Show must go on: Santa Fe Film Festival pivots to present international, local films
Apr. 24—There are times in life, when one must adjust.
This is what Nani Rivera had to do with the Santa Fe Film Festival.
The annual event is usually held in February, but got moved to April for the 2024 iteration.
"It's what you have to do when two of your venues are under renovation," Rivera says. "We made the decision to push the festival back a couple of months."
The Santa Fe Film Festival will run Thursday, April 25, through Sunday, April 28, at various locations around Santa Fe.
Rivera says there will be more than 100 films screened during the four-day festival.
"This year we have more filmmakers," Rivera says. "I actually meant to have a boutique festival. Filmmakers were anxious to be in person and interact with each other. It's refreshing to see how the demand pushed it to a bigger festival."
The festival is marking its 24th year.
Rivera says the festival's mission is to provide an exhilarating experience for moviegoers, boasting an impressive line-up of films from notable filmmakers and welcoming esteemed honorees.
The festival will honor Danny Trejo with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rivera says Val Kilmer is also being awarded the Luminaria Award for demonstrated exceptional achievement in the arts and sparking inspiration in others creative process at its award ceremony on Saturday, April 27.
The festival features a very special, rare gallery exhibition of artwork by Kilmer at Edition One Gallery, 729 Canyon Road in Santa Fe.
"His paintings, rich in color and emotion, have garnered critical acclaim and are highly regarded and sought-after among serious collectors," Rivera says.
Rivera says actor Matthew Modine returns to the festival to screen the films, "Downwind" and "The Martini Shot." Modine is also being awarded the festival's Humanitarian Award, as well as participating in "Mimosas with Matthew" at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos.
Modine executive produced the documentary "Downwind," which is directed by Mark Shapiro and Douglas Brian Miller.
In the documentary, the filmmakers chronicle the effects that nuclear testing on American soil has on citizens.
It pinpoints the testing from 1951-1992 in Mercury, Nevada, which saw 928 large scale nuclear weapons tested as the wind took the radioactive fallout from the blasts.
According to the United States Department of Justice, it defines downwinders as human beings who live in counties located downwind from the Nevada Test Site in the states of Utah, Nevada and Arizona.
While the film doesn't touch on the effects of the Trinity Site in New Mexico, Rivera says it's an important issue.
"Our delegation is still fighting for New Mexico to be recognized as part of the downwinders," she says. "After 'Oppenheimer,' the discussion is still as relevant as ever. The film has brought more attention to this."
Modine played American engineer Vannevar Bush in the Oscar-winning film, "Oppenheimer" and executive producing the documentary was important to him.
Modine grew up in Utah and his father was affected by the fallout.
"This is going to be one of the films not to miss," Rivera says.
Rivera says the festival's lineup also includes an array of internationally-directed features.
"Till Love Do Us Part" by first-time female Chinese director Ran Li will screen, as will Fabio Massa's "Global Harmony."
Adding further international flair, is Japanese filmmaker Yuichiro Nakada making the journey from Japan to Santa Fe to showcase his short film, "Gift," which is an examination of cultural differences between an unlikely pair of protagonists.
Rivera says there will be a number of New Mexico filmmakers highlighted in the festival.
Tom Carroll's film, "The Stress is Killing Me," set in Albuquerque around a group of University of New Mexico graduates, now in their 40s, returning for a college reunion.
"Brenden Wedner's 'Tales of the Faded West' will also screen," Rivera says. "As will 'The Valley of Hearts Delight' by Mike Timm. New Mexico filmmakers are continuing to put out some amazing work."
