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Here, Sundance, Sundance, Sundance
If you hadn’t heard, organizers for the Sundance Film Festival are apparently looking to take the long-running event out of Park City, Utah and move it to…no one knows yet. Apparently it’s a whole to-do for the tiny little town, so there you have it. What we do know, at least according to Deadline, is Santa Fe wants the festival and it wants it something awful. Of course, other cities want in, too, like San Francisco, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. “All I can say is yes, we’re aware they’re looking for another host city, and we’re looking at the process,” Santa Fe Film Office head Jennifer LaBar Tapia says. Hey, don’t we already have some film festivals here, you might be wondering? We sure do, and it does make one wonder how the folks from the Santa Fe International Film Festival might feel after they spent the last 15 years building their own brand. As it turns out, they feel pretty good about it. “I think only good for the Santa Fe International Fest could come out of something like that,” SFIFF co-founder and Artistic Director Jacques Paisner tells SFR. “I think mostly it would put a bunch of film people and their sponsors right in our backyard and be another opportunity for us to grow and expand.”
Where There’s Smoke
Perhaps you’ve seen the signs on Siringo Road near Santa Fe High announcing there’s a film underway and there will likely be smoke? Indeed, there’s filming afoot, but no official word on the project. Rumor has it, however, it might just be for The Lost Bus, that in-production movie about the 2018 Camp Fire that tore through Paradise, California. Who’s in the movie? Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. What about what studio it’s for? Apple. And the director? Paul Greengrass. Is it based on a book? Yeah—it’s based on Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson. Some of the filming has thus far taken place in Ruidoso, where McConaughey was spotted hanging around last month. Stuff like that counts for a big deal here in little ol’ New Mexico.
Calling All BDSM Fans
Heads up Violet Crown Cinema picked up a last-minute run of 2023′s The Feeling That the Time For Doing Something Has Passed from filmmaker Joanna Arnow. The tale of a 30-something woman living in New York City and grappling with a long-term casual relationship rooted in BDSM, a shitty job and her overbearing Jewish fam, Arnow’s latest really digs into some universal themes here. Visit santafe.violetcrown.com for more.
Everyone Keeps Meeting Zahn McClarnon
Were you one of the people who ran into Dark Winds/Reservation Dogs star Zahn McClarnon while he was hanging around Santa Fe, presumably for Native Fashion Week? Anecdotal evidence suggests he’s a hell of a nice guy (fingers crossed). SFR staffers also saw Wes Studi at the governor’s mansion for the kickoff party to Native Fashion Week, so that was pretty exciting, too. See images for that on our Instagram page (@sfreporter).
