I love a good film festival for an exciting and enriching way to spend a few days working for Buzz Magazine in Chicago. Although a large festival like CineVegas, which lasted a full 10 days and had many glamorous parties and red carpets to cover can be exciting, a smaller festival in a quaint, spiritually rich town like Santa Fe can be just the remedy to soothe frazzled city nerves and enjoy some spa pampering while taking in great new and classic films.

2010 was the anniversary of Mark Twain’s death and the much-awaited release of Twain's autobiography for "Twainiacs". When I read that Val Kilmer was named the Honorary Chair of The Santa Fe Film Festival, I decided to attend and try to do the interview I had been planning for Val about his own independent film project on Mark Twain and Mary Baker Eddy while in Santa Fe.

I arranged my visit with the amazingly helpful and nice, Santa Fe Film Festival staff member, Gunther Maier, to cover the entire festival. This was a last minute decision and I was really lucky that La Posada, one of the most beautiful and luxurious spa hotels in Santa Fe agreed to provide the luxury accommodations for my three-night stay just 48 hours before my arrival.

As at any film festival there are just too many good films to see, and when you are in a beautiful destination like historic Santa Fe, you need to pick and choose which showings you can take in personally and which films to watch on DVD while you explore the shops, art galleries and local scenery. The following were my choices for this weekend:

THE ATHLETE (ATLETU)
Davey Frankel’s and Rasselas Lakew’s drama ATLETU tells the inspiring and incredible true story of Abebe Bikila, the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the marathon in 1960 and 1964. An Ethiopian, Bikilia was the first African to win a gold medal and the first repeat champion in the marathon. Bikila was later involved in a tragic car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. And thus, began the greatest struggle of his life. Told on film as a hybrid of travelogue, biopic and documentary. Bikila’s first Olympic triumph was unprecedented, but his athletic conquests after a paralyzing car accident only add to his legend and impact.

CATCH-22
Director Mike Nichols’ and screenwriter Buck Henry’s 1970 adaptation of Joseph Heller’s scathing satire of life in the Air Force during World War II is the pair’s boldest cinematic display. A brilliant black comedy with an all-star cast including Alan Arkin, Bob Balaban, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Paula Prentiss, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, Orson Welles.

LENNONNYC
Marking the 70th anniversary of his birth and the 30th anniversary of his death, Michael Epstein’s documentary LENNONNYC traces the experiences of John Lennon and Yoko Ono upon their arrival in New York City in 1971. After an initial heady period of music, politics, culture and creativity in their new home, a dark period followed for both Lennon’s career as well as their relationship. However, the intertwining of man, artist and adopted city righted itself before the musical legend’s untimely and tragic death.

THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER
Directed by the legendary Bertrand Tavernier and based on a short story by Madame de La Fayette, THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER is a French period romance set during the French Wars of Religion. As he experiences his own forbidden desire for the irresistibly beautiful and much-courted Marie, soldier-scholar Chabannes must also protect her from the dangerously corrupt court dominated by Catherine de Medici. Tavernier translates de Lafayette’s novel into a brilliant evocation of the tragic conflict between duty and passion. The film’s exceptional cast includes Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet, Gaspard Ulliel, Raphael Personnaz.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (LUNG BOONMEERALUEK CHAT)
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES is a fable about a tamarind and honey farmer named Uncle Boonmee who is slowly dying of kidney failure, and finds the ghosts of departed family members coming back to visit him. The film stars Sakda Kaewbuadee, Jenjira Pongpas, Thanapat Saisaymar.

It goes without saying that the highlight of the Santa Fe film festival screenings for me had to be the special 40^{th Anniversary Screening of the classic film, "Catch 22".}

It was a very special feeling to be enjoying and reacting to the brilliant performances in "Catch 22" on a BIG screen, while sitting just a few seats away from two of the film’s great stars, Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss.

I had just enjoyed a fantastic VIP festival brunch with them at Val Kilmer’s own Pecos River Ranch. Richard and Paula told me that neither of them had seen the film in well over a decade.

There were also a number of very interesting and informative film festival panels going on at various art galleries over the weekend. I chose to attend the one on Women Film Producers. I loved that the panels were held in art galleries so that I could multi-task and enjoy the fantastic array of local artists after the seminars end.

Festival organizer, Gunther Maier, drove me to Val’s Pecos River Ranch for the VIP Party and luncheon. It is about a half hour away from Santa Fe’s center and it is a beautiful drive. The Pecos River Ranch is really impossible to find if you don’t know it’s exact location, there is only one tiny sign at the end of the twisty, hilly, drive that leads to it to let you know that you have made it. I wouldn’t want to attempt this drive in the dark or in winter, when Gunther says few of the roads are plowed to clear snow away.

The land around the house on the drive up to it is very pretty, dotted with barns for the horses and cows.

We arrived before all the guests’ buses, so I was able to wander around a little and see the ranch and river in all its quiet glory. The main house looks very cozy and is not pretentious at all. It is a rustic yet modern adobe style home with two modest buildings connected by a great outdoor porch walkway. I loved that his caretaker’s dogs, came right up to me and plopped down at my feet for petting as I walked to the front door. I was missing my own dog back in Chicago and it was great to see dogs with so much beautiful out door space to play in.

Val had already called me to arrange a phone interview and let me know in advance that he would not be there for the festival party because he was on location shooting his new film by Francis Ford Coppola, "Betwixt Now and Sunrise." But I was still very excited to visit his home of over twenty years. I seemed to be the only guest at the festival party who knew in advance that Val Kilmer would not be able to attend his VIP luncheon, because as I clambered up the hill to the luxury outdoor restroom the fest had set up, Richard Benjamin asked me if Val was coming and looked so forlorn when I said he wasn’t.

The ranch house is lovingly decorated in a clean Southwestern style and is perfectly situated to take in panoramic views of the river and more than 6000 acres of lush wilderness belonging to the ranch that surround it on all sides. There is an adorable full sized teepee hut across the shallow part of the riverbed that children can play in.

It looked gray and rainy when we arrived but by the time lunch was served the sun started shining again and all of the guests had a wonderful, relaxed time wandering down the rocks to the riverbank, enjoying a glass of wine and a cigarette or pipe in the open air to the wonderful sounds of a superb Jazz trio.

The Santa Fe Film Festival VIP party was a great casual event for making new friends like Cynthia Canyon, the beautiful and accomplished owner and publisher of Trend Magazine, and meeting with all of the festival’s stars and long time supporters. Variety magazine also sent a writer to cover the VIP luncheon.

Kilmer’s many fans want to know when they will hear my interview with Val. When Val and I talked, I realized that the in-depth interview I had prepared about his film on Mark Twain, Mary Baker Eddy and the precepts of Christian Science, was premature as the project was still in the planning and fundraising stage. Much to my delight, because theatre is my professional forte’, Val asked me to assist him with his compelling one-man show about Mark Twain nationwide.

In his show, "Val provides a rare look into the mind of a true genius, whose stories are more relevant than ever. From politics, to death, love, money, watermelons, God, racism and cats no topic is left untouched. Doors open at 7, trouble starts at 8."

If his already packed film schedule will permit, Val is currently considering a weekend run here in Chicago that I have arranged for November of 2011. The working title for his play on Twain’s work is " I’m Your Huckleberry". Don’t you love it!

So if you are an avid Kilmer fan or traveling "Twainiac" and eagerly anticipating seeing his play you might want to visit him at his website or send him a tweet to let him know you will attend.

I highly recommend attending the next Santa Fe Film Festival in October of 2011 to everyone who enjoys seeing a great selection of film projects in a rich, and natural setting with all the amenities of a five star hotel and spa just footsteps away.

Check out my photo gallery of this event for more great photographs and video of my visit to the Santa Fe Film Festival, and the celebration at Val Kilmer’s Pecos River Ranch at www.flickr.com/photos/kimkatz.

For more information and to purchase tickets for The Santa Fe Film Festival 2011, visit www.santafefilmfestival.com.

For more information on Val Kilmer and his film project or live show about Mark Twain visit www.valekilmer.com and www.twaineddyfilm.com .

For more information on La Posada de Santa Fe Hotel and Spa visit their website at www.laposada.rockresorts.com.

La Posada has had many star visitors including Kevin Costner, Colin Farrell, Bill and Hilary Clinton, to name a few. The hotel is filled with gorgeous and valuable art and there is a delightful afternoon tea served to guests along with an in depth tour of the art and the hotel’s ghostly history. Yes, the beautifully renovated hotel has a delightfully rich history and is believed to be haunted.

The October weekend that I was there was unusually rainy and cold so I did not get to enjoy the pool and garden setting outdoor Jacuzzi very much but I was given the most incredible, gentle "Flowing Water" massage I have had in recent years by the gifted masseuse, Rita Bergmann. Rita is a childhood cancer survivor and is an accomplished master of the intuitive healing touch. Be sure to request and reserve her services way in advance just like stars, Kevin Costner and Colin Farrell have in the past. I followed this much-needed massage healing with a cup of organic tea and a restful steam in the Rock Resort’s Spa eucalyptus steam room.

The La Posada offers a free local destination shuttle van to it’s guests which turned out to be indispensable to me for attending the various film festival parties and screenings which were nearby but a little too far to be considered walking distance. Every driver I received for the shuttle, which I used at least five times a day, were super friendly and informative and really made me feel at home while traveling alone. Two of them even waited for me outside of restaurants or stores while I ordered food or bought groceries to take back to my suite fridge.

Every adobe room or suite at La Posada is very unique in size, shape, and bath amenities so I suggest you ask them to see two or three rooms before you decide, and ask for a newly renovated room if like me you must have a room with a spa tub and quick in/out access- no stairs, near the entrance of the lovely and rustic, sprawling resort.