AWARDS
2024 SFiFF AWARDS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Bryan Cranston
Best Narrative Feature Jury Award presented by Panavision
Waltzing Matilda directed by Petr Slavík
Special Jury Award Narrative Feature
The Moon is Upside Down directed by Loren Carla Taylor
Best Documentary Feature Jury Award
The Strike directed by JoeBill Muñoz and Lucas Guilkey
Special Jury Award Documentary Feature
Zurawski v. Texas directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault
Special Jury Award Documentary Feature
Between Goodbyes directed by Jota Mun
Academy Award® Qualifying Narrative Short Jury Award presented by Panavision
Camping in Paradise directed by Eirik Tveiten
Academy Award® Qualifying Documentary Short Jury Award
The Quilters directed by Jenifer McShane
Academy Award® Qualifying Animated Short Jury Award
LUKi and the Lights directed by Toby Cochran
Special Jury Award Narrative Short
Buscando Alma directed by Melissa Fisher
Special Jury Award Documentary Short
A Body Called Life directed by Spencer MacDonald
Special Jury Award Animated Short
One Happy Customer directed by WATTS
Experimental Short Jury Award
Make Me a Pizza directed by Talia Shea Levin
Best New Mexico Feature Jury Award
Sunlight directed by Nina Conti
Best New Mexico Short Jury Award
Where the Earth Meets the Sky directed by Rafael Salazar Moreno
Best Short by an Indigenous Director Jury Award
First Horse directed by Awanui Simich-Pene
Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature
The Seed of the Sacred Fig directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature
Mollie’s Pack directed by Thomas Winston
Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film
Jane Austen’s Period Drama directed by Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
2024 Santa Fe International Film Festival Jury
Narrative Features
Tim Hunter - Film and Television Director Tim Hunter is known for River's Edge (1986) and Tex (1982).
Carlos Aguilar - Chosen as one of 6 young film critics to partake in the first Roger Ebert Fellowship organized by RogerEbert.com, the Sundance Institute and Indiewire in 2014. His work has appeared in prestigious publications such as Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Indiewire, Vulture, RogerEbert.com, MovieMaker Magazine, Remezcla, Filmmaker Magazine, among others.
Alexandra Fredricks - Alexandra Fredricks handles Non-Theatrical Distribution and International Sales at Oscilloscope Laboratories. Alexandra has also been Programming and Operations Senior Manager at Metrograph and Film Screening Operations Manager at the Doha Film Institute. Over the past 15 years, she has served over the years on a number of Jury and Screening Committees, and as a talent liaison for New York Film Festival.
Danny Rubin - An award-winning screenwriter and playwright, Daniel Rubin co-wrote with Harold Ramis the screenplay for Groundhog Day, for which the two received a BAFTA Award.
Kathleen Broyles - President of the Board of The Milagro Initiative, and is a consultant to Sundance Institute, where she has worked since 1990. Broyles is also a location casting director known for productions like Honeydripper and Silver City.
Yolonda Ross - American actress, writer, director, and two-time Independent Spirit Award nominee Yolonda Ross is known for acting in The Chi, The Get Down, and Whitney.
Jhane Myers - a Sundance and Time Warner Storyteller Fellow known for film producing, Native language, Native cultural advising, acting, fine art, and most recently for the film Prey.
Cassidy Freeman - Known for her roles in television's The Righteous Gemstones, Smallville, and Longmire, actress and musician Cassidy Freeman also acted in and produced the stunning New Mexico-filmed feature length drama, Cortez.
Maura Dhu Studi - a Two-time Emmy winner for writing and producing the award-winning documentaries Canes Of Power and However Wide The Sky by Silver Bullet Productions, Maura Dhu Studi also Associate Produced and wrote narration for A Thousand Voices and Defending The Fire.
Documentary Features
Sam Pollard - American film director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. His films have garnered numerous awards such as Peabodys, Emmys, and an Academy Award nomination. In 2020, the International Documentary Association gave him a career achievement award. Best known for his work on Mr. Soul!, MLK/FBI, and Eyes on the Prize.
member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
Glenn Silber - an Academy Award-Nominated documentary filmmaker and long-time network television news producer who produced more than 80 primetime news stories for CBS News and ABC News, as well as several feature documentaries for broadcast on PBS. Two-time Academy-Award nominee Glenn Silber is an influential Producer, and he has directed films like The War At Home and Atomic Artist.
Kirby Dick - Academy Award nominated director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best known for directing documentary films. He received for Best Documentary Feature for directing Twist of Faith and The Invisible War.
Ricardo Acosta - an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Member and Internationally renowned Film Editor, Story Editor, Creative/Editorial Consultant, Ricardo Acosta has been working in the film industry for over 25 years. He has been awarded with an Emmy, and has been nominated several times to Genie, Gemini, CCE, and CS Awards.
Sandrine Cassidy - USC’s School of Cinematic Arts director of Festivals and Distribution, Sandrine Cassidy counsels current students and alumni on how best to work their shorts in the festival circuit. Sandrine is also the Producer of award winning shorts and features. She has been on the Tribeca Festival screening committee since 2015 and serves as a mentor for the Film Independent Global Media Makers.
Gay Dillingham - Producer/Director/Owner of CNS Communications, Gay Dillingham began making films with The WIPP Trail, narrated by Robert Redford and which aired nationally on PBS. Her work as a filmmaker and one of thirty international women delegates is represented in the 2022 documentary film, Crossings. She is currently Chair of the Santa Fe Film & Digital Media Council and Vice President of Wild Earth Guardians.
Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso - an Award-winning queer Navajo filmmaker, and a recent fellow with the Firelight Media Documentary Filmmaker Lab as well as director of the multi-award winning documentary, Powerlands.
New Mexico Features
Paul Lazarus - Paul Lazarus is an American director, producer and writer of film, television and theatre. He graduated from Dartmouth College, and apprenticed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England. Known for his work as producer of Westworld (1973) and Barbarosa (1982)
Hunter Robert Baker - Based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Navajo Nation, Hunter is an emmy Award-winning feature film, television, and commercial Director of Photography and Producer, and has also been nominated for 2 Emmy Awards.
Shaandiin Tome - Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, her breakout, award-winning short film Mud (Hashtł’ishnii) premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2018, with foreign debut showings worldwide elevating her as a writer/director. Shaandiin Tome is known for her work on short films like Long Line of Ladies, which earned the 2022 SFiFF Audience Choice Best Documentary Short Film.
Alexandra Henry - Alexandra Henry is an award-winning filmmaker with over 15 years of international experience in commercial production and branded entertainment. In 2021 her first feature-length documentary, Street Heroines, won the Best Documentary Jury Prize at the Portland Film Festival and screened at SFiFF.
Ryan Lacen - Hailing from New Mexico, Ryan is an award-winning writer and filmmaker whose first feature, The Dust Storm, was produced and sold to HULU. His follow up feature All the World is Sleeping flipped the narrative on substance abuse with a stellar cast of Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, Scream) and Jackie Cruz (Orange is the New Black); the film won the Best New Mexico Narrative Feature at 2021 SFiFF.
Short Film Jury:
Andrew Finkelstein – Emmy and Peabody award-winning editor/producer who worked on long-form documentary projects at CBS, PBS, and NBC. He spent the last three decades working on Dateline NBC.
April Webster – Emmy award-winning casting director of numerous films and television shows including Lost, Alias, Star Wars-the Force Awakens, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III, and Tomorrowland. She has worked with some of the most successful directors including multiple projects with J.J. Abrams.
Deirdre Brenner – Creative Producer on two Curious George films for Universal Animation Studios and currently a Producer on the popular adult animated series Rick and Morty. She was an animation producer at The Walt Disney Company, Nickelodeon, and Six Point Harness.
Ivan Williams – Producer of narrative and documentary feature films including the award-winning Secret Mall Apartment, How to Build a Truth Engine, and M.F.A. He produced multiple film projects for Altar identity Studios including Big Stone Gap and Knights of Badassdom. He also produced the Broadway musical First Date and the comedy web series Be Here Nowish.
Jeff McCracken – As a Producer at Walt Disney Co. he developed and directed multiple episodes of the tv series Boy Meets World and Dinosaurs. He also developed and co-produced the Oscar-nominated feature film Quiz Show. As a stage and screen actor, he appeared in numerous television shows and films including Running Bravebased on the life of Native American track star and Olympic medalist Billy Mills.
Jen Rudin – Casting Director and former casting executive at the Walt Disney Company. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Artios award from the Casting Society of America for her work on The Princess and the Frog and Chicken Little. She formally started the Animation V.O. department at ICM Partners and she is the author of “Confessions of a Casting Director.”
Rachel Goldberg – Award-winning filmmaker who has directed more than 40 productions for stage and screen. She has directed episodes of television shows Agatha All Along, American Horror Story, Gen V, Resident Evil, American Gods, Mayans M.C., Veronica Mars, and the Netflix pilot Grendel.
Stacey Pianko – Former Director of Casting at Disney Channel where she helped launch stars such as Shia LaBeouf, Hilary Duff, Kat Dennings, Lindsay Lohan, Kat Graham, and Kaley Cuoco. Known as the “Casting Fairy” she is a casting director and audition coach who worked on A Wrinkle in Time, Avatar: The Way of Water, and the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Indigenous Shorts Jury
Kiowa Gordon - An actor of Hualapai heritage, Kiowa Gordon portrays Jim Chee in the AMC series Dark Winds and is also known for his role as shapeshifter Embry Call in The Twilight Saga, as well as Junior in the TV series The Red Road.
Sisa Quispe - An award-winning director, writer, producer, and speaker, Sisa Quispe is a Quechua Aymara filmmaker. Her work aims to inspire the preservation of Indigenous cultures while sharing a decolonizing message, and she earned SFiFF’s Best Short by an Indigenous Director in 2023.
Charine Gonzales - A Producer for the Native Lens project, Charine Gonzales is known for River Bank (Po-Kehgeh) (2023), Our Quiyo: Maria Martinez (2022) and Winding Path (2024).
New Mexico Short Film Jury
Scott Rorie - Assistant Director on Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart and AMC’s Dark Winds.
Kymon Greyhorse - Kymon Greyhorse is a Diné + Tongan + 2Spirit award-winning director, editor, and writer from Albuquerque, New Mexico. His first short film I AM HOME premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and he is also the director of the short film Can I Love You? as well as the forthcoming short film TAMAI.
Amanda Lundquist - Amanda Lundquist is a director, editor and writer. She is known for her work on the recent feature film Pinsky, which won SFiFF’s 2017 Best Narrative Feature Award, as well as for television shows on PBS, A&E and Discovery.
Erica Nguyen - As a grassroots documenteur, Erica Nguyen's interdisciplinary background in Sociolinguistics, Ethnography and Applied Language Studies at UC Berkeley frames her process around how estrangement from our origins manifests in our bodies. Erica Nguyen directed Shadow Weavers, about the endangered languages transcribed in Peruvian hats; which was awarded the Best NM Feature Documentary by SFiFF 2021.
2023 SFiFF AWARDS
Santa Fe International Film Festival (SFiFF) presented the following Jury Awards and Audience Choice Awards in 2023, and the Santa Fe Film Institute also provided a new $500 cash prize for a new award, the Best Short by an Indigenous Director.
VISIONARY AWARD
Sterlin Harjo
JURIED AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature presented by Panavision
With Love and a Major Organ directed by Kim Albright
Best Documentary Feature
Bad Press directed by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler
Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature
Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun directed by Banchi Hanuse
Best New Mexico Narrative Feature
Little Brother directed by Sheridan O’Donnell
Best New Mexico Documentary Feature
First We Bombed New Mexico directed by Lois Lipman
Best Narrative Short presented by Panavision
Mirage directed by Jhanvi Motla
Special Jury Award for Narrative Short
Rabbit Hole directed by Aaron Schoonover
Best Documentary Short
The Test directed by Claudia Myers and Laura Waters Hinson
Special Jury Award for Documentary Short
Eat Flowers directed by River Autumn Finlay
Best Animated Short
Ninety-Five Senses directed by Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
Honorable Mention for Animated Short
Stages of Lost Freedom directed by Kamran S. Rosen
Best Experimental Short
Lovebugs directed by Teddy Alvarez-Nissen
Best New Mexico Short
Border Lord directed by Andy Pollack
Best Short by an Indigenous Filmmaker
Urpi: Her Last Wish directed by Sisa Quispe
2023 SANTA FE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL JURY
Narrative Features
Danny Rubin An award-winning screenwriter and playwright, Daniel Rubin co-wrote with Harold Ramis the screenplay for Groundhog Day, for which the two received a BAFTA Award.
Cassidy Freeman Known for her roles in television's The Righteous Gemstones, Smallville, and Longmire, actress and musician Cassidy Freeman also acted in and produced the stunning New Mexico-filmed feature length drama, Cortez.
Kathleen Broyles President of the Board of The Milagro Initiative, and is a consultant to Sundance Institute, where she has worked since 1990. Broyles is also a location casting director known for productions like Honeydripper and Silver City.
Yolonda Ross Two-time Independent Spirit Award nominee Yolonda Ross is known for acting in The Chi and John Sayles’s Go For Sisters.
Maura Dhu Studi Two-time Emmy winner for writing and producing the award-winning documentaries Canes Of Power and However Wide The Sky by Silver Bullet Productions, Maura Dhu Studi also Associate Produced and wrote narration for A Thousand Voices and Defending The Fire.
Jhane Myers a Sundance and Time Warner Storyteller Fellow known most recently for the film Prey.
Documentary Features
Glenn Silber Two-time Academy-Award nominee Glenn Silber is an influential Producer, and he has directed films like The War At Home and Atomic Artist.
Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso Director of the multi-award winning documentary, Powerlands.
Michele Chiappetta Garza Founding Producer of the KCET Cinema Series, which offers audiences the best of Hollywood, independent, and festival films prior to their theatrical or streaming release, Michele Garza is also the producer of the Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival, which hosts documentary filmmakers, environmentalists, and award-winning scientists.
Gay Dillingham Producer/Director/Owner of CNS Communications, Gay Dillingham began making films with The WIPP Trail, narrated by Robert Redford. Her work as a filmmaker and one of thirty international women delegates is represented in the 2022 documentary film, Crossings. She is currently Chair of the Santa Fe Film & Digital Media Council and Vice President of Wild Earth Guardians.
Sandrine Cassidy USC’s School of Cinematic Arts director of Festivals and Distribution, Sandrine Cassidy counsels current students and alumni on how best to work their shorts in the festival circuit.
New Mexico Features Jury
Hunter Robert Baker Emmy Award-winning feature film, television, and commercial Director of Photography and Producer, Hunter Robert Baker has also been nominated for 2 Emmy Awards.
Shaandiin Tome Sundance fellow Shaandiin Tome is known for her work on short films like Long Line of Ladies, which earned the 2022 SFiFF Audience Choice Best Documentary Short Film.
Pete Ohs Director of SFiFF’s 2022 Best New Mexico feature, Jethica, Pete Ohs is also known for directing films like Youngstown and Everything Beautiful Is Far Away.
Alexandra Henry an award-winning filmmaker with over 15 years of international experience in commercial production and branded entertainment. In 2021 her first feature-length documentary, Street Heroines, won the Best Documentary Jury Prize at the Portland Film Festival and screened at SFiFF.
Short Film Jury
Amy Grappell
Lisa Leeman
Lynn Hamrick
Michael Fink
Raúl Garza
Sarah El Khawand
New Mexico Short Film Jury
Nancy Richardson
Erica Nguyen
Peshawn Bread
Amanda Lundquist
Sylvia Johnson
Indigenous Short Film Jury
Chris Eyre
Shaandiin Tome
Peshawn Bread
2022 SFiFF AWARDS
Santa Fe International Film Festival (SFiFF) is proud to announce this year’s juried awards in all categories. With select prizes from Panavision, as well as cash prizes from the Santa Fe Film Institute, SFiFF recognizes these award winning filmmakers for their cinematic skills and talents to continue supporting these filmmakers, whose work has captivated SFiFF’s 2022 festival jury.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Godfrey Reggio
VISIONARY AWARD
Catherine Hardwicke
ICON AWARD
Steina Vasulka
JURIED AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature
Scarborough directed by Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson
Best Documentary Feature
The Holly directed by Julian Rubinstein
Honorable Mention Documentary Feature
The Thief Collector directed by Allison Otto
Best New Mexico Narrative Feature
Jethica directed by Pete Ohs
Best New Mexico Documentary Feature
Acting Like Nothing is Wrong directed by Jane Rosemont
Best Narrative Short
Endless Sea directed by Sam Shainberg
Best International Narrative Short
Stinkfrucht (Taste of Home) directed by Âni Võ
Best Documentary Short
Freedom Swimmer directed by Olivia Martin-McGuire
Best Animation Short
The Record directed by Jonathan Laskar
Best Experimental Short
Your Houseplants Are Screaming directed by Benjamin Roberds
Best New Mexico Short
The Boy Who Couldn’t Feel Pain directed by Eugen Merher
2022 SFiFF JURY
Narrative Features
Jhane Myers - Producer Jhane Myers is a Sundance and Time Warner Storyteller Fellow known most recently for the film Prey.
Kathleen Broyles - President of the Board of The Milagro Initiative, and is a consultant to Sundance Institute, where she has worked since 1990. Broyles is also a location casting director known for productions like Honeydripper and Silver City.
Danny Rubin - An award-winning screenwriter and playwright, Daniel Rubin co-wrote with Harold Ramis the screenplay for Groundhog Day, for which the two received a BAFTA Award
Danny Ladely - Served as the Director of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center for over 40 years and began the Great Plains Film Festival in 1992.
Ed Khmara - Known for his work as an American screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is best known for his work on Enemy Mine, Ladyhawke and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.
Sandrine Faucher Cassidy - USC’s School of Cinematic Arts director of Festivals and Distribution, Sandrine Cassidy counsels current students and alumni on how best to work their shorts in the festival circuit.
Jeanne LeBlanc - Director of Our Own, which earned Best Narrative Feature at 2020 SFiFF.
Amanda Lundquist - Winner of SFiFF’s 2017 Best Narrative Feature with the film, Pinsky, Amanda Lundquist is a writer and director known for her comedic storytelling.
Séverine Tibi - French filmmaker Séverine Tibi is a Producer and co-founder of the Cannes-based production company, Sevana Films.
Documentary Features
Glenn Silber - Two-time Academy-Award nominee Glenn Silber is an influential Producer, and he has directed films like The War At Home and Atomic Artist.
Andrea Meditch - Emmy winning Producer Andrea Meditch has also executive-produced the Oscar-winning Man On Wire, Oscar-nominated Encounters at the End of the World, and short-listed BUCK.
Ricardo Acosta - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Member and Internationally renowned Film Editor, Story Editor, Creative/Editorial Consultant, Ricardo Acosta has been working in the film industry for over 25 years. He has been awarded with an Emmy, and has been nominated several times to Genie, Gemini, CCE and CS Awards.
Ina Fichman - President and Executive Producer/Producer at INTUITIVE PICTURES, Ina Fichman has produced titles such as Guy Nattiv’s Mabul (The Flood, 2010), which was featured at Berlinale.
Gay Dillingham - Producer/Director/Owner, CNS Communications
Gay Dillingham began making films with The WIPP Trail, narrated by Robert Redford and which aired nationally on PBS. Her work as a filmmaker and one of thirty international women delegates is represented in the 2022 documentary film, Crossings. She is currently Chair of the Santa Fe Film & Digital Media Council and Vice President of Wild Earth Guardians.
Alexandra Henry - Alexandra Henry is an award-winning filmmaker with over 15 years of international experience in commercial production and branded entertainment. In 2021 her first feature-length documentary, Street Heroines, won the Best Documentary Jury Prize at the Portland Film Festival and screened at SFiFF.
NM Features
Hannah Jayanti - Hannah Jayanti is the director and producer of 2020 SFiFF’s Best New Mexico Feature, Truth or Consequences.
Ryan Lacen - Hailing from New Mexico, Ryan is an award-winning writer and filmmaker whose first feature, The Dust Storm, was produced and sold to HULU. His follow up feature All the World is Sleeping flipped the narrative on substance abuse with a stellar cast of Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, Scream) and Jackie Cruz (Orange is the New Black); the film won the Best New Mexico Narrative Feature at 2021 SFiFF.
Erica Nguyen - As a grassroots documenteur, Erica Nguyen's interdisciplinary background in Sociolinguistics, Ethnography and Applied Language Studies at UC Berkeley frames her process around how estrangement from our origins manifests in our bodies. A Vietnamese-American, she belongs to the modern diaspora that seeks to transform generational trauma into a reclaimed sense of belonging. Erica directed Shadow Weavers, about the endangered languages transcribed in Peruvian hats; which was awarded the Best NM Feature Documentary by SFiFF 2021.
Paul Lazarus - Producer of Westworld (1973) and Barbarosa (1982)
Lily Zepeda - Director of Mr. Toilet: The World's #2 Man
NM Short Film Jury
Sylvia Johnson - Director of Free Roaming Studios, her film Mermaids Against Plastic: Tamara earned Best New Mexican Short at 2020 SFiFF
Jordyn Romero - Empowering diverse outdoor women, director Jordyn Romero has won the Best New Mexican Short at SFiFF in 2019 and 2021.
Scott Hussion - Director, Actor, Special Effects, known recently for directing 14 Cameras
Julia Eringer - New Mexico-based actress known for her work on the SFiFF film Paring.
Lindsy Campbell - Actress/Filmmaker, most recently known for her roles on Longmire and The Messengers
Hunter Stiebel - Director known the New Mexican short film BnB
Justin Rhody - is a photographer, filmmaker, and sound artist who currently runs No Name Cinema, operates the Physical media label, and performs in the K/S/R expanded cinema trio.
2021 SFiFF AWARDS
The Santa Fe Independent Film Festival's 13th edition screened our largest program to date. We are delighted to recognize the talents of our filmmakers and announce the following outstanding films, which have earned top scores from our talented festival jury and astute audiences.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Oliver Stone
JURIED AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature
Karmalink directed by Jake Wachtel
Best Documentary Feature
On the Divide directed by Leah Galant and Maya Cueva
Best New Mexico Narrative Feature
All the World is Sleeping directed by Ryan Lacen
Best New Mexico Documentary Feature
Shadow Weavers directed by Erica Nguyen
Best U.S. Short
Sproutland directed by Cynthia Wade
Best International Short
The Criminals directed by Serhat Karaasian
Best Documentary Short
Kinderland directed by Amy Grappell
Best Animation Short
Affairs of the Art directed by Joanna Quinn
Best Experimental Short (tie)
Leaving for Holiday directed by Ariel Goldenberg AND
Wall Piano directed by Asma Ghanem, Christopher Marianetti, and Alexia Webster
Best New Mexico Short
We Are Like Waves directed by Jordyn Romero
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
Audience Choice – Best Narrative Feature
A Hero directed by Asghar Farhadi
Audience Choice – Best Documentary Feature
The Velvet Queen directed by Marie Amiguet
Audience Choice – Best Narrative Short
Burros directed by Jefferson Stein
Audience Choice – Best Documentary Short
Sophie and the Baron directed by Alexandria Jackson
2021 SFiFF JURY
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Sam Pollard – Sharing a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Documentary for 4 Little Girls(1997) with Spike Lee, documenteur Sam Pollard has earned much acclaim for his directing, editing, producing, and screenwriting. Pollard has also earned an Emmy, a Peabody Career Achievement Award, and Best Documentary at 2020 SFiFF.
Alexandria Bombach – Alexandria Bombach is an award-winning director, cinematographer, and editor from Santa Fe, NM. Her feature-length documentary, On Her Shoulders (2018), won Best Directing in the US Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards, and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature. Bombach founded the Santa Fe Editing & Writing Residency, is a 2019 Sundance Institute Momentum Fellow, and a 2019 Chicken & Egg Award Fellow.
Ina Fichman – President and Executive Producer/Producer at INTUITIVE PICTURES, Ina Fichman has produced titles such as Guy Nattiv’s Mabul (The Flood, 2010), which was featured at Berlinale.
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Cassidy Freeman – Known for her roles in television's The Righteous Gemstones, Smallville and Longmire, actress and musician Cassidy Freeman also acted in and produced the stunning New Mexico-filmed feature length drama, Cortez.
Kathleen Broyles – President of the Board of The Milagro Initiative, and is a consultant to Sundance Institute, where she has worked since 1990. Kathleen is also a location casting director known for productions like Honeydripper and Silver City.
Danny Rubin – An award-winning screenwriter and playwright, Daniel Rubin co-wrote with Harold Ramis the screenplay for Groundhog Day, for which the two received a BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay.
Jeanne Leblanc – Winner of SFiFF’s 2020 Best Narrative Feature with the film, Our Own, Jeanne Leblanc is a writer and director recognized for her unique perspective in drama.
Amanda Lundquist – Winner of SFiFF’s 2017 Best Narrative Feature with the film, Pinsky, Amanda Lundquist is a writer and director known for her comedic storytelling.
NEW MEXICO FEATURES
Paul Lazarus – Producer of Westworld(1973) and Barbarosa(1982)
Lily Zepeda – Director of Mr. Toilet: The World's #2 Man
Priscilla Naunġaġiaq Hensley Holthouse – Director of WE UP: Indigenous Hip-Hop of the Circumpolar North
SHORT FILM
Adam Brummond, Steve Holleran, Margaret Murray, Castle Searcy, Patti White, and Summer Yang
NEW MEXICO SHORTS
Scott Hussion, Lindsy Campbell, Julia Eringer, and Hunter Stiebel
2020 SFiFF Awards
Award Winners at the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival
For the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival's 12th edition, SFiFF presented a hybrid festival, both Virtually and with Drive-In films. The following films earned high accolades from our festival jury and audience members.
Best Narrative Feature: Our Own Best
International Short: The Present
Best Doc Short: My Brothers Keeper
Best Animated Short: Grand Adventure
RailroadBest Doc Feature: MLK/FBIBest
NM Feature: T or C
Best U.S. Short: Lost Kings
Best Exp. Short: (TIE) Flora My Dear & Pile
Best Overall NM Short: Mermaids Against Plastic
Best NM Narrative Short: Away, Together
Audience Choice Best Narrative Feature: Small Town WI
Audience Choice Best Documentary Feature: Truman & Tennessee
Audience Choice Best Short: Tarcila
2020 SFiFF Jury
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Laura Terruso - Director of the Netflix film Work It. She co-wrote and directed the comedy Good Girls Get High, now available on HBO Max. Her feature debut as writer/director/producer Fits And Starts premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival and is available on Amazon. She co-wrote and co-produced the film Hello, My Name Is Doris, starring Sally Field. Released by Roadside Attractions, it went on to become one of the top grossing indies of 2016. Laura graduated from NYU's graduate film program at the Tisch School of the Arts.
Kathleen Broyles - President of the Board of The Milagro Initiative, and is a consultant to Sundance Institute, where she has worked since 1990. Kathleen is also a location casting director known for productions like Honeydripper and Silver City.
Cassidy Freeman - Known for her roles in television's The Righteous Gemstones, Smallville and Longmire, actress and musician Cassidy Freeman also acted in and produced the stunning New Mexico-filmed feature length drama, Cortez.
Ed Khmara - Known for his work as an American screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is best known for his work on Enemy Mine, Ladyhawke and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.
Jon Moritsugu - Making movies since 1985, the writer/director has created a miasma of protopunk deconstructions of popular genres and formats with scabrous and pointedly garish results. The New York Times describes them as "funny, anarchic, provocative and exhilarating". Since 1989 he has collaborated with his wife of 25 years and creative partner, Amy Davis, when he directed her in his first feature, My Degeneration, which played at Sundance and was hailed by Rolling Stone as “One of the top 25 greatest punk rock movies of all time.”
Ani Simon-Kennedy - Raised in Paris and based in New York, Ani Simon-Kennedy is a feature film, documentary and commercial director. Under the banner of Bicephaly Pictures, she collaborates with cinematographer Cailin Yatsko on socially-conscious stories. Her second narrative feature, The Short History of the Long Road, starring Sabrina Carpenter, Steven Ogg, Maggie Siff, and Danny Trejo, won Best New Mexico Narrative Feature at SFiFF 2019 and is now available on digital platforms everywhere.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Glenn Silber - Two-time Academy-Award nominee Glenn Silber is an influential Producer, and he has directed films like The War At Home and Atomic Artist.
Alexandria Bombach - Alexandria Bombach is an award-winning director, cinematographer, and editor from Santa Fe, NM. Her recent work has focused on exploring ethics in journalism and advocacy, and challenging misperceptions of the refugee crisis. Her feature-length documentary, On Her Shoulders (2018), won Best Directing in the US Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards, and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature. Alexandria is the founder of the Santa Fe Editing & Writing Residency, a 2019 Sundance Institute Momentum Fellow, and a 2019 Chicken & Egg Award Fellow.
Maura Studi - Actress, producer, and writer Maura Studi is known for Defending the Fire and A Thousand Voices.
Jenifer McShane - An independent filmmaker committed to using film to bridge understanding in situations where structural, cultural, or religious divisions that typically keep people apart. Her Emmy Award-winning film, Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops won the Jury Award for Empathy & Craft at SXSW in 2019 and multiple jury prizes at other film festivals including the 2019 Santa Fe Independent Film Festival and is currently streaming on HBO. Jenifer spent nearly five years visiting Bedford Hills Correctional Facility to make her previous documentary, Mothers of Bedford (Hot Docs premiere), which reveals the impact of incarceration on jailed mothers and their children.
Holly Morris - Holly Morris is an author, filmmaker and presenter best known for her work on the PBS series' Globe Trekker and Adventure Divas, as well as for the feature films she directs and writes, including The Babushkas of Chernobyl and the forthcoming Exposure, about the Women's Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition.
New Mexico Features
Nathan Hollis, Castle Searcy, Lily Zepeda
Short Film Jury
Alem Dauletkulov, Colleen Hammond, Judith Kriger, Castle Searcy, Matthew Spain, Patti White, Kosta Nikas, Jordyn Romero, Scott Hussion
2019 SFiFF Awards
Best New Mexico Feature: The Short History of the Long Road directed by Ani Simon-Kennedy
Best New Mexico Documentary: Why Can't I Be Me? Around You directed by Harrod Blank and Sjoerd Dijk
Best Narrative Feature: Lost Bayou directed by Brian C Miller Richard
Best Documentary Feature: Ernie & Joe directed by Jenifer McShane
Audience Choice Best Narrative Feature: Yes, God, Yes directed by Karen Maine
Audience Choice Best Documentary Feature: Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy directed by Elizabeth Carroll
Audience Choice Best Documentary Short: Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) directed by Carol Dysinger
Audience Choice Best Narrative Short: The Neighbors' Window directed by Marshall Curry
Best U.S. Narrative Short: 40 Minutes Over Maui Directed by Josh Covitt and Michael Feld
Best International Narrative Short: Utopia directed by Kosta Nikas
Best Animation Short: The Death, Dad & Son (La Mort, Père & Fils) directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Denis Walgenwitz
Best Experimental Short: Selfies directed by Claudius Gentinetta
Best Documentary Short: Charon directed by Cullen Parr
Best Documentary Short: Enforcement Hours directed by Paloma Martinez
Best New Mexico Short Documentary: Of The Sea directed by Jordyn Romero
Best New Mexico Narrative Short: Taos directed by Stephen Billick
2019 SFiFF Jury
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Robert Chang - Robert Chang is an Associate Producer of America ReFramed (a curated series of independent documentaries and is broadcast on public television / WORLD Channel). Chang assists in managing America ReFramed’s submissions, film evaluations, filmmaker deliverables, and contributing to the curation of the series. He leads the generating of social media and outreach activities of the series, and manages and mentors its crew of interns. Chang is also a documentary filmmaker whose work has screened at various festivals and is distributed by DER.
James Cullingham - James Cullingham is an award winning documenteur, historian, and journalist with Tamarack Productions based in Nogojiwanong, Peterborough, Ontario. His documentaries concerning social justice, history, and popular culture have been screened around the world. Cullingham was an executive producer with the radio service of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and has been published by Canada’s leading newspapers and magazines.
Hunter Robert Baker - Hunter Robert Baker is a New York-based Emmy-winning feature film, television, and commercial Director and Director of Photography. His work has been nominated for two additional Emmy Awards. Baker is the recipient of the 2018 ICG: International Cinematographers Guild Emerging Cinematographer Award. Baker has lectured at New York University, Harvard University, and, most recently, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Kathleen Broyles - President of the Board of The Milagro Initiative, Kathleen Broyles also does consultations for the Sundance Institute, where she has worked since 1990. Broyles is also a location casting director known for productions like Honeydripper and Silver City.
Cassidy Freeman - Known for her roles in television's Smallville and Longmire, and HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, actress and musician Cassidy Freeman also acted in and produced the stunning New Mexico-filmed feature length drama, Cortez.
Edward Khmara - Edward Khmara is a writer and actor, known for Enemy Mine (1985), Ladyhawke (1985) and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
Maura Dhu Studi - Actress, producer, and writer Maura Studi is known for Defending the Fire and A Thousand Voices.
Kyle Greenberg - Kyle Greenberg is a film distributor/marketer and occasional filmmaker having worked in the film and startup industries over the last decade. Before launching the new consulting firm Circle Collective and teaming up with upstart distributor Utopia, Greenberg built the theatrical division at the studio Gunpowder & Sky where he successfully launched campaigns for films like Hearts Beat Loud, The Little Hours, Her Smell, Lords of Chaos, Summer of '84, Hounds of Love, and many more.
2019 SFiFF Short Film Jurors
Tracey Adlai, Tim Anderson, John Andrews, Deirdre Brenner, Matthew Curtis, Valerie Cisneros, Mimi Edmunds, Lynn Hamrick, Megan O'Neill, Castle Searcy, Laura Ball