Jacques Paisner, Artistic Director - SFiFF Artistic Director, Jacques Paisner is the Vice 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 he is a former Santa Fe Film Commissioner. Jacques was born in Minneapolis, grew up in Santa Fe, and is a 1998 graduate of Santa Fe High School, and received a BA degree in Philosophy in 2003 from the University of New Mexico. He is the producer on the forthcoming feature film from indie auteur Jon Moritsugu, the writer/director of the 2009 feature film, Rejection and the author of Albuquerque Blues (2007). He currently lives in Santa Fe with his dog.

Liesette Bailey, Executive Director - SFiFF 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. She has worked for Recursos de Santa Fe and Royal Roads Tours. 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.

Stephanie Love-Riner, Festival Director - SFiFF Festival Director, Stephanie Love-Riner graduated from the Penny Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan, honors magna cum laude in Studio Arts. 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 in student film projects and 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. He has programmed a dozen other festivals from coast to coast including Newport, RI to Newport Beach CA. Derek started his festival career in the Filmmaker Services Department at the Sundance Film Festival. Derek has also worked in film acquisitions with Shortbuzz.com, iCast.net, and Atom Films. Derek 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.

New Mexico shorts are programmed by committee.

Jena Braziel, Submission Coordinator & Guest Service 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.

Blake Lewis, Headquarters Manager - Blake Lewis was born a Southern "peach" in rural South-Eastern Georgia but raised in Northern New Mexico for the majority of her life. As a graduate of the University of New Mexico, Blake has built her community and network throughout the state and throughout the country by participating, volunteering, and producing various events and functions. Blake has also been involved in film and photography for over 10 years; from being in front of the camera, as well as behind it. Learning her way around sets by first becoming an extra/stand-in, she then worked her way into various projects, including, documentaries, feature films, independent films, and music videos, as well as advertising photography as a producer, casting assistant, stylist, and set dresser.

Bryce Warren, Tech Director - Bryce Warren is a film tech specialist know for his work leading technical teams at film festivals worldwide, as well for his various videography and editing work - graduating early Magna Cum Laude from Santa Fe University of Art and Design with a BFA in Film Production. Though his passion and love for filmmaking began at just 13, he continues pushing forward a career in the film industry, remaining eager to diversify his skill set and take on a wide variety of innovative challenges.

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, Riverrun International Film Festival, Dances with Films, Flicker Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Santa Fe 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. Since he started at Michigan State University in 2008 as an undergrad in Media Arts, he's been developing his filmmaking skills across many disciplines. 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 numerous top-tier festivals, including Shanghai International Film Festival and Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “Submerged,” a short film he wrote, directed, and photographed, currently has more than one million views on Youtube.

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.

Castle Searcy, Publicist - 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.

Suzanne Ostyn, Volunteer 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.

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.

Eileen O'Brien, Moderator - Eileen O'Brien has over twenty years of professional experience in directing membership programs, film festivals, as well as work in production on independent and studio films, network and cable television programs. She has also written, directed and produced marketing videos, television pilots and programs, live events, theater productions and consulted on independent film marketing and distribution. Eileen has also directed, programmed, managed, coordinated, and consulted on major film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Savannah, and Denver International. She is currently a membership consultant, festival programmer, and guest speaker/interviewer.

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