Marion Herrman, Lori Seymour, Pinky Greenberg and Shirlin Hyatt founded the Sedona International Film Festival 30 years ago as a fundraising event to support the Sedona Cultural Park and what would later be named the Georgia Frontiere Performing Arts Pavilion.

As a venue, the Sedona Cultural Park was only open for a few years before failing financially before the summer of 2004. Sheila Jackman and other supporters formed SIFF as a new nonprofit to extricate the film festival arm from what was happening to the park. SIFF continued on, screening films annually at Harkins Theatres. Over the years, SIFF grew the festival beyond just a weekend to a full week, then longer, and began screening movies throughout the year instead of just on the second Tuesdays of the month.

Seeing that Sedona could support an art house-style theatre to screen films continuously throughout the year, SIFF opened the Mary D. Fisher Theatre in 2011. In addition to films, the theatre was build to host live perfor­mances, such as one-man or one-woman plays, improv comedy, concerts and readings. While still called the Sedona International Film Festival, the organization is so much more — one that hosts two films a day, every day, in addition to other events rented by members of the public.

I restarted the Sedona Poetry Slam in 2009 at Studio Live just up the street, and after that black box theatre space closed in 2013, we were invited by SIFF Executive Director Patrick Schweiss, a longtime poetry slam supporter, to use the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, which we have for the last 11 years. Slam poets are, by and large, a loose network of working-class performers used to fighting for space in bars, bookstores and coffeeshops. When they arrive in Sedona from Phoenix, Flagstaff or on tour from around the country, they are amazed a small town like ours has a professional theatre space where audiences can hang on every whispered stanza or get chills from every shouted rant.

In 2021, SIFF expanded again by building the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre adjacent to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, sponsored by Alan and Alice Sheldon and an anonymous donor who gave $1 million.

After moving to Sedona in 2004, I missed out on the performances at the Sedona Cultural Park, only attending high school graduations there. I did, however, have the honor of meeting Marion Herrman.

We spent the most time together at an event called the Sedona Salon, where retired Arizona State University communications professor Jerry Buley and I invited local arts organizers and artists to his home to discuss all things arts-related.

Herrman stole the show, dominating conversations with her presence, her charm and her grace. Herrman was the kind of woman you tell your daughters about. My two daughters were born too late — 2018 and 2022 — to know her in person but I can still tell them about her, the Brooklyn-born jazz singer, the USO performer, the nightclub owner, the big band frontwoman, the founder of Sedona Jazz on the Rocks, the 2005 Sedona Red Rock News Citizen of the Year, the founder of SIFF and the woman responsible for giving daddy and his poetry slam friends a theatre to share their poems. They would have adored Marion, who incidentally was born 100 years ago this year.

It seems fitting that SIFF continues her legacy, both with a venue and an event entertaining local audiences and out-of-town visitors alike, by celebrating the greats — this year composer Henry Mancini, musician and comedian Gary Mule Deer, a sing-along with the musical “Grease” and a cabaret show by Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz — new filmmakers showcasing their first films and established directors and actors presenting their newest productions.

The festival receives around 1,500 submissions each year, which are then reviewed by screening committees, who pick the final selections, Tim Perry reported in last year’s Lifestyles of Sedona magazine.

The 30th anniversary Sedona International Film Festival begins Saturday, Feb. 24. More than 140 films will be screened and events held through Sunday, March 3, all over Sedona. You can see the full list in today’s edition of The Scene, and buy your tickets for one film or dozens at sedonafilmfestival.com. Printed programs are also avail­able if you want something tangible from which to pick your films.

Make a point to go see at least one film or event; there’s plenty to choose from. Our staff will be there, covering the events, interviewing SIFF guest filmmakers, visitors and residents like you. I’ll be there too, with my oldest daughter and a custom-made mini-pass SIFF’s Lori Reinhart made especially for her.

Now, a proper SIFF can’t start without one last comment from Marion Herrman, who always gets the last word … so … “Roll ’em, C.B!”

Christopher Fox Graham

Larson Newspapers