The Sedona International Film Festival is one day away.
For the next nine days, Sedona will be awash in films and movie talk as filmmakers, actors, directors and producers become tourists in our red rock city.
SIFF originally began as fundraiser vehicle to build and then maintain the Sedona Cultural Park on the far west side of West Sedona. The festival, a separate entity, labored on after the park went out of business and is now the premier event in the city.
An estimated 10,000 moviegoers will attend the festival, which has grown over the last quarter century into one of the most well-known independent film festivals in the country.
While many moviegoers are residents of Sedona and the Verde Valley, many more are from Flagstaff, Prescott and the Phoenix area while some arrive from around the country or the world, coming for the festival itself or working their otherwise normal vacation to our area around a movie or two or an event around a celebrity.
Many come to meet their favorite actors and filmmakers who come to promote their films and answer questions from the audience.
This year’s lineup includes a sneak preview of “Heartland” with Mariel Hemingway, David Arquette and Frances Fisher; an evening with composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman; a Q&A with Bryan Cogman, who wrote 11 episodes of “Game of Thrones”; the NASA-inspired dance performance Bella Gaia; and a visit with actor and director Rob Reiner, who will receive a lifetime achievement award and screen his 1995 film “The American President.”
Many of these filmmakers are scheduled for exclusive interviews with my staff. More will come as the film festival rolls along.
After a positive experience in Sedona at the film festival, many filmmakers and guests return again and again on personal vacation or for future film festivals.
Every year at the galas and in line at the theaters, I see out-of-towners I recognize from previous years.
All those filmmakers and movie lovers in the city are a huge economic engine as they stay at our hotels and resorts, eat at our restaurants, drink at our bars, hike our trails, visit our galleries and shop at our stores for groceries in West Sedona or touristy souvenirs in Uptown. We residents reap the benefits as business owners, retail store clerks, restaurant servers and artists as well as benefitting from the tax revenue these 10,000 guests generate for our city.
Whether you attend every gala and make Harkins Theatres, the Mary D. Fisher Theatre and the Sedona Performing Arts Center your second homes for the next nine days — or don’t see a single film — we all become tour guides to these friendly strangers we bump into. They pass the word on to friends and family in Hollywood, New York City, Atlanta, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook that Sedona is a beautiful place to visit filled with friendly locals.
You never know who you’re going to meet. In 2015, my friend Claire Pearson and I made friends during and after one of the galas with a few younger British filmmakers who were at SIFF to screen their short film “Stutterer.” We offered them suggestions about what sights to see while they were in town and took an impromptu walk along Oak Creek.
After we watched their great short film the next day at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, they took off to Los Angeles to attend the 88th annual Academy Awards. That night, they won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film — and there were our new friends, on stage, delivering acceptance speeches.
A few months later, I spent a few days roadtripping with one of the director’s British friends across Colorado.
Sedona’s traffic will be thicker, so plan accordingly, but know all the extra visitors spend money in Sedona to keep our economy moving and generate tax revenue to repair our streets, pay for our police department, maintain city services and fund grants to nonprofits and arts organizations long after the festival has ended.
To the filmmakers and out-of-town movie lovers, welcome to Sedona. We hope you enjoy your brief stay as much as we enjoy living here. If you need directions or recommendations about where to eat, shop or hike, feel free to ask.
Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
