Gerald M. Gay One of the greatest things about a film festival is its ability to transport you to different places in space and time without you ever leaving the comfort of your theater seat.
1. LongevityThere is a reason it’s called the Arizona International Film Festival and not the Tucson International Film Festival. “We get submissions from all over the world,” Scalinger said. “We thought there might be fewer submissions this year, but it turns out we had more than ever.” Scalinger said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, who has a cameo in the film, will be attending the screening.3. Your choice of venuesIn addition to the Fox, 17 W. Congress St., the Arizona International Film Festival will be screening features and shorts all over town, including at Main Gate Plaza, 943 E. University Blvd.; The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway; and the Hotel Congress Plaza, 117 E. Congress.
Long known as the sister site to Old Tucson Studio, the Mescal Movie Set was home to more than 80 Westerns over the course of several decades, including the popular ’90s titles, “Tombstone” and “The Quick and the Dead.” There is an animation shorts night at The Screening Room on April 22 and an experimental shorts program at the same theater on April 25.
Five films will be featured, including “El Pozo,” about a young girl who falls into an enchanted well in war-torn Mexico, and “La Poeta del Ring,” about a female boxer ready for the match of a lifetime in Las Vegas. “It was very difficult,” Scalinger said. “When screening films, the numbers weren’t as high as we thought they could be. It just wasn’t us.”
8. ‘Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl’Among the films of local interest is the documentary about Derrick and Amy Ross, the husband-and-wife musical duo from Bisbee known as Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl, who died in 2013 under tragic circumstances.