A myriad of exciting events are planned for the 2020 Las Cruces International Film Festival (LCIFF) March 4-8, 2020. This year’s guests and honorees include Richard Dreyfuss, Academy Award Nominee Graham Green, Krista Bridges, Bella Heathcote, Judge Reinhold, and Tom Schulman.
Astronaut
Dreyfuss, Green, and Bridges are all cast in “Astronaut,” the Opening Night Film on March 4. Dreyfuss plays an elderly widower who has always been intrigued by space. Although he is beyond the age requirement, he enters and wins a competition hosted by a billionaire entrepreneur and company founder Marcus Brown on the first commercial space flight! Director/writer Shelagh McLeod and the film’s producers are delighted to be able to screen the film at what they consider “ground zero” for the reality that inspired the film. They will join Dreyfuss, Greene, and Bridges in a Q&A after the film. Virgin Galactic staff plan to join them as well.
Dreyfuss will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Award March 5.
Friday, March 6, Academy Award Winning Screenwriter Tom Schulman, best known for his semi-autobiographical Academy Award-winning screenplay Dead Poet’s Society, will present a screenwriting workshop as well as a screening of Dead Poet’s Society followed by a Q and A. Other works include Welcome to Mooseport, What About Bob?, and Holy Man, starring Eddie Murphy. He was also hired to rewrite the hit movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and had just seven days to turn it from a drama into a comedy! Schulman will receive the Mark Medoff Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriting Award.
Saturday, March 7, actress Bella Heathcote (Man in the High Castle, Fifty Shades Darker, Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows) will present a panel on Amazon Prime’s “Man in the High Castle” (in which she plays Nicole Dörmer) along with the series’ showrunner and stunt coordinator. She will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Drama Award.
Also on March 7, Judge Reinhold of Beverly Hills Cops and Fast Times at Ridgemont High fame, will receive the Mark Medoff Legacy Award at the Awards Ceremony following a screening of his film Offbeat.
Now in its 5th year, LCIFF brings independent film, industry experts, celebrities, filmmakers, film students, and film lovers together for a five-day extravaganza. Presented by New Mexico State University and Visit Las Cruces, LCIFF screens independent films presents workshops, and hosts various celebrities, social events, and parties. Outstanding achievements by industry professionals are recognized and honored.
VIP tickets, which include all films, workshops and VIP and celebrity after-parties will be available at a reduced price at the Festival Commemorative Poster Reveal Party on Friday, January 31, 6-9 pm at the Museum of Nature and Science. Poster Party Admission includes refreshments and a signed copy of the commemorative poster. Admission is $25
