Redford's "Sundance in New Mexico"

Redford returns, and brings Sundance Institute

Actor/director teams up with state for filmmaking programs at Los Luceros ranch

By Robert NottThe film actor/director and Gov. Bill Richardson announced Thursday that the state and Redford are teaming up to initiate Sundance in New Mexico, which will offer filmmaking training programs for Native Americans and Hispanics starting next week.

The program will reside at the historic Los Luceros ranch in Alcalde, north of Española. The state Department of Cultural Affairs bought the roughly 150-acre spread last year for $2.5 million.And:In introducing Redford, the governor noted that the filmmaker shot The Milagro Beanfield War in this state more than 20 years ago. Redford lived in the Santa Fe area for a time in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Redford is building a house in the Santa Fe area, and intends to live more than half of the year here, it was announced Thursday.And:Redford said the time is ripe for such a film-training initiative in New Mexico. "There's change in the air right now. The days of the monolithic silos that we lived in are changing; we're going to be seeing hybrids ... where cultures can come together."

Lisa Strout, head of the New Mexico Film Office, said Los Luceros is ideal for the program. "When you go there," she said, "something makes you want to sit by the Rio Grande and start writing."

Redford said the program will eventually encompass directing, screenwriting and producing, providing an environment to create job opportunities for American Indians and Hispanics. Though set in New Mexico, these labs are not just designed for state residents, Strout stressed.Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies.

Below:  "Gov. Bill Richardson and actor and director Robert Redford announced plans Thursday a collaboration to expand training in the state for Native American and Hispanic filmmakers. The project, ‘Sundance in New Mexico,’ will be based at Los Luceros, the historic, state-owned hacienda north of Española." (Jane Phillips/The New Mexican)