Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe International Film Festival brings over 300 hours of entertainment
The plot centers on two grief-stricken New Mexico families who meet for a Día de los Muertos celebration at an abandoned, uranium-contaminated church in a desert village: One mourns a father lost due to research on toxic materials at a government lab; the other mourns a mother who vanished near uranium mines.
Siena Sofia Bergt, the director of Radon’s Daughters, said her new horror film is inspired by the history of a laundromat on Siler Road in Santa Fe that in the 1990s — and for decades prior — laundered garments from Los Alamos National Laboratory tainted with radioactive substances.
Growing up in Agua Fría village, Bergt had heard stories about surrounding acequias becoming contaminated as a result of the operation.
By Cormac Dodd
In Memoriam star Marc Maron, middle, responds to an interview question Wednesday during a Q and A with director Rob Burnett, left, and panelist Kirk Ellis, right, on opening night of the Santa Fe International Film Festival at Sky Cinemas Railyard. The annual event brings 175 films, spotlighting local filmmakers and features appearances by Maron, Zahn McClarnon and Pam Grier.
Nathan Burton/The New Mexican