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Gallup Film Festival: A premier summer, three-day festive event

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With films from local filmmakers to around the world

The Gallup Film Festival, now in its fifth year, is set for Sept. 14 - 16, with film submissions from 19 U.S. States, and nine foreign countries in 19 film categories.

Tickets are on sale at the Gallup Downtown Conference Center starting Aug. 18.  Tickets can be purchased in blocks, a minimum of five films for the cost of $5 per block. Each block is about 2 ½ hours.

Special guest appearance this year are the cast from Light Dancing Production’s The Watchman’s Canoe, a feature length film of kids, coming of age, adventure, drama, and comedy produced by writer and director Barri Chase.

The showcase of The Watchman’s Canoe at the GFF is the world premier and special screening before being released to theaters nationwide.

Actors Roger Willie (Windtalkers), Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers and Windtalkers), along with Kiri Goodson, Carter Jon, Stephanie Wallace, and Ian Stevenson are among this year’s special guests.

“Film festivals are exciting occasions to celebrate the art of filmmaking,” said Kimberly Becenti, Gallup Film Festival filmmaker liaison, as well as filmmaker and owner of tinyChick Productions. “They are unique opportunities to meet filmmakers in person whether they are from another country, state, or from here in New Mexico.”

The event will start on Thursday evening with a meet and greet at 6 pm, at the Gallup Downtown Conference Center where GFF ticket holders can meet actors, writers, directors, producers, filmmakers, musicians, and comedians.

The GFF will continue on Friday evening at 4 pm, at the historic El Morro Theatre with short films in several genres. Audience participations will give all ticket holders opportunities to judge films for category awards.

Starting Saturday, the film festival will begin at 10 am with all day showings of films including Then, Now, and Forever: Zuni in the Grand Canyon, documentary short, and Defending the Fire, documentary feature length.  Others are Forgive—Don’t Forget, and The Trip: Mountains and Manhood, both documentary feature lengths. For the three days of the GFF, more than 50 films will be shown.

New film categories this year are Web-Series New Media and SciFi. Language preservation was made a part of the category in the 2014’s film festival and has been growing with the number of film submissions.

Visit: gallupfilmfestival.com or for more information call (505) 722-8982.

By Deswood Tome
Gallup Film Festival