A new partnership between Northern Arizona University and the Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) marks the beginning of an exciting collaboration that brings storytelling, creativity, education and community together. Launching with monthly film screenings, the partnership aims to create a shared space where students, faculty, filmmakers and the public can engage with powerful cinema and meaningful conversation.
Michelle Carpenter, executive director at the School of Communication, said a conversation with professor Janna Jones about the possibility of offering adult education in Sedona sparked the idea for the partnership. Since last fall, she has been working with Paul Quinn Helford, a professor emeritus of creative media and film, to get more visibility and exposure for NAU in the Verde Valley.
“Paul has a long history with Patrick Schweiss, the executive director of the film festival, and suggested bringing the classics to Sedona,” Carpenter said. “We were really interested in having more visibility in the community, and monthly film screenings are a great way to start.”
Helford has been co-curating and co-hosting the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) Film Series at Cline Library since 2004, bringing a different theme to each semester. The screenings for this partnership will follow the same format.
“We are calling it Northern Arizona University and the Sedona International Film Festival present The Classics,” Helford said. “My idea is to begin with films that are recognizable in the hopes of really generating interest in the audience. Each film will be from a different era, a different director and different genres. We will have an introduction to put the film in some kind of historical aesthetic context, and after screening the film, we will have a discussion for as long as people want to talk about it.”
The series at the Mary D. Fisher Theater in Sedona started with the screening of “The Maltese Falcon” on Jan. 15. “Some Like it Hot,” starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, will screen in March, followed by “The Way We Were” in April, as a tribute to Robert Redford. Helford said he is excited to share his love of classic films with an audience that will appreciate them.
“We are truly honored to have this partnership with NAU for our Classics Series,” Schweiss, said. “Paul is a remarkable and brilliant individual with so much knowledge and expertise in the film world. We have been friends and business associates for years, and I have always wanted him to bring his programs here to Sedona to our theatre. That wish is coming true, thanks to him and Michelle Carpenter making it a reality. What a gift to our audience members and what a great program for our festival and theatres to offer. It is a truly incredible partnership.”
As part of the partnership, students in professor Patricia Murphey’s visual design lab class will create a new logo for SIFF and its partners, and NAU alumnus James Ward Byrkit, a filmmaker and storyboard artist, will present his film “Coherence” on Feb. 25 at the SIFF.
Byrkit will also lead a screening of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” at NAU on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. as part of the CAL Film Series at Cline Library. He will present some of his storyboards from the film and will teach classes in the School of Communication. “We are going to try to get as much student and faculty involvement as possible so that we can have a lot of engagement because he is really incredible,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter hopes the partnership will continue throughout 2026 and for years to come, with the possibility of offering education to the Sedona community that they might otherwise not have access to.
“We feel like we can create this relationship that can be quite beneficial for both parties,” she said. “We can bring them education and just be more present in that community. We are trying to be forward-facing, making sure that NAU is out there visible, active in the community, generating new relationships and new friends.”
The 32nd Annual Sedona International Film Festival takes place Feb. 21-March 1 in Sedona.
Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu