In the Coachella Valley, the new year means a few months of good weather—and the return of the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Since 1990, the Palm Springs International Film Festival has put our desert on the celluloid map. Being a precursor to awards season, the festival honors stars and movies that will soon dominate the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes. This year’s festival will give awards to Ariana Grande, Timothée Chalamet, Angelina Jolie, Colman Domingo and many others, while screening more than 200 films across 12 days in theaters all over the valley.
Beyond the big Hollywood names, the programming includes local spotlights and student-screening days that highlight and celebrate the Coachella Valley. During a recent interview with programming and education manager Jennifer Van Camp, she shared some information about this year’s local spotlight film, Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion.
“If we’re ever able to highlight something that speaks to the area at all, we always love to do that,” Van Camp said. “This documentary on Bob Mackie, we thought, was a great tie-in. He has connections here to the desert and all that good stuff. He’s going to be able to hopefully join us as well, and the director (Matthew Miele), so that was just something that one of our programmers, David Ansen, had his eye on.”
Legendary costume designer Bob Mackie worked on The Cher Show and has provided costumes and dresses for icons from Lucille Ball to Miley Cyrus. He moved to Palm Springs during the pandemic.
“Obviously Hollywood and Palm Springs have long carried on a relationship with each other,” Van Camp said. “I think Bob Mackie’s clients over the years have also had a connection here to the desert. It’s just kind of a nice way to connect Hollywood to Palm Springs.”
The Palm Springs International Film Festival is a rich cultural experience, with intense and emotional films from various countries—and attendees from various countries. Thanks to the local spotlight programming, attendees are able to learn, in a similar environment, about the Coachella Valley.
“I feel like we’re always learning something about the area and the people who flock to it, and who have roots here, who have second homes here, and all that good stuff,” Van Camp said. “We love seeing what we can put together for the local spotlight.”
Van Camp reflected on how her different positions within the festival have given her a unique perspective.
“I started at the festival back in 2011 in development, so sponsorships and that sort of thing,” Van Camp said. “I kind of dabbled in social media then as well, so it’s kind of like wearing two hats … There are so many facets that go into creating an event such as this; it’s definitely a team effort. It’s been interesting over the years to see how it all sort of comes together.
“I left the festival in 2016, and I was able to take some other opportunities for a few years, and then I came back as programming coordinator, so I was doing that since 2021, and now I’ve gone from programming coordinator to programming manager and education. It’s just been such a wonderful journey to move through those different departments and different titles, and now being programming manager has really illuminated how it all comes together from working with our incredible programmers who really bring to us most of the films we have in the festival. I’ve always had a love of film and a passion for the arts, but working in a film festival really gives you a different purview to how it all comes together, from sales agents to distributors to films getting distribution.”
“Traditionally, we’ve had it reach about 1,100 students, give or take, and this year, we’re aiming for about 3,000, so we’re inviting additional schools.”
PSIFF programming and education manager Jennifer Van Camp, on student screening day
The desert is also celebrated via student screening day. Every year, one film is shown, for free, to students of local high schools, for an “elevated field trip.”
“Student screening days are one of my favorite events that we have,” Van Camp said. “We started about 15 years or so ago, maybe even a little bit longer than that, but it is truly such a wonderful event where we bring the festival to high school students. Traditionally, we’ve had it reach about 1,100 students, give or take, and this year, we’re aiming for about 3,000, so we’re inviting additional schools. … Typically it happens during the festival, and it’s usually one day or two days that we do it. This year, we’re breaking it up a little bit just because of the school districts breaking for their winter holiday schedule a little bit differently. We’re doing three days of student screening days in January during the festival, and then we’re doing a post-festival student screening day in February with the Palm Springs Unified School District and Moreno Valley. We’re really looking forward to this and reaching so many more students.”
Genres change every year for student screening day, but no matter the genre, the screening provides a unique experience for local students.
“What we hope happens is that it opens up the world around these students, and that they get to see a film that maybe they wouldn’t otherwise have seen, or maybe it wouldn’t be on their radar,” Van Camp said. “One of the best parts of student screening day is that the students never know that we’re going to have a guest attached to it. We’ve tried really, really hard to have someone from the film we’re showing be in attendance, whether it’s a director, cast (member) or, if it’s a documentary, the subjects of the film. Every year we show the film; we provide lunch for the students, but prior to breaking for lunch, we do a Q&A, and we surprise them with a guest, and the crowd just erupts every time. … It’s just a really wonderful day, and it’s so much more than a field trip.”
This year’s pick for student screening day is Bob Trevino Likes It.
“It’s a narrative feature from director Tracie Laymon, and it stars Barbie Ferreira from Euphoria, John Leguizamo and French Stewart, and it’s a really heartfelt film. It’s inspired the director’s real-life story, and it centers around an experience she had when she was younger with her estranged father,” Van Camp said. “It’s a feel-good movie. It’s humorous. When we presented it to the school districts, they all just fell in love with it, so we’re excited to see how the students react to it.”
Van Camp said she and the rest of the festival team are proud of the ways in which they are able to involve the community.
“When we’re in it, and putting all those puzzle pieces together, you’re sort of lost in that world, but the feedback we get from people is so wonderful,” Van Camp said. “Once the event is actually going, we’re able to kind of zoom out a little bit and see how it all came together. It’s a huge, very noteworthy event, so we’re all proud to be a part of it.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival takes place from Thursday, Jan. 2, through Monday, Jan. 13. General admission tickets to single films are $20. For a complete schedule and more information, visit psfilmfest.org.
