TAOS

TAOS, a new American independent feature film directed by Seattle native Brandon Schmid, will screen at the Santa Fe Film Festival on December 4th at 3:30pm at the Scottish Rite Theater -- DO NOT MISS this one-time screening event in Santa Fe. TAOS tells the story of a young professional who recovers a lost sense of place and purpose when faced with the unexpected loss of his father and an accidental breakdown in the northern New Mexican desert. TAOS is a powerful personal journey about dealing with unexpected loss and the choices we face every day in finding balance for ourselves in relation to our families, our work and our personal interests. TAOS was written, directed and produced by Brandon Schmid through Taos Movie Productions LLC and Flying Spot Pictures. The film stars Rib Hillis, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, and Julie Dorris, with strong supporting roles performed by Rick Aragon, Robert Deane, Robert Lowell, Ed Zajac, Aubrey Manning, and Jen Taylor. Filmed on location in Taos, New Mexico and Seattle, Washington, the story for the film takes place primarily in Taos and the scenes shot on-location highlight the natural beauty of the region.

"I’m thrilled that TAOS will have the opportunity to screen at SFFF,” says Brandon Schmid, writer/director of TAOS. “Just as the story for the film came to me as an inspiration while snow camping in the Sangre de Christo mountains around Taos, so do the people and natural beauty of the area provide the inspiration for the main character’s transformation in the movie.”

“TAOS is an impressive feature which represents the finest efforts by New Mexico filmmakers to produce an independent project of a high caliber and I love the film,” says Stephen Rubin, Program Director of the Santa Fe Film Festival.

For more info visit www.taosthemovie.com

VIEW THE TRAILER

~ Between The Folds @ SFFF 08 ~

Award-winning documentary "Between The Folds" will screen in two engagements at the 9th Annual Santa Fe Film Festival on Saturday, December 6th, at 10AM and Sunday, December 7th, at 3PM in Tipton Hall at the College of Santa Fe. The film will play alongside 2008 documentary "Don't Know, We'll See" by filmmaker Lucy Massie Phenix, about the work and life of sculptor Karen Karnes.

World-renowned physicist and artist, Dr. Robert J. Lang, one of the film's featured subjects, will be at both screenings, along with the film's director, Vanessa Gould. They'll take questions from the audience and Dr. Lang will perform a live post-show folding demonstration!


"Between The Folds" uncovers the stories of 10 fine artists, intrepid mathematicians and theoretical scientists who have abandoned careers and scoffed at hard-earned graduate degrees - all to forge unconventional lives as modern-day paperfolders. As these eccentric characters converge on the unlikely medium of origami, they reinvent an ancient art, and demonstrate the innumerable ways that creativity and ingenuity come to bear as they struggle to understand and honor the world around them.

The film paints an arresting portrait of the mysterious artistic and scientific threads that bind these exceptional minds, bringing forth a fascinating mix of sensibilities towards art, expressiveness, interpretation, and meaning.

Festivals:
Grand Prize, Audience Award for Documentary, Rhode Island International Film Festival
Winner, Audience Award, New Hampshire Film Festival
Professional Competition Selection, Savannah Film Festival
The Hamptons International Film Festival (online documentary selection)
Temecula Film Festival
Santa Fe Film Festival

Those featured have been profiled in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, TIME Magazine, The LA Times, The Guardian UK, Smithsonian, Wired, WGBH, WNYC, and CBS, and they include notable scientists Dr. Erik Demaine of MIT, a recent MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient, and former NASA physicist Dr. Robert J. Lang; as well as internationally renowned artists Michael LaFosse, Eric Joisel, Paul Jackson, Chris Palmer and Vincent Floderer.

Visit www.greenfusefilms.com for more information.

We look forward to meeting everyone soon in Santa Fe!

Warm regards,

Vanessa Gould and the Green Fuse Films Team

Exhibition Tour from Rita Blitt, creator of the SFFF entry "Caught in Paint"

Join me for my exhibitions:

College of the Desert, Palm Desert , Ca. Jan. 20-Feb. 6
Marion Meyer Contemporary Art, Laguna Beach, Calif. Feb.5-March 28
Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut , Ca. March 12-April 9
Soka University, Laguna Beach, Ca. Sept- Jan 7
Lawrence Art Center, Lawrence, Kansas , Sept. 2010

Rita Blitt
Painter/Sculptor
www.ritablitt.com

EL TAXISTA at SFFF

EL TAXISTA--On a dark night, what seems to be a routine shift for taxi cab driver, Ricardo Villamontes (Luis Robledo-A Lonely Place For Dying, Havoc), turns out to be a night where questionable morality and loneliness collide. Norma (Jana Mitsoula-Tru Calling, Stargate: Atlantis), a beautiful, broken stranger enters the cab and the ensuing events change the course of their lives forever.

Nothing as it seems...our strangers soon discover the commonalities between them and the secrets they share.

Luis Robledo's 3-time award-winning debut, 'El Taxista', not only marks his first foray into directing, it is guerrilla filmmaking at its best. As writer, director, actor and editor of this film, Luis successfully packs all the punch of a theatrical feature into 15 minutes worth watching.

We are elated to be a part of this great festival & honored to have been nominated for the Best Short Film Award as well as the Wallflower Press Award to an Emerging Filmmaker!

Come check out our little short film that is causing a ripple!!!

EL TAXISTA will screen with FAREWELL DARKNESS, an award-winning feature that has also been tearing up the festivals:

Friday, Dec. 5th, 2008
1:45 PM - Santa Fe Film Center


Saturday, Dec. 6th, 2008
6:45 PM - Santa Fe Film Center

EL TAXISTA - Trailer:


Bryan Ross (producer), Marisilda Garcia (assoc. producer) and I will be there for the duration of the fest. I look forward to meeting my fellow filmmakers and all you film lovers!

A special shout out to Justin Evans, whose feature A Lonely Place For Dying will screen on Thursday, December 4th at the Scottish Rite Temple at 7pm. ALPFD has been nominated for the prestigious Heiniken Red Star Award for Best Film, among others. This is a movie I worked on as an actor, starring Ross Marquand and Michael Scovotti, featuring Hollywood heavyweights James Cromwell and Michael Wincott. NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

Congratulations to Justin, Erin, Catherine and all of the ALPFD team!

Best Wishes to all!!!

Luis Robledo
EL TAXISTA
writer/director/producer

Awards/Nominations:
Winner, Festival Choice Award - Paso Robles Digital Film Festival 2008
Winner, Best Short Film - Indie Fest USA 2008
Winner, Judges' Award for Best Film - McAllen Art & Film Festival 2008
Nominated, Best Sound - Indie Fest USA 2008
Nominated, Best Short - Ft. Lauderdale Int'l Film Festival 2008
Nominated, Best Short - Santa Fe Film Festival 2008
Nominated, Wallflower Press Award to an Emerging Filmmaker - Santa Fe Film Festival 2008

Official Selections:
Santa Fe Film Festival 2008, Hollywood Film Festival 2008, Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival 2008, Lone Star Film Festival 2008, Cinesol Film Festival 2008, Radar Hamburg International Film Festival 2008 & NewFilmmakers LA 2008

www.kooldexproductions.com
www.myspace.com/kooldex

Find "FINDING LEE MULLICAN" ?

Hello Santa Fe,

I'm thrilled and honored to bring my feature documentary "Finding Lee Mullican" to Santa Fe, which will be my first film festival experience as a filmmaker. Romance and betrayal, inspiration and tragedy, humor and pathos highlight this extremely moving and intimate portrait of my father-- artist Lee Mullican-- and the discovery of the creative spirit that lives within all of us.

I'm also looking for advice from fellow filmmakers! HELP! My feature film has been programmed with another title, which I'm thrilled about because it gives the viewer basically 2 1/2 hours of great film for one ticket. But the way the box office has been set up, they only list the first film for purchase. In other words, if you try to buy tickets for my film "Finding Lee Mullican," you must know the title of the first programmed film, "This American Gothic," or else. There are several films programmed this way. I've contacted the box office and they've been great in understanding this unique situation and will try their best, but also recognize the challenges this presents. Any advice on getting the word out so I fill my seats? Other filmmakers with double programming want to coordinate in helping each other? Thanks for your time.

All my best,
John Mullican
www.findingleemullican.com

THE LIFTING OF THE VEIL (KASHF)

THE LIFTING OF THE VEIL (KASHF) is Pakistan's first English Language film in 30 years.  It explores one man's journey back to Pakistan to look for his Sufi Master.  

Unlike the current depiction of extremism in Pakistan - the film highlights the mystical side of Islam within the tradition of Sufism.  

We are very excited to be screening in Santa Fe - for more info on the film please go to www.kashfthemovie.com or you can find us on facebook at INDUS VALLEY PRODUCTIONS where we have posted all the press and interviews on the film.  

Looking forward to meeting everyone at the festival!

Warm Regards, 

Ayesha Khan 

      Director KASHF

Nudity Gets the Point Across ... At Any Age!

Dear Santa Fe Filmmakers and Film Fans,

This is Angela Soper, co-producer/co-writer of Courthouse Girls of Farmland, a documentary about my mother and her bridge club friends and our fight to save a historic courthouse in rural Indiana. The film screens Friday at 11 am in the DeVargas 2 and again Sunday at 3:30--but come Friday so you can vote for us if you like the film!

This is one of those projects that just happened--events started to unfurl at a rapid clip, emotions got heated and we decided there was a story to be told so we started telling it. It all boils down to conflicting views about whether an old building was worth saving and whether it was "proper" for seven old women to appear as if they were naked (all private parts tastefully covered up) in a calendar to protest the building's proposed demolition.

These women are absolute delights and stood their ground in the face of some pretty fierce opposition. They also demonstrate that getting old does not have to be a boring situation to face. I hope you'll attend the film--I promise you'll laugh and leave the theater inspired to make a difference about a cause that is important to you.

See you in Santa Fe! Angela Soper