If I were Czarina of the movies, Sam Elliott would be forced to narrate or appear in every film. After a surprise meeting with Elliott at the 2003 Taos Talking Picture Festival, I’m more convinced than ever about this. His deep, gravelly voice and roughhewn good looks appeal to viewers of all ages. Making an unexpected appearance in connection with Off the Map, the festival’s opening night film on April 10, Elliott enchanted the audience during a Q&A with director Campbell Scott. When asked how he managed to give such a heartbreaking performance as a depressed husband and father, Elliott joked, "Well, I was just so depressed while making this film here in Taos and working with two beautiful women."

Lovely Joan Allen co-stars with Elliott as his down-to-earth wife, and talented newcomer Valentina d’ Angelis portrays their precocious daughter in Campbell Scott’s magical Off the Map, a movie that earned Scott the coveted Taos Land Grant Award for filmmaking inventiveness and passion – which emerged as another surprise. Scott became the first person to win both the Maverick Award, a tribute to filmmakers who have retained their unique vision while creating an impressive body of work, and the Taos Land Grant Award. The latter award entitles its recipient to five acres of land on Cerro Montoso, just outside of Taos, New Mexico.

"I got the land!" Scott proclaimed enthusiastically in his acceptance speech. During dinner before the Awards Presentation, Scott told me how much he wanted that land. "When we screened Big Night at the first Taos Festival (nine years ago), I was disappointed our film wasn’t in the Land Grant Award category," he said. "I wanted it way back then."

Scott also mentioned his idea of contacting other Land Grant Award winners about creating a center for writers and filmmakers – a kind of sanctuary where these artists could collaborate on a variety of projects. 

By filming Off the Map in Taos, Scott won many friends in that picturesque community. Michael Read (who worked on set construction) was impressed by Scott’s friendliness. "He asked me to call him Campbell, not Mr. Scott," Read said. "There’s not even a hint of pretension in Campbell Scott’s interactions here," echoed another Taos resident.

Other festival surprises for me included: being interviewed about my book, Confessions of a Movie Addict, by Brad Hockmeyer of KTAO Solar Radio; meeting Stephen Beckner, a young filmmaker with roots in neighboring Colorado Springs; and seeing so many terrific short films. Hockmeyer, who’s also a movie fan, conducts lively interviews, but our conversation seemed much too short because we were having such a great time. Beckner, writer and co-director (with Michael Huber) of A.K.A. Birdseye, introduced his mother, who still lives in Colorado Springs, to an appreciative audience after a screening of his creative and unusual comedy/mystery starring Fred Ward.

My husband and I usually try to see festival films that might not receive wide release – including short films and documentaries. At Taos this year, the short film program was exceptional, especially Philip Euling’s clever and satirical Laud Weiner featuring David Hyde Pierce in a change-of-pace role as a bungling Hollywood manager, Alexandre Franchi’s delightful fantasy Fata Morgana, and Christin Cockerton’s bizarre exploration of a mother/daughter relationship in Deep Down. A very excited Crockerton, from the United Kingdom, received the first Taos BAFTA/LA Award for Excellence in Short Film.

The Sweatbox, a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove, fascinated me with its depiction of all the frustrations faced by artists involved in creating animated films. It’s a lot like Lost in La Mancha – with the added attraction of wonderful music by Sting.

In addition to Off the Map and A.K.A.Birdseye, feature-film highlights of this year’s Festival included:

Whale Rider -- a beautiful New Zealand movie about a brave young girl who challenges Maori traditions.

A Mighty Wind – a very funny look at folksingers from mockumentarian Christopher Guest. 

The Secret Lives of Dentists – Alan Rudolph’s poignant drama concerning an unhappily married couple played brilliantly by Campbell Scott and Hope Davis.

The big disappointment to me this year was Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things, a showcase of human cruelty similar to his In the Company of Men – but much less effective. I agree with Santa Fe poet Alex Gildzen, who called the film "very mean-spirited." Nevertheless, LaBute won the 2003 Storyteller Award. "There’s lots of talking in my movies, so it’s fitting for me to win an award from a ‘Talking Picture’ Festival," he quipped upon receiving this honor.

Press officer Lesley Ivy estimates that attendance for the ninth Taos Talking Picture Festival reached 5100, with more than 12,000 admissions to Festival events. And, according to Festival Executive Director Morten Nilssen, this year’s event has been the smoothest in the Festival’s history. "I’ve never had so many festival-goers . . . come up to me just to say what a great time they’re having," he said.

And I’m one of them. I rate the Taos Talking Picture Festival as a cinematic treasure chest for anyone who loves movies.