The Santa Fe Independent Film Festival returns Oct. 17 through 21 for its 10th annual outing. Some 40 features, shorts and documentaries are scheduled to screen over the course of the 5-day movie fest. Special guests this year include animator Bill Plympton (I Married a Strange Person!, Idiots and Angels, Hair Hight, Cheatin’), who will be on hand to accept a lifetime achievement award (Saturday, 7pm). Local actor Gary Farmer will be there to introduce a special, restored print of Jim Jarmusch’s 1995 avant-Western Dead Man (Saturday, 1:10pm). Among the other New Mexico-centric highlights is the much-anticipated premiere of Meow Wolf: The Origin Story. This documentary, from filmmakers Jilann Spitzmiller and Morgan Capps, charts the rise of the psychedelic arts collective from humble Santa Fe beginnings to national fame. It screens at 1pm on Sunday. Parties, filmmaker panels, workshops and post-film discussions fill in between the impressive schedule of films from South Korea, Canada, Uruguay, Japan, Denmark and more. Films show at The Center for Contemporary Arts (1050 Old Pecos Trail), Jean Cocteau Cinema (418 Montezuma Ave.), Santa Fe Playhouse (142 E. De Vargas Street), The Lensic Performing Arts Center (211 W. San Francisco), The Screen (1600 St. Michael’s Dr.) and Violet Crown Cinema (1606 Alcaldesa St.). Individual tickets, ticket packs and full festival passes are available at santafeindependentfilmfestival.com or at the festival box office (located at the Muñiz Waxman Gallery inside CCA). For a full schedule of films, events and times, go to the festival’s website and download the deets.
Reel World: Talking “Bad” Talking “Bad”
UNM Honors College and the Albuquerque Film Office present “Breaking Bad ABQ&A: An Evening With Vince Gilligan.” On Thursday, Oct. 18 starting at 7pm, writer-director Vince Gilligan (“Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul”) and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller will discuss how our city has been shaped by its most famous television depictions. The event, taking place in UNM Student Union Building Ballroom B, is free and open to the public.
Reel World: Squat On Squat On
Movie Night comes to the Albuquerque Center for Peace & Justice with a screening of Christiana: 40 Years of Occupation. This European documentary follows the tribulations and triumphs of a decades-long squatter community located on an abandoned military base within the city of Copenhagen, Denmark. The film shows Friday, Oct. 19, starting at 6pm. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. The Center for Peace & Justice is located at 201 Harvard SE.
Reel World: Fake News Fake News
The New Mexico Humanities Council’s “Fake News! Journalism Goes to Hollywood” series is back at KiMo Theatre (423 Central Ave. NW) this Sunday, Oct. 21, with a screening of the 2003 drama Shattered Glass. Hayden Christensen stars as infamous real-life journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to have fabricated over half his articles for The New Republic magazine. After the film special guest panelists Pauly Dentclaw (Navajo Times), Harvey McGuinness (The New Mexican) and Gwyneth Doland (The Santa Fe Reporter, New Mexico Independent, KUNM) engage in a discussion about the impact of democracy, the humanities and journalism on an informed citizenry. Admission is free. Film starts at 2pm.
