FOR RELEASE: MARCH 30, 2023
Mia Schnaible, 401-4328/arizonafilmfest@yahoo.com
7 Outdoor Screenings, 38 Indoor Film Screenings, 6 Online Panels,
at the 31st Arizona International Film Festival, April 19-30, 2023
The 31st Arizona International Film Festival, the oldest film celebration in Arizona, will offer a variety of film programs in theatres and outdoors from April 19 through April 30. One hundred and films from 20 countries will be screened at various locations around Tucson.
Theater sites include The Screening Room downtown and the Loft Cinema. Outdoor sites include the Mercado Festival Grounds at the Mercado Annex on the westside, Hotel Congress Plaza downtown, and the Main Gate Plaza by the University of Arizona
The Festival opens with the Arizona premiere of A Warm Season at the Mercado Festival Grounds (257 South Avenida del Convento) on Wednesday, April 19 at 7:30pm, admission $10.
Directed by Festival alumnus Janet Grillo, A Warm Season is a character-driven sci-fi drama about human-extraterrestrial contact that impresses with humor and heart. Filmmakers will be present for the screening.
This year there is a strong representation in Native American directed films to include: The Nature of Healing which exposes the truth of the Mohawk Institute, Canada’s first Indian residential school; Imagining the Indian covers the fight against Native American mascoting; and Gift of Fear, a coming of age story that revolves around the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
Outdoor screenings at the Mercado Annex will include documentary films about healing combat dogs with PTSD (April 26), a Chinese paraplegic climbing Mount Everest (April 27) and an animated feature (from Hungary) about an indigenous creation myth (April 28).
FREE Zoom online panels will be scheduled during the Festival for filmmakers and the general public. Topics include making films in Arizona, cinematography, documentary filmmaking, indigenous filmmaking and Canadian Cinema.
All Access Festival Passes ($100) and Saver Passes (6 admissions for $30) can be purchased in-person only at the Mercado Annex Box Office on April 19 from 6 - 8pm and The Screening Box-Office starting April 20 from 6 - 9pm. Single admission tickets are $10 and can be purchased through the Festival website at www.filmfestivalarizona.com
Festival sponsors include Pima County Attractions & Tourism, Visit Tucson, Downtown Tucson Partnership, Film Tucson, Mercado District and Petroglyphs.
The Arizona International Film Festival is a project of the Arizona Media Arts Center, a non-profit organization that champions independent filmmaking.