<\/p>\n
Kurt Johnson
\nLas Cruces Bulletin<\/p>\n
For more than a decade, the Las Cruces International Film Festival has quietly become one of the Southwest\u2019s most compelling cultural celebrations, a story of community, education and cinematic ambition unfolding each spring on the sun-drenched stages of southern New Mexico.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a film festival that was designed for the students \u2014 and for me \u2014 because of the experience I had as a young filmmaker at Sundance,\u201d Marks said. \u201cI wanted to duplicate that here in Las Cruces for my students. It\u2019s a bit of a convention, a bit of a gathering of filmmakers from around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 from Danny Trejo in the early years to Academy Award winner Helen Hunt during the 10th anniversary festivities.<\/p>\n
Beyond its role as a showcase, the festival is deeply educational. Entirely run by students in NMSU\u2019s Creative Media Institute, LCIFF provides emerging filmmakers and media professionals with real-world experience in programming, production and festival operations \u2014 a mission that has shaped hundreds of careers and helped make it one of the largest student-run film festivals in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say over the 11 years we\u2019ve had well over a hundred students get jobs because of the film festival,\u201d Marks said. \u201cThrough interactions with producers, filmmakers, actors, directors and production companies, they land jobs and earn professional credits on their resumes.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents 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\u2019s a real-world event \u2014 not just a theory class, but a practice class and a resume builder.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the beginning of the semester, they\u2019re thinking, \u2018Oh man, I don\u2019t think we can pull this off. This is scary,\u2019\u201d Marks said. \u201cBy the end, every single one of them is empowered and confident because they pull it off. It\u2019s the pressure of an event that brings in 12,000 people and 168 filmmakers. It\u2019s the second-largest event in southern New Mexico and one of the largest film festivals in the Southwest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marks said he\u2019s consistently impressed by how students rise to the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey run it. They put it together. I just guide them and give them the tools to be successful,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s experiential learning \u2014 the film festival is as much a lab and a classroom as it is an event. They take responsibility, and they have to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students typically serve on two or three committees, managing different aspects of the festival and gaining a view of the operation from multiple angles.<\/p>\n
Barrow Williams doesn\u2019t remember exactly when he became interested in making movies, but he knows it started early.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom says when I was two, she showed me Mary Poppins<\/em>, and we had an oven that reflected like a mirror,\u201d Williams said. \u201cShe said I would do the \u2018Step in Time\u2019 dance in front of it. Ever since then, I\u2019ve wanted to make movies. I\u2019ve never really considered anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams transferred from a film school in New York and said the hands-on opportunities at NMSU far exceed what he experienced elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re letting the students run a film festival,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t see that at other schools. You might have student volunteers, but they\u2019re not actually running the show. Here, we are \u2014 and they\u2019re telling us to go for it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that looks great on a resume, and honestly, it\u2019s something most film schools don\u2019t even offer.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Garcia first became interested in film in middle school, making YouTube skits with friends.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was such a cool creative outlet,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did a lot of comedy sketches, then got more into music in high school. I just carried it with me into college.\u201d<\/p>\n Preparing for the Q&A sessions helped him understand the business side of filmmaking \u2014 something he said often gets overlooked.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Q&As were the most challenging part for me because public speaking isn\u2019t my strong suit,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cBut I met so many people, and I saw how many people around the world are interested in creating things.\u201d<\/p>\n Sebastian Garcia said the networking opportunities were one of the most rewarding aspects of working the festival.<\/p>\n \u201cIt helps just getting out there and meeting people who make films,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you really work the festival, you get access to things you wouldn\u2019t normally see as an attendee.\u201d<\/p>\n Angie Hernandez, a senior graduating in May, said film has long been her creative outlet.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like sharing my emotions and ideas through film is a really important part of my life,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve always liked making small documentaries and series. I\u2019m just enjoying the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the camaraderie among students is one of the most meaningful parts of bringing the festival to life.<\/p>\n \u201cI really enjoy engaging with my peers,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cFor my job, I do a lot of behind-the-scenes management and recruiting, so this class lets me apply what I\u2019ve already learned to something I care about. It\u2019s a great opportunity to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n This year, she\u2019s helping plan the awards show \u2014 a chance to celebrate the work of filmmakers and students alike.<\/p>\n Nathan Lindley entered NMSU as a biology major before finding his way to film. He now spends countless hours reviewing submissions.<\/p>\n \u201cThese aren\u2019t high-budget productions \u2014 they\u2019re short films,\u201d Lindley said. \u201cI contacted a little over a thousand filmmakers about submitting their work.\u201d<\/p>\n He served on the narrative shorts committee.<\/p>\n \u201cWe received more than 372 films,\u201d Lindley said. \u201cI watched every single one. I had about a month and spent close to 80 hours watching them. A lot of them were really good.\u201d<\/p>\n Nathan Willis is now helping produce an event in which he once competed. As a high school junior, he won the festival\u2019s 48-Hour Film Challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were filming about 12 hours a day,\u201d Willis said. \u201cI\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the years, the festival\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cEverywhere I go in town, I hear, \u2018I can\u2019t wait for the film festival,\u2019\u201d Marks said. \u201cPeople here get a taste of Hollywood \u2014 red carpets, celebrity photos, premieres and after-parties. I went to the American Film Institute, where we had major filmmakers visit weekly. We don\u2019t get that here year-round. But during the film festival, we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n