pengwen
02-16-2006, 04:51 AM
By Ben Moffett
© 2006 Ben Moffett - Permission to Reprint Granted
Editor's Note: "The Fines," a short film directed by Shandor Garrison of New York City, and "Eyes of a Child," directed by Delphine Suter of San Francisco, won the two top $1,000 prizes at the second annual White Sands Film Festival this past February.
The third festival will be Feb. 22-25 2007, in Alamogordo. New submissions are now being accepted. For details, check the film festival's website, which follows, as does a story and assessment of the brief history of the festival by Ben Moffett.
***
Alamogordo -- It's not Sundance yet, nor is it Cannes or Venice or any of the places known for their film festivals and the concurrent influx of celebrities and tourists.
But the White Sands Film Festival at Alamogordo, heading into its third year in February, 2007, could become one of those places. After all, Sundance was unheard of when it debuted in 1978, and didn't really gain prominence until Robert Redford's significant presense was added in the mid 1980s.
http://66.221.218.52/i/wsff.jpg
The White Sands Festival gets its name from the premier tourist feature in the area, the great white gypsum dunes that sprawl across the Tularosa Basin. The dunes just happen to be one of the most pristine places to film in the country -- the sand shifting endlessly and quickly covering all indication of human presence.
And the entire surrounding Tularosa Basin is equally enticing to filmmakers, thanks to the stark northern Chihuahuan Desert and the towering mountains at its edges, such as snow-capped Sierra Blanca. There are even lava beds in the area for those never-ending chase scenes that Hollywood directors love so much.
Those features, along with a favorable climate and friendly folks, have made the area a target for movie makers for decades. Remember the opening scene from "Convoy," featuring the C.W. McCall country song of the same name and starring Ali MacGraw and Kris Kristofferson? Or the 1988 movie, "Young Guns," with Emilio Estevez as William (Billy the Kid) Bonney? Or "White Sands," a 1992 Warner Brothers production?
But the White Sands Festival is much more than exploiting Otero County's natural beauty by luring the glitterati to Alamogordo, according to festival director Joan Griggs.
It's billed as a "family festival" where mom, dad and the kids can have a great time while enjoying a medium that allows them to be viewers or producers, thanks to new technology. Alamogordo is also a natural for a film festival, because, for a small town, it has great facilities including the 675-seat Flickinger Theater for Performing Arts and an IMAX theater, The Tombaugh., The Hanks' movie is but one of many that will show during the festival. Among them is a set of British short films, one of which is the 2005 winner of the BAFTA award for short film. The British films were sent in exchange for the winners at the White Sands Festival.
Of course, one couldn't have a film festival without competition and in 2006 there was a $1000 prize for the "Best of the Festival" and another $1000, donated by the Women's History Committee in Alamogordo, for the best film by a woman director or producer. (See winners at the top of this story).
Perhaps equally entertaining during the second annual festival was some remarkably low-budget films, under five minutes in length and produced by local filmmakers. The only content requirements, aside from being suitable for "family viewing," is that they the films had to include a bear (even a teddy bear was allowed) and include the line "9000 feet above stress level," somewhere in the script.
Details and the particulars on winners and such things as fees, charges can be found at the White Sands Film Festival website. The address is www.whitesandsfilmfestival.com/ (http://www.whitesandsfilmfestival.com/).
"If you've never been to a film festival, bring your family and make this your first," said Griggs of the Otero County Film Office. "It's a weekend for the whole family to enjoy. Film screenings, children's events, receptions and seminars are planned again in 2007 for both filmmakers and festival participants, and tours and transportation to screenings are also available."
(Ben Moffett is a San Antonio, N.M., native and free lance writer. Read his story, "Jane Russell Once Called Socorro Home (http://www.steppinoutnewmexico.com/modules.php?name=News&file=showarticle&threadid=109)", right here on this Steppin'Out website.)
© 2006 Ben Moffett - Permission to Reprint Granted
Editor's Note: "The Fines," a short film directed by Shandor Garrison of New York City, and "Eyes of a Child," directed by Delphine Suter of San Francisco, won the two top $1,000 prizes at the second annual White Sands Film Festival this past February.
The third festival will be Feb. 22-25 2007, in Alamogordo. New submissions are now being accepted. For details, check the film festival's website, which follows, as does a story and assessment of the brief history of the festival by Ben Moffett.
***
Alamogordo -- It's not Sundance yet, nor is it Cannes or Venice or any of the places known for their film festivals and the concurrent influx of celebrities and tourists.
But the White Sands Film Festival at Alamogordo, heading into its third year in February, 2007, could become one of those places. After all, Sundance was unheard of when it debuted in 1978, and didn't really gain prominence until Robert Redford's significant presense was added in the mid 1980s.
http://66.221.218.52/i/wsff.jpg
The White Sands Festival gets its name from the premier tourist feature in the area, the great white gypsum dunes that sprawl across the Tularosa Basin. The dunes just happen to be one of the most pristine places to film in the country -- the sand shifting endlessly and quickly covering all indication of human presence.
And the entire surrounding Tularosa Basin is equally enticing to filmmakers, thanks to the stark northern Chihuahuan Desert and the towering mountains at its edges, such as snow-capped Sierra Blanca. There are even lava beds in the area for those never-ending chase scenes that Hollywood directors love so much.
Those features, along with a favorable climate and friendly folks, have made the area a target for movie makers for decades. Remember the opening scene from "Convoy," featuring the C.W. McCall country song of the same name and starring Ali MacGraw and Kris Kristofferson? Or the 1988 movie, "Young Guns," with Emilio Estevez as William (Billy the Kid) Bonney? Or "White Sands," a 1992 Warner Brothers production?
But the White Sands Festival is much more than exploiting Otero County's natural beauty by luring the glitterati to Alamogordo, according to festival director Joan Griggs.
It's billed as a "family festival" where mom, dad and the kids can have a great time while enjoying a medium that allows them to be viewers or producers, thanks to new technology. Alamogordo is also a natural for a film festival, because, for a small town, it has great facilities including the 675-seat Flickinger Theater for Performing Arts and an IMAX theater, The Tombaugh., The Hanks' movie is but one of many that will show during the festival. Among them is a set of British short films, one of which is the 2005 winner of the BAFTA award for short film. The British films were sent in exchange for the winners at the White Sands Festival.
Of course, one couldn't have a film festival without competition and in 2006 there was a $1000 prize for the "Best of the Festival" and another $1000, donated by the Women's History Committee in Alamogordo, for the best film by a woman director or producer. (See winners at the top of this story).
Perhaps equally entertaining during the second annual festival was some remarkably low-budget films, under five minutes in length and produced by local filmmakers. The only content requirements, aside from being suitable for "family viewing," is that they the films had to include a bear (even a teddy bear was allowed) and include the line "9000 feet above stress level," somewhere in the script.
Details and the particulars on winners and such things as fees, charges can be found at the White Sands Film Festival website. The address is www.whitesandsfilmfestival.com/ (http://www.whitesandsfilmfestival.com/).
"If you've never been to a film festival, bring your family and make this your first," said Griggs of the Otero County Film Office. "It's a weekend for the whole family to enjoy. Film screenings, children's events, receptions and seminars are planned again in 2007 for both filmmakers and festival participants, and tours and transportation to screenings are also available."
(Ben Moffett is a San Antonio, N.M., native and free lance writer. Read his story, "Jane Russell Once Called Socorro Home (http://www.steppinoutnewmexico.com/modules.php?name=News&file=showarticle&threadid=109)", right here on this Steppin'Out website.)