Las Cruces film festival features stars, movies, info on getting started in show biz
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Las Cruces International Film Festival is back for its ninth year, but has some new wrinkles this time around.
Ross Marks, the founder and executive director of the festival, said the “I” in the festival’s abbreviation (LCIFF) now also stands for “innovation” and “independent.”
“We have done an all-new branding and new look, a new facelift,” said Marks, who also teaches film at New Mexico State University and directed the movie “Walking with Herb” which was shot in Southern New Mexico.
The film festival will run from Wednesday, April 3 through Sunday, April 7 at the Allen Theatres’ Cineport 10 in Las Cruces, 700 S. Telshor Blvd.
This year’s special guests are: actor Ron Perlman who is known for starring in the iconic cable TV series “Sons of Anarchy” and as the lead character in “Hellboy”; and veteran actor Eric Roberts, the brother of actress Julia Roberts.
The festival will feature special screenings of “Hellboy” on Thursday, April 4 with question and answer sessions with Perlman before each showing.
Perlman will also talk about his career at 2 p.m. on Thursday at the NMSU Center for the Arts.
Roberts, who has appeared in more than 700 movies, will lead a seminar at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 6 at the Rio Grande Theatre, 211 N. Main, on how to create and maintain a career in show business.
“If anyone knows how to create and maintain a career in show business, it is Eric Roberts,” Marks said. “He has the most movie credits of any living actor, most recently at 718 movies.”
The film festival will also feature about 100 films over five days and a variety of workshops and panels including hair and makeup; writing for film and television; producing; animation; and marketing, Marks said.
“In addition to being a film festival where you get to see great movies and hear from great guests like Ron Perlman and Eric Roberts, it is also a convention,” Marks said. “You can come down and learn how to get a career going in the entertainment industry and interact and meet with producers, writers, directors, actors and set up your own project or get involved with someone else’s.”
What really differentiates this film festival from others is its ties to NMSU and the teaching aspect surrounding it, Marks said.
“What I am most proud of is the fact that the Las Cruces International Film Festival is the largest film festival in the country that is run by a university — New Mexico State University,” Marks said.
Marks said he teaches a class called Film Festival Prep in the fall and one called Film Festival Production in in the spring. His students in the fall plan and program the festival and his students in the spring run the festival, from doing marketing, to ticket sales, to working with visiting filmmakers and visiting celebrity guests.
“It really is a student-run event,” Marks said, with 10,000 to 12,000 people expected to attend and take part this year.
“That’s the most rewarding part for me,” he said. “At the beginning of the festival, the students are nervous and are not sure they can pull it off. Then at the end, they tell me how the festival changed their lives. That’s the payoff for me.”
The Las Cruces International Film Festival is part of Marks’ efforts to grow the film industry in the region, not only in Southern New Mexico but El Paso and Juarez too, he said.
He filmed his movie “Walking with Herb” in the region a couple of years ago and he is in the process of finishing a Christmas movie called “Santa’s Cousin” that is slated to come out this year. That move was also filmed here and will feature Eric Roberts as Santa Claus.
“I really encourage people from El Paso to come out,” Marks said. “It is a short drive and it is very much worth it.”
You can find out more about the festival by clicking here for information on all the films that are screening, the panels, workshops and celebrity guest appearances.
Tickets include: $10 for an individual screening; $25 for a day pass; $25 for a student pass that gets you into all movies over five days; and $150 VIP ticket that includes all the screenings, panels, workshops and the VIP afterparties.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
