On Oct. 25-26, SFUAD welcomed homeless veterans and other homeless to Alumni Hall, as an opportunity to receive the help they need. For Phillip Chavez, 2013 Veteran Stand Down organizer, the event has always close to home during the three years he’s been running the event. “When I retired from the military I sort of lost my identity,” said Chavez. “I just wanted to do something to help the veterans.” With three local churches, Santa Fe Community College, SFUAD and various veterans groups coming together, there was plenty of help to go around. A buffet line of food greeted the hungry upon entering the room. Booths were stationed around the building, offering a wide range of services including: haircuts, foot washing, flu shots, racks of clothing, massages, blood pressure checks, prayer rooms, free hugs, as well as a variety of information booths on alcoholism, drug abuse, and nutrition. “People are receiving all the services really well,” said Angie Howes, Santa Fe Seventh Day Adventist Church volunteer, who was offering blood pressure checks. “They seem to love the opportunity to get help that they need.” Chavez estimated that almost 200 homeless, half of whom were veterans, cycled through on Friday alone. The number of homeless veterans in New Mexico is estimated to be fewer than 1,000, according to Long March Home, a website that chronicles the plight of homeless veterans. Daniel Reiher, an American Legion rider and veteran, agreed with the estimates for attendees, and said he reveled at the chance to help the less fortunate. “It’s amazing the number of people who came here and got clothing,” said Reiher. “It’s been powerful, very moving.” Reiher at one point spotted a familiar face in a police uniform. He called him over and chatted about...

The Screen Presents: Nov. 1-6 All Is Lost, Robert Redford’s Capstone Performance and a Must See for Filmmakers! Academy Award winner Robert Redford, age 77, has still got it! In J.C. Chandor’s latest thriller, All Is Lost, Redford plays an unnamed sailer who, after an accident to his sailboat, must survive the open waters and battle the elements for his life. Mary F. Pols from Time Magazine calls All Is Lost “a signal film achievement and the capstone to a great star’s career. This is Ultimate Redford.” Opens this Friday. The New York Film Critics Series, A Sneak Peek into Hollywood and Indie Films Hosted by Peter Travers Up until now, live talent has only been accessible to the public in New York, Los Angeles and at festivals. Now everyone throughout the country can enjoy up close and personal moments from major movie stars, producers, writers and directors in the comfort of their own neighborhood theaters. Preview screenings have been offered before, but never with a live conversation component. This, in addition to a curated selection of films, will allow filmgoers to see the better independent movies before anyone else, with exclusive insight from the creators into the productions. This week at the Screen, watch live interviews with Bruce Dern and Will Forte in Alexander Payne’s film Nebraska. Premiering Nov. 5 at 6p.m. Tickets on sale now....

“How do you photograph the disappeared?”    Erika Diettes posed this question to herself when planning out her photographic project, Sudarios. The disappeared in her case were the victims of violent attacks on Columbian citizens by the guerrilla warfare that has plagued their country over the past 60 years.  Her final execution of this rather intense and emotionally exhausting subject matter seemed so intentional and precise that one hardly questions the story behind it. Displayed at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel, due to the sacred and pristine nature of Catholic churches, Diettes aligned 16 silk-screen photographic prints of women’s faces, all in black and white. The prints were hung from the ceiling and arranged symmetrically, allowing the pictures to blend together from certain angles and come together as a whole when viewed from the center. Diettes interviewed and photographed the victims’ family members—all of whom were women in the project’s final draft—at each individual’s exact moment of horror. During interviews that spanned up to three hours in duration, Diettes had a therapist sit down with victims and guide them through the atrocities they had witnessed firsthand. Although Diettes hadn’t originally planned to only use female subjects, as she gathered interviews and looked at the photographs, she realized that the emotion drawn from the viewer looking at a woman’s face who has experienced a traumatic event, is similar to that of a mother’s loss of her son. This loss of love, she said, is how she wants the viewer to feel while walking past the photographs. According to Diettes, the pictures she has displayed were at the moment in the interview that the subject couldn’t open their eyes. She felt that this moment where loss has been established, but not yet accepted, is the key to giving the disappeared...

By Sarah Ruhl; directed by Performing Arts Department senior Corbin Albaugh In an age of nearly infinite technological convenience and possibility, rarely do we stop and think of associated consequences. Dead Man’s Cell Phone is the story of Jean, a middle-aged woman, who is forced to encounter her own internal truths after the discovery of a dead man at the café at which she was dining. In turn, this surrealist comedy forces us to confront our own fixation with digital technology and the reality from which it disconnects us. Performances run Nov. 1-2 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 3 at 2 p.m in the Weckesser...

Guilherme Spada is back with his second short film. Once more, he captures all the power of a psychological thriller and transmits it to us through House of Dolls. “The story is about three day-dreaming sisters that find out about love and sex. Because of the difficulty they have to express themselves, they end up doing bad crazy things,” says Spada. Marisa Melito, Dani Vondrak and Jess Cornelius play the three protagonists of the movie. Marisa Melito, who stars, was offered the role the night before filming began. “Jess Cornelius found me in the hallway and said her friend really needed another actress for his film. I had no idea who anyone was the next day at filming besides Jess and Dani (who I’ve met before) and I’ve also never done any film work before,” she says. “I’m a dance major, but I’ve done a lot of theatre in high school so it was weird having a camera and lots of people in your face watching you. Despite being a little bit out of my comfort zone, I had a lot of fun making this film and getting to know everyone, and I’m so happy that I got to be a part of it.” Film students know how important is to work as a team, since every project from the film department needs a group of people working together. For film student Claudia Vargas, being part of Spada’s team was very satisfying. “I loved being a part of the production of House of Dolls. Guilherme had a great team; he has very clear what he wants and I really think he is defining a style of his own. I really see him doing big things in the future and I am very proud.” As...

For three nights, Oct. 25-27, the Rocky Horror shadow cast, 20 promiscuously dressed student performers, heated up the Screen with an uncensored salute to the ’70s British musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show. With fishnets, speedos, wigs and an “Oh my goodness, what am I looking at?”expression from the Rocky Horror audience, the shows acted as the perfect Halloween prelude, conjuring the horrifyingly sexy side in all of us. “You gotta have some of the biggest balls to do this show,” says Rocky Horror student director Peter Crowder, who with film major Jack Brinkley initiated the shows on campus last year. “I’m referring to this metaphorically, but if you wanted to go physically too,” Crowder continues, “you gotta be strong to put on this show because you’re gonna get flack from people who aren’t used to it, who don’t like it, but at the same time you’ll be dealing with people who love it so much and so intensely that if you don’t do it right, you’re going to get smashed and pulverized.” Crowder, who watched the shows all three nights, was able to participate as an audience member, shouting out jokes that accompanied lines in the film. As well as being liaison for the Screen, Crowder’s right-hand-man Brinkley played the part of the creepy Lurch-like character Riff Raff, “a vengeful handyman,” Brinkley says, who gets particularly crazy during the Time Warp, a dance involving pelvic thrusts. “I also liked coming out in drag with oblivion in my hand.” What’s oblivion? Brinkley laughs. “It’s a 14.5-inch dildo. During one rehearsal I said, ‘say goodbye to all of this and say hello to oblivion.’” The cast called the dildo Oblivion ever since. To get a perspective of just how crazy the show is, it may help knowing that the...

A look at some of the costumes on campus for...

SFUAD and Santa Fe offer plenty of choices for Halloween. Here are a few picks. For extensive Halloween calendar listings, check out this round-up from SantaFe.com and these choices from The Santa Fe Reporter. October 31 “Break the Piñata”  Celebrate Halloween with the Photography Department by breaking a big scary piñata on the Marion Courtyard. Feel free to come in costume. 5 pm Trick or Treat If you want to feel like a kid again, trick or treating is always a good option. SFUAD offers a campus-wide Trick or Treat at various departments from noon to 1 pm. If you prefer to do it off campus, consider Canyon Road, where, from 4 to 6 pm, some galleries like Canyon Road Contemporary Art or Gallery 822 will have their doors open. Needless to say, being in a costume is essential.  Movie Night! What is a Halloween night without a touch of horror movies? For those who don’t want to leave the campus, The Screen will play the original Nightmare on Elm Street at 10.30 pm. The Lensic Performing Arts Center will screen the classic The Man Who Fell to Earth at 7 pm. And The Jean Cocteau Cinema offers the Vincent Price thriller House of Wax at 6:30 pm as a special benefit for The Santa Fe Film Festival, with a costume contest and Mistress of Ceremonies Victoria Price. The Jean Cocteau also will screen The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the late show at 11 pm, and throughout the weekend (costumes also welcome for Rocky Horror!) November 1-2 Once Halloween ends, the Mexican tradition marking “Dia de Muertos” (Day of the Dead) begins. Gerard’s House will offer a celebration and memorializing event from 4-6:30 pm featuring performances by Wise Fool and The Santa Fe Symphony, with...

Initially I wanted to do a narrower list of movies, but I’m too much of a fan of horror to winnow the list down to specific decades. I chose the following horror movies based on absolutely no criteria other than personal taste. Some you may be familiar with, but I hope I have a few surprises. Here are five films for All Hallow’s Eve. In order by year of release: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) This movie is the finest horror movie to come out in years. It’s a bit of a play on horror tropes through the eyes of what would traditionally be considered the “antagonist.” It opens in familiar slasher tradition: A group of college-aged friends get together for a trip to the lake. While the film continuously flirts with the idea of slasher tropes, it revels in the inherent humor and stupidity of the genre. It’s a smart film and, more surprisingly, you might find yourself laughing harder at Tucker & Dale than a dedicated comedy. Trick ‘r Treat (2008) One of my favorite styles of horror film is the horror anthology. Trick ‘r Treat is a series of short horror stories pieced together by a common town and mythos. It utilizes the familiar tropes found in coming-of-age stories to ease its way in and then loses the inhibitions. The stories are interesting, fresh and tightly-packed into its 82 minute runtime. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007) This one is another slasher that shrugs off its genre. Told in a documentary style, it follows the footsteps of a pseudo Jason Voorhees and how much work really goes into hunting down oversexed teenagers. It educates the audience on the symbolism in horror films, while simultaneously celebrating and embracing...

The riot at the Penitentiary of New Mexico on Feb. 2, 1980 upended the world of corrections. Demands for better food, conditions and programming were forgotten as fury erupted from the residents. The reforms that came out of the event changed prison protocols forever. Now, the administration is embarking on a five-year plan to re-purpose the “Old Main,” which they discuss regularly with visitors on the prison tour. Certainly, the events of the riot—captured vividly in numerous newspaper articles, state reports and books, continue to draw crowds. The guided “Old Main” tour slots have more than doubled due to demand and all ticket proceeds return to increase the quality of the tour and provide future programming for inmates. “Respecting our past to create a better future” is the motto the corrections officer acting as guide offers, before relaying the details of the riot.   In the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 2, 1980, inmates drinking a crude hooch overpowered the officer that discovered them. Soon, other officers within the dormitory were taken hostage and a set of captured keys liberated other inmates to ensure the riot would continue its course. These newly-freed inmates joined in beating Officer Juan Bustos, stripped and noosed with a belt, during the 12-minute march toward master control. Nearly 100 inmates crowded in front of the newly installed bulletproof plexiglass window of master control. It shattered in three strikes from a fire extinguisher. The armory beneath master control was left undiscovered, limiting the extent of the carnage. Once the master control room was breached, approximately 2:02 a.m., greater access to the prison was attained. Due to construction in cell block five, high risk inmates were mingled with the low risk population. The construction area housed numerous tools left by...

Studio Art major Jessica Gulliford is currently working on her BFA thesis show, a “grand performance” that will focus on inviting her audience into her artwork. The show will consist of installations and performances incorporating “stanchions, ticket booth, photo ops, fog machines, red and pink lights… a bunch of rock’n roll’n.” In the meantime, Gulliford will be offering free portraits to anyone who wishes to visit her during her posted hours. Her next portrait session will be from noon to 2 pm, Nov. 7 in the Fogelson Library. Participants can pick up their portraits at her show, where they will be separately...

From this year’s Santa Fe Independent Film Festival’s Shorts Program, nine films were selected and screened under the category of New Mexico Shorts. This category required that a portion, if not all, footage be shot in the state. In supporting the origins of the festival, Executive Director Jacques Paisner said that when organizers started their screenings five years ago, they were in fact New Mexico filmmakers, and believed other filmmakers from the state “deserve[d] to play for a full house.” In his introduction to the New Mexico Shorts Program on Oct. 16 at Santa Fe’s Center for Contemporary Arts, Paisner invited the directors to present themselves to their audience, who ranged from students to seniors. “These young talented people are the future here in Santa Fe,” Paisner said, motioning to the young filmmakers.“It all starts with their vision. At the beginning, we’d often show almost any New Mexico film because we wanted to be supportive, but this year the competition became tougher than we’ve ever seen it. Each film you’ll see is a testament to that.” Indeed, after the screening was over, I felt—as a film student, a New Mexico resident, and annual SFIFF attendee—that every film demonstrated an inspiring amount of hard work, along with some quirky and enchanting stories.   88 Miles to Moscow, directed by Karen Clienke SFIFF Description: Niki may have missed the train, but don’t miss the heart of her story: a mother-daughter relationship in all its beautiful complexity. For any woman who remembers those uncomfortable talks with an obnoxiously protective mother, Karen Glienke’s 88 Miles to Moscow is relatable and all the more comedic. The film utilizes an interesting technique of cross-cutting between two main scenarios: the young Niki hitching a ride with a strange Russian boy (after missing...

        In the third of a series of Q&A sessions with SFUAD students, Jackalope Magazine speaks with Contemporary Music Program Sophomore Sam Zickefoose, who illuminates the joy of banjo, Laser Cats and Gypsy Jazz. Jackalope Magazine: What instruments do you play? Sam Zickefoose: My main instrument is banjo, but I play some guitar and mandolin, and a little bit of bass. JM: What got you into banjo? SZ: My uncle played banjo and my family kind of had a blue grass band a while ago, so I grew up with it. JM: What about bluegrass still draws you? SZ: Well, there’s a lot of energy and it’s really a reactive type of music, kind of like jazz. It’s always changing, it’s not set; you can be playing the same songs a hundred times and it will be different every time. JM: What brought you to SFUAD? SZ: To be honest, I was looking for schools that had banjo programs or teachers. There was one here, one in Texas and Berkeley and that was about it. And I ended up here. (laughs) JM: Is there a teacher who plays banjo that has mentored you in any way? SZ: Yeah, Tom Adler plays banjo. He plays clawhammer and is also a guitarist and singer. But I’ve worked with a lot of the teachers and they’ve been really open to relating their concepts to banjo, like Ross [Hamlin], Polly [Ferber] and Scott [Jarrett]. JM: Have you been learning things in general that you could apply to the banjo? SZ: All of our theory classes are really applicable to a lot of different styles of music and writing music in general. In Balkan Ensemble, we learn the theory of the music…and learn new techniques. Even if we don’t use them for Balkan music, we can transfer them...