MovieMaker magazine’s love affair with Santa Fe continues.
The publication on Monday named the Santa Fe International Film Festival as one of “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2023.”
MovieMaker in February named Santa Fe as the No. 1 small city for a moviemaker to live and work after editor-in-chief Tim Molloy made his first visit to the area last summer and evidently enjoyed the vibrant filmmaking scene in the City Different.
The festival has received the “worth the entry fee” award eight times.
MovieMaker chose film festivals based on balancing a film’s chances of getting in with the cost of applying along with filmmakers receiving sufficient recognition, connections and prizes.
“Located in the No. 1 town on our list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker, SFiFF gives back to its thriving film community in every sense — from programs for students to some of the most generous prize packages of any festival in the world,” Molloy said in a news release.
SFiFF is in the second year of a partnership with Panavision and Panavision’s post-production company, Light Iron, for an award package valued at $105,000. This includes a camera package valued at $60,000 and a lighting package valued at $30,000 in the Narrative Feature Award category and a $15,000 camera package in the Best Narrative Short category.
The Santa Fe Film Institute, which stages the festival, also offers $4,000 in cash prices, artistic director Jacques Paisner said.
Entry fees for filmmakers range from $40 to $80 per film, depending on whether the film is a short or feature length and how far in advance filmmakers enter their films.
Last year, the Santa Fe International Film Festival screened movies from 94 countries and Paisner expects more than 100 countries represented this October among the 160 films at this year’s festival, which draws nearly 12,000 in attendance over five days.
“It’s like a European film festival in the U.S. that we are trying to achieve here,” Paisner said.
By Teya Vitu