Jacques Paisner, Artistic Director - Jacques Paisner is the President of the Board of Directors for the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation. He is the former Director of Programming at Jean Cocteau Cinema. Jacques serves on the Advisory Board for California American Indian Film Festival, and served on the Mayor's Santa Fe Film Commission. He is executive producer on the forthcoming film HEATWAVES. Jacques currently lives in Santa Fe with his dog.

Liesette Bailey, Executive Director - Liesette Bailey was born and raised in Santa Fe and received her BA at the University of New Mexico in 2012, honors summa cum laude in History. Liesette was the New Mexico coordinator of Martin Luther King III's Realizing the Dream Poverty Initiative in America. Liesette is the former Director of Marketing/Programmer at Jean Cocteau Cinema. She directed the Southwest Literary Center's Women Writers' Conference, as well as working with the planning and development of the First Annual UNESCO International Conference on Creative Tourism. Liesette produces Film Talk Weekly on KTRC and santafe.com. Liesette is a member of the Mayor’s Film & Digital Media Council. She lives in Santa Fe, with her husband and two children.

Stephanie Love-Riner, Festival Director - Stephanie Love-Riner graduated from the Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan, honors magna cum laude. She has lived in Santa Fe since 2013, pursuing a passion in the arts that has attracted her to work for art galleries and local magazines, before joining the Santa Fe International Film Festival in 2018. Stephanie has participated as an extra in locally shot films like Ideal Home.

Derek Horne, Director of Shorts Programming - In addition to programming the short films for the Santa Fe International Film Festival, Derek Horne is the Director of Programming for the Annapolis Film Festival. Previously he was the Director of Programming for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and the Tampa Bay Int’l Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Derek started his festival career in the Filmmaker Services Department at the Sundance Film Festival. He was the founding editor of Kodak’s student filmmaking magazine and has also written for IndieWire and FilmInk. For 11 years he was the inaugural Film Coordinator at Chapman University’s film school and currently he is the Distribution Coordinator at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

Jena Braziel, Guest Services Director - Jena Braziel graduated from the University of New Mexico, with a BA in Media Arts in 2014. She was born in Steamboat Springs, CO and moved to Santa Fe, NM in 7th grade. Jena has been with SFiFF since 2012. Jena has been to New York, Paris, and Milan fashion week as an assistant buyer and Operations Manager for Workshop. Jena is also Marketing Coordinator at Meow Wolf.

Nathan Hollis, Festival Coordinator Nathan is a filmmaker and artist living in Saint John, NB Canada. He received his MFA at the Screen Academy Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2014. His first feature, Harry & Avis played numerous festivals and won multiple awards, including the Audience Choice Award at Santa Fe International Film Festival in 2015. He is currently in post-production hell on his second feature HEATWAVES.

Castle Searcy, Communications Manager - Based in Colorado with time spent in San Francisco and the Deep South, Castle Searcy is the co-founder and owner of Denver's award-winning Tootsies the Nail Shoppe, a freelance design/branding expert and documentary film producer. Castle serves as the Festival Dailies Manager for the Denver Film Society, Design Chair for Denver Startup Week. She received her MBA from the University of Denver and BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Stacey Farish, Industry Relations - Stacey is the Head of Ad Sales and Chief Revenue Officer for MovieMaker. She is the former President and Chief Revenue Officer of Deadline Hollywood/Penske Media Corporation. She is also the Chief Revenue Officer for Farish & Farish Media Consulting. Always focusing on the business side of things, Stacey focuses on optimizing sales strategy, unlocking new revenue streams and sales leadership.

Allie Salazar, Graphic Designer - Allie Salazar is a Santa Fe/Albuquerque based Graphic Designer who creates works for local and out of state businesses and personal requests. When not designing you can find her traveling to far away lands, listening to music, attending local events, or tucked away in her studio working on personal projects.

Suzanne Ostyn, Community Outreach Coordinator - Suzanne's work as an Archaeological Field Director first brought her to New Mexico in 2009, but she didn't call Santa Fe home until 2019. Before joining the SFiFF staff, she attended the festival as a Sponsor guest, then Volunteer. Suzanne loves watching movies, but also learning about the creative processes behind the camera, like cinematography, screenwriting, and film scoring. Her personal projects include a photo-journal documentary, a weekly music program on community radio (KMRD), and a wearable "souvenir" line based on her love of the macabre and the desert. Find her at a brewery, a concert, or hiking with her dog, Hopper.

Blake Lewis, Headquarters Manager - Blake Lewis was born a Southern "peach" in rural South-Eastern Georgia but raised in Northern New Mexico. As a graduate of the University of New Mexico, Blake got her start in film and photography by first becoming an extra/stand-in. Then she worked on various projects, including documentaries and feature films.

Christiana Barnett-Murphy, Office Administrator - Christiana has spent a lifetime in the arts, primarily as a dancer, dance educator and choreographer. She was Assistant Movement Director on National Anthem and is the producer of Dancers at the Crossroads, a documentary exploring the history of New Mexico’s unique dance styles to be released in 2026. Christiana also works for Vital Spaces as their grant writer and Moving Arts Espanola as their ballet instructor. Hailing from both Southern California and North Carolina she is grateful to have moved to Santa Fe five years ago and to be welcomed into this creative community

Rury Lopez-Carrera, Production Manager - Rury is a student filmmaker from San Jose, California. He is currently attending the University of New Mexico.

Illy Diaz, Associate Programmer - Illy is a queer Afro-Caribbean multidisciplinary creator, administrator, writer, and researcher. She has been involved in various capacities in film and arts curation for over ten years. Previously she was the Director of Programming for the Grand River Film Festival and has served in many film selection committees throughout Canada and the United States. She holds a BA in Film Studies, MA in Anthropology, and is completing a PhD.

Jeffrey P. Crowley, Associate Programmer - Jeffrey is a NY based filmmaker and film programmer. He has programmed, managed, coordinated, and screened for a variety of film institutions and festivals, most notably Jacob Burns Film Center, Metrograph, Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers, AFMI’s Arab Film Festival, Indie Memphis, and Rooftop Films. His feature debut, Night Light, is an award winning period drama. The third of four Crowley-siblings, Jeffrey is a graduate of SUNY Purchase’s Art History and Playwriting & Screenwriting programs, and in his free time, he’s pretty handy with a yo-yo.

Yalian Li, Associate Programmer - Yalian Li received her Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television Production from the USC Film School in 2021. Her previous short films have been shown in over thirty film festivals, including the DeadCenter Film Festival and Riverrun International Film Festival. Her films were also made available on Shorts TV and other streaming services.

Zheng Nathan Nie, Associate Programmer - Zheng “Nathan” Nie is a writer-director from China. In 2017, upon graduating from the UCLA MFA Directing program, he won the UCLA Directors Spotlight Award with his thesis film, A Proper Burial, which was screened at the DGA theater. In 2018, his film, House of the Lonesome Human Beings, won Best Screenplay at Dam Short Film Festival. The Way Home, a short film he wrote, was selected by Shanghai International Film Festival and Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Cora Golden, Associate Programmer - Cora Golden graduated from the Norman Jewison Film Program at the Canadian Film Centre as well as CFC’s Prime Time TV Program for writers. She is co-author of the award-winning book, ‘Design in Canada,’ and sole writer/producer of a two-volume series of books, ‘Masters of Jewellery Design in Canada’. After more than 15 years as a journalist/editor of Toronto-based national publications, she is currently completing a hybrid, novelized screenplay.

Cole Forrest, Associate Programmer - Cole Forrest is an Anishinaabe Filmmaker, Writer, and Curator from Nipissing First Nation. Cole has written and directed films that have been screened at film festivals including imagineNATIVE, TQFF, TIFF Next Wave, and the Vancouver International Film Festival. Cole has created films through imagineNATIVE, National Film Board, and Canada Council for The Arts. Cole is a 2023 participant of the Reelworld E20 Program and the 2024 emerging curator-in-residence at Images Festival. This summer Cole will be an artist-in-residence with Moab Art’s Re-Use Residency. Cole has been published in GRAIN Magazine, and released a debut co-authored poetry collection titled “Once The Smudge Is Lit” in 2024.

Lucia Ricciardelli, Associate Programmer - Born in Bologna, Italy, Lucia Ricciardelli has more than two decades of experience working as a screener and programmer at international film festivals, as a university film professor, and as a documentary filmmaker. While earning her doctorate in Art History and Film Studies at University of California at Santa Barbara, Lucia worked for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Lucia has taught courses at the School of Film and Photography at Montana State University and at Santa Fe Community College, and she has lived in Santa Fe since 2022.

Pierluigi Gugliotta, Associate Programmer - A PhD Candidate in Art Culture and Image at Pusan National University (South Korea), has moderated discussions for Busan Peace Film Festival and Busan Travel Movie Festa. He has also worked as a program team coordinator for Busan International Short Film Festival and has been part of the Screening Committee of Santa Fe International Film Festival since March 2024. His experience also includes work within the Asian Contents & Film Market Office at Busan International Film Festival.