The White Sands International Film Festival (WSIFF) started in Alamogordo, New Mexico, as a week long event in March 2008 to showcases narrative and documentary films. The festival was created to support the work of Hispanic and New Mexican Filmmakers. The festival moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 2009.
The festival originated in
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
and moved to
Las Cruces, New Mexico in 2009.
''The White Sands International Film Festival'' was established by former Alamogordo Film Liaison Joan Griggs, Otero County Economic Development Director Ed Carr and Kathleen Curtis. The inaugural event including guests such as casting director
Donn Finn, filmmaker David Gibbons and writer
Sam Smiley.
"The White Sands International Film Festival" has taken place in late August or early September each year since relocating to Las Cruces. Among many recognized films by regional and international filmmakers, the festival has hosted many celebrities over the years such as
Val Kilmer,
Lou Diamond Phillips,
Jeffery Tambor,
Mark Medoff,
Chris McDonald and
Linda Hamilton. In 2013, a "48-Hour Film Frenzy" was added to the event to challenge filmmakers to write, cast, shoot and edit a short film in under 48 hours. The 2014 "White Sands International Film Festival" was scheduled for September 3–7, 2014.
In 2015 the organizers of the festival decided to discontinue the festival citing there was not enough of an audience for it to continue. However, an offshoot of that festival, taking place in nearby
Las Cruces, New Mexico and sponsored by the New Mexico State University College of Arts and Sciences is scheduled for March 2016 and featuring celebrities such as local screenwriter and Academy Award winner
Mark Medoff, as well as
Danny Trejo
Danny Trejo ( ; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. He has appeared in films including ''Desperado'', ''Heat'', and the ''From Dusk Till Dawn'' film series. With frequent collaborator and his second cousin Robert Rodriguez, he portrayed ...
and Alvaro Rodriguez.
References
*Festival Websit
*Albuquerque Journal
ww.abqjournal.com/525144/biz/white-sands-international-film-festival-shutters-plans-for-new-festival-in-early-stages.html*Las Cruces International Film Festival
ciffest.com
External links
The White Sands International Film FestivalOfficial Launch of the White Sands International Film Festival
Film New Mexico
Festival Overview
Without A Box
Call for Entries
IFP
Association of Film Commissioners International
Film festivals in New Mexico
Las Cruces, New Mexico
2008 establishments in New Mexico
Film festivals established in 2008
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