CLASS ACT: The curtain rises on sixth Santa Fe Film Festival

In his pursuit to dissect and quantify euphoria, Lee Boot attempts to build an angel out of meat. He freely quotes René Descartes and the American Constitution, glues sequins to his shoes, and makes a cake with a rubber rat inside. Boot does all this, and more, in the name of happiness. A former school teacher and college professor, Boot’s film Euphoria — a scatological social survey/absurd performance piece — is just one of the 220 titles airing at this year’s Santa Fe Film Festival. A bevy of live–action and animated shorts, documentaries and feature–length films have been compiled into 90 offerings, which will be shown at 10 different venues throughout the City Different from Dec. 7 to 11.

The festival, now in its auspicious sixth year, features films from New Mexico residents as well as the labored pursuits from auteurs across the globe. Much like the city itself, the Santa Fe Film Festival has made a name for itself as an expansive, multicultural forum.

Jon Bowman, executive director of the event and movie critic for the Santa Fe New Mexican, said, although the festival has gained national accolades and filled niches, its goal has always been the same: to present an eclectic array of films, many of which pass under the radar of mainstream cinema. “It’s a real smorgasbord, and we like it that way,” Bowman said. “If it were too thematically tied it would get boring,” he added.

In order to keep things diverse, the members of the selection committee have chosen a hearty variety of independent flicks, foreign films, ethnographic pics, Art Matters films, comedies and dramas. If ever one were to faint from film exhaustion, SFFF is the event at which to do it.

Bowman anticipates the festival, which in its incipient year drew 9,000 attendees, will attract at least 20,000 moviegoers over the five day period.

The bright star

In the past, films with more sparkling stars than Lee Boot’s sneakers have found audience approval at the festival. Blockbusters such as 21 Grams, Pollock and In the Bedroom were screened weeks before they opened nationally. Of the films scheduled to air this winter, Brokeback Mountain, starring Jake Gylenhall (Jarhead) and Heath Ledger (Brothers Grimm) is easily the most commercial film of the bunch. However, the unorthodox Brokeback Mountain, based on Annie Proulx’s story of the same name, is about two Wyoming sheep ranchers who form a taboo gay relationship. The festival’s screening has already sold out.

The production prestige behind Brokeback Mountain guarantees a phenomenal film. Cloistering around the camera were director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (21 Grams) and screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana — the latter two will receive lifetime achievement awards at this year’s festival, along with documentarian of Southern music Robert Mugge, Russian filmmaker Pavel Chukhray, and wild card L.M. Kit Karson.

The New Mexico connection
According to Bowman, between 40 and 50 percent of the titles being screened have a direct connection to New Mexico.

Zen and the Asteroid, the brainchild of northern New Mexico residents Dan Otero and Javier Arellano, was filmed over a period of five years using local talent. The film’s website defines the desert dynamo as a “Taoist, sci–fi comedy for all ages.” (If you miss Zen at SFFF, it will run at the Guild Cinema Dec. 18.)

Another Land of Enchantment–based film is Cowboy del Amor. Michele Ohayon’s documentary chronicles the antics of Ivan Thompson, a former real–life cowboy who acts as a liaison between clueless American men and the Mexican women desperate enough to entertain the notion of marrying a stranger. Thompson and his clientele of past– their–prime white males are fed up with the fastidiousness of American women and go south of the border to look for señoritas who are not as demanding as their competitors to the north.

Throughout the film, Thompson shoots his mouth off with authentic New Mexico aplomb while attempting to marry off his slew of double–clutching truck drivers and smarmy used car salesmen to attractive Mexican women. Though his profession as Match.com–meets–machismo is beyond reproach, Thompson’s persistence, cattle hand conceit, and barnyard banter make the film a riot.

Other movies worth catching are Self–Medicated and American Dreamer. Self–Medicated, written, directed and starring Monty Lapica, is an intense and beautifully acted tale from Nevada involving drug addiction and institutionalized abduction. L.M. Kit Karson and Lawrence Schillers’s 1971 documentary American Dreamer, which exposes an often nude and drug–addled Dennis Hopper as Taos’ answer to Hunter S. Thompson, should prove bewildering. And for those with short attention spans, New Mexico Short Sampler I & II, the animated Madrid en Corto and Parade of Animation, and the paranormal medley Outer Limits aim to please.

Appearing in person at the festival will be consummate character actor Ernie Hudson (HBO’s Oz) to present his film Halfway Decent, in which he plays a struggling police officer. Michael and Mark Polish (Twin Falls, Idaho) will also attend to promote their new book The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking: An Insider’s Guide to Making Movies Outside of Hollywood. Special events, including dinners, live music and panel discussions, will take place on a daily basis. CW

The Santa Fe Film Festival runs Wednesday, Dec. 7 through Sunday, Dec. 11. Ticket prices are $9 per screening, 10 movies for $75, or $300 for an unlimited festival pass. For other ticket packages, film schedules and synopses, visit www.santafefilmfestival.com

The above originally appeared in Crosswinds Weekly (www.crosswindsweekly.com), Dec. 7-14 issue.