 A recent press release announces that George R R Martin’s theatre The Jean Cocteau will have new programmers.
By Robyn Reede
Dec. 13, 2016 (Santa Fe, NM) Jacques Paisner and sister Liesette Paisner will be taking over programming of the 1970’s theater reopened by George RR Martin. The brother/sister programming team behind the success of the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, named in Moviemaker Magazine’s Top 50 Film Festivals three years running will now also program the Jean Cocteau Cinema. Jacques and Liesette will present a fresh vision and wide range of content. They take over for local cinephile Jon Bowman who helped reopen the theatre and recently retired in November.
“It is a dream come true to program a theater that shaped me as a moviegoer and has touched countless people in Santa Fe.” said Jacques Paisner.
The vision for the theater is an ambitious one that focuses on Santa Fe as a film mecca, and the Jean Cocteau as a space that will unite the vibrant film going community. The Jean Cocteau programs will feature eclectic films both classic and new, blockbusters and independent films, author events and a space for independent filmmakers.
“It is exciting to program and market a wide range of films at our hometown theatre. I am especially excited to bring a unique female voice to film programming in Santa Fe,” said Liesette Paisner.
George RR Martin’s Jean Cocteau has been a staple in Santa Fe’s cinema and literary scene since its reopening in 2013. The theater will continue its highly anticipated author events, theatrical performances and special events. Film programming will span from blockbusters to independent and foreign films plus documentaries and classic films.
Jacques currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation. A writer, and producer, he is also the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival. Jacques received a BA degree in Philosophy in 2003 from the University of New Mexico. He grew up in Oregon, Navajo Nation and Santa Fe. He is also a 1998 graduate of Santa Fe High School, and an advisory board member for the California American Indian and Indigenous Film Fest. Jacques has been a juror for SWAIA’s Indian Market Native Cinema Showcase for 4 years. In 2016, he was asked to serve on the City of Santa Fe’s Film and Digital Media Commission. Jacques currently lives in downtown Santa Fe.
Liesette is a native Santa Fean and received her BA at University of New Mexico in 2012, with Honors summa summa cum laude in History. Liesette was the New Mexico Coordinator of Martin Luther King III’s Realizing the Dream Poverty Initiative in America. She has worked for Recursos de Santa Fe and in 2008, she directed the Southwest Literary Center’s Women Writers’ Conference, as well as working with the planning and development of the First Annual UNESCO International Conference on Creative Tourism. Liesette has been Festival Director for the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival since 2012 and is one of the youngest film festival directors worldwide.
About the Jean Cocteau Cinema
In early 2013, George RR Martin purchased Santa Fe’s Jean Cocteau Cinema and Coffee House, and completely restored the property, which had been closed since 2006, including both its original 35mm capability, and added digital projection and sound, and officially reopened on August 9, 2013. This venue first opened as the Collective Fantasy Cinema in 1976. In 1989, Trans-Lux Corporation purchased the venue and ran the cinema until April of 2006, when they closed the doors of the Jean Cocteau Cinema. The cinema was left vacant until it was purchased by author George R R Martin. The Jean Cocteau Cinema reopened the theatre doors on August 9, 2013 with George R R Martin’s favorite film, Forbidden Planet. The cinema maintains to show film on both 35 mm and digital. In addition, the theater will continue its highly anticipated author events, theatrical performances and special events. |
