the early days, it was hard to get filmmakers to submit movies for entry into the festival and even harder to get celebrity guests, Marks said.

“Early on when I started this, we didn’t have a lot of submissions because people didn’t know who we were,” Marks said. “We really had to work hard to reach out to filmmakers to get them to submit to the festival.

“Now that we have been in business for 10 years and have really developed a great reputation for being extremely filmmaker friendly and just being a great festival, the submissions have grown enormously and organically,” he said.

It was also hard to get celebrity guests in the early days, but that has now changed.

In the first year, actor Danny Trejo was the only guest.

“And each year, I would call and email agents, managers and ask for their clients to come,” Marks said. “Ninety percent of the time, they would never even return my calls or my email.”

Now, 11 years in, the festival has gotten a growing list of actors and filmmakers to attend and participate in awards ceremonies, panels and workshops, Marks said.

“They go back to Hollywood and they tell their agents, ‘This festival is amazing,’” Marks said. “Now, they actually come to us. Now, they are emailing me and calling me and saying, ‘Would you bring my client in? We heard you have a great festival.’”

One of the things that makes the Las Cruces International Film Festival stand out above the crowd of other film festivals – it is run by students.

Marks says it is now the largest student-run film festival in the country.

He teaches two classes where students get real-world experience helping to plan, program and then put on the actual film festival.

In the fall, he teaches a class called “Film Festival Prep,” where students actually program the festival. They watch all 1,200-plus submissions and then select the movies that will be shown.

“It is an awesome responsibility, but it gives them a real-world experiential learning opportunity,” Marks said.

In the spring, he teaches “Film Festival Production,” where students actually run the festival each year.

“It has really become an enormous event, but it is still a learning opportunity for students,” Marks said.

“They start the semester and they are nervous and afraid,” Marks said. “They don’t think they can pull it off. By the end of the festival, they are empowered and confident. It changes lives these five days. They pull off something that is amazing.”

Marks said that many students who take part come from El Paso and Juarez, giving it a true Borderland feel.

He also said that when he started the festival, he wanted it to be a place for independent filmmakers to showcase their talent and work.

When he was a young man, Marks attended Robert Redford’s famous Sundance Film Festival, won some awards there and it filled him with confidence to enjoy a successful career.

He wanted to create a similar type atmosphere here in Las Cruces.

“My goal when I started teaching, I asked myself what was the most important lesson I ever learned as a young filmmaker,” Marks said. “It was going to Sundance. That was the biggest opportunity I had.

“So when I started teaching, how do I give my students that? I can’t afford a field trip to Park City for all these students. So let’s do an independent film festival. If I’m doing it for the students, why not with the students?” he said.

The LCIFF’s goal is to find emerging filmmakers and give them a voice.

“We give them a home, great screening facilities, an adoring audience and we celebrate independent film,” he said.

Besides showing a bunch of great movies and serving as a real-world film lab for students, the film festival is also part movie convention.

This year, over 100 filmmakers are planning to attend, Marks said.

The Las Cruces International Film Festival has become the “mouth piece” for a growing and vibrant film industry in Southern New Mexico, Marks said.

“I can point to at least 12 films that were shot in Las Cruces that were made by filmmakers who came to the Las Cruces International Film Festival, fell in love with Las Cruces, the community, the crews, the location and then came back and made a movie here,” Marks said.

The film festival has a wide range of ticket options to suit your needs and budget.

These include a $200 VIP ticket that gets you into all screenings, workshops, panels and the VIP afterparties.

There is also an all-access pass for $100 that includes everything but the VIP parties.

There are day passes ($35), individual screening passes ($15) and a student pass ($25).

“If you like really interesting, edgy, indy, artistic films, this is the festival,” Marks said.

Here is a link to the film festival’s home page.

Here is a link to a downloadable schedule.

Here is a link to a rundown of the workshops and panels.

Here is a link for tickets.

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