The Only Good Indian

Significant changes to Santa Fe film festival fail to change its decade-long, indie-minded focus

By Jeff Berg
Although considerably smaller in scope than in its previous nine years, the 2009 Santa Fe Film Festival will remain the state’s premiere celebration of all things cinematic.

The festival has a new programming/operations director, Karen RedHawk Dallett, taking over the tasks previously handled by Stephen Rubin. Rubin has gone on to form his own film production company, Julesworks. Coupled with festival founder/director Jon Bowman retiring to operate an organic farm on the East Coast, a number of dynamic changes to the fledgling but substantive festival were bound to be on the horizon, in part due to budgetary and internal issues. All of t his has taken a toll on the annual event (now in its 10th year), with 110 films being screened this year, as opposed to last year’s record-setting 257 screenings. 

In concert with the state’s current push toward the production of independent local films, SFFF continues this year to place an emphasis on micro-budget films by and about American Indians and Hispanic culture. Such films scheduled to screen at the festival include the interesting, shot-in-El Paso drama, Crooked Tongue, in which the film’s main character, Alberto, tries to cure his stuttering debilitation through a would-be shaman. Likewise, Kansan Kevin Willmott’s new feature, The Only Good Indian, will be granted screen time at the festival. The movie follows up Willmott’s hilarious and thought-provoking mockumentary, CSA, which  envisions the American South winning the Civil War.

To be expected, New Mexico-made films will be well-represented at SFFF. Screenings of Debra Anderson’s eye-opening documentary, Split Estate, are on tap, along with Becoming Eduardo, a unique feature-length film by Hillsboro-based filmmaker Rod McCall (Paper Hearts, Lewis & Clark & George).

A terrific low-budget feature, The Red Machine, a film that has nothing to do with New Mexico, is one of the festival’s films not to be missed. Filmed on a sub-shoestring budget (but making up for it in tone, sincerity, writing and good acting), The Red Machine is a tongue-in-cheek drama about the theft of a mechanism that decodes Japanese military messages.
Wisely, SFFF’s indie push is offset by the abundant inclusion of bigger film titles, starting with the new Robert DeNiro comedy, Everybody’s Fine, which will be screened on the festival’s opening night, followed later in the schedule by screenings of Up in the Air, starring George Clooney and festival closer Young Victoria, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée.
Along with its numerous and diverse screenings, SFFF will also feature nearly 30 industry panels and workshops, with topics ranging from funding a film production to an acting panel featuring Coleman and noted First Nations actor and Santa Fe resident, Wes Studi. Also worth mentioning is the festival’s unique parties, which provide just as much entertainment as the featured films.

For more information and a full screening schedule on a festival that has, in just 10 short years, evolved into an event that has arguably (more than any other local film happening of its kind), put New Mexico on the national and international map, visit santafefilmfestival.com or call 505.988.7414.

---

2009 Santa Fe Film Festival

Dec. 2-7

Multiple Santa Fe theaters and venues

$10 (individual films)

Festival passes:

$300 (films only); $450 (all festival events); $75 (10 films)

Tickets: 511 Old Santa Fe Trail (by Kaune’s Market at Paseo de Peralta and Old Santa Fe Trail) or 505.989.1495

Hours: 9a-6p, Mon.-Sat.; Noon-4p, Sun.

santafefilmfestival.com