Santa Fe International Film Festival to Host Hong Kong Cinema Showcase

The Santa Fe International Film Festival (née Independent Film Festival) is really living up to last year’s name change as organizers announced this week they’ve partnered with San Francisco’s Hong Kong Economic Trade Office for a screening of three films from Hong Kong filmmakers.

At the forthcoming A Spotlight on Hong Kong, moviegoers will find three features, including period crime thriller Where the Wind Blows from director Phillip Yung, family drama Lost Love from director Sing-Fung Ka; as well as auteur Tsui Hark’s most excellent 1992 epic Once Upon a Time in China II starring Jet Li and Donnie Yen.

“They reached out to us because they saw what we were doing, which was really exciting,” International Film Festival Executive Director Liesette Paisner Bailey tells SFR. “The Hong Kong Economic Trade Office has been expanding the states they work with, and New Mexico is one of those—and it aligned perfectly with the festival.”

Founded in 1986, the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office represents Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region’s interests in the more Western parts of the US. The idea is to bolster economic and cultural relations with America, and they’re reportedly up to 19 states at this point. Representatives from the office will travel to Santa Fe to present the films, according to Bailey.

“Especially if you look at this program, we have some of the best international films available this year,” Paisner Bailey adds. “Having the support to do a program like this really expands the reach, not only of the festival, but of Santa Fe to the international community. We’re really proud of this program.”

Paisner Bailey also says the festival has been able to operate this year with no turmoil despite concurrent strikes from the Writers and Screen Actors guilds. Representatives from those camps have been adamant that they still want folks to go to the movies and stream their work, but promotional considerations for movies and TV have been famously stymied over the last 120-plus days of the strike, which originally kicked off due to concerns over streaming revenues and the future of AI.

“If anything,” Paisner Bailey says, “they’ve been more supportive of festivals like ours, but then we’re working with a lot of indie distributors that are supportive of the guilds. The writers have [almost reached a formal agreement], hopefully SAG gets what they need, too.”

The upcoming 2023 Santa Fe International Film Festival runs Oct. 18-22 and marks the 15th installment of the cinema-based event formerly known as the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival. What began as a tiny gathering at now-defunct teen arts center Warehouse 21 has since grown into a bit of a powerhouse event with bigger names signing on all the time. The fest has, in previous years, handed out awards to the likes of Oliver Stone, Godfrey Reggio and Tantoo Cardinal. This year, the festival’s Visionary Award will go to Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo (Seminole and Muscogee Creek), who has proven that lots of people love Indigenous content. As for A Spotlight on Hong Kong, well…if you’ve never seen a Tsui Hark, you seriously need to fix that ASAP.

Santa Fe International Film Festival: A Spotlight on Hong Kong

Where the Wind Blows: 4:15 pm Thursday, Oct. 19. $15. Violet Crown Cinema, 1606 Alcaldesa St., (505) 216-5678

Once Upon a Time in China II: 11: 55 am Friday, Oct. 20. $15. Kathryn O’Keeffe Theater @Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, 710 Camino Lejo, (505) 476-1250

Lost Love: 7 pm Friday, Oct. 20. $15. Violet Crown Cinema, 1606 Alcaldesa St., (505) 216-5678

Please note that ticket prices reflect general admission. The Santa Fe International Film Festival has many free events and paid ticket package options available at santafe.film