Jacques Paisner

President of the Board

​SFiFF Artistic Director, Jacques Paisner produced the forthcoming feature film from indie auteur Jon Moritsugu. Jacques is the former Director of Programming at Jean Cocteau Cinema. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation, is a member of the Santa Fe Film Commission, and on the advisory Board for California American Indian Film Festival. Jacques received a BA degree in Philosophy in 2003 from the University of New Mexico. He was born in Minneapolis, grew up in Santa Fe, and is a 1998 graduate of Santa Fe High School. He is writer/director of the 2009 feature film, Rejection and the author of Albuquerque Blues (2007). He currently lives in Santa Fe with his dog.

Liesette Paisner Bailey

Treasurer

​SFiFF Executive Director, Liesette Paisner Bailey was born and raised in Santa Fe and received her BA at the University of New Mexico in 2012, honors 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 Royal Roads Tours. Liesette is the former Director of Marketing/Programmer at Jean Cocteau Cinema. 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.

Marissa Juarez

Secretary

​Marissa Juarez grew up in New Mexico and has lived here most of her life. She holds a BA and MA in English from the University of New Mexico and a PhD in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English from the University of Arizona. She teaches writing at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque.

Chris Eyre

Member at Large

​Chris Eyre, the nation's most celebrated American Indian film director, was born in Oregon. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, he gained national attention in 1998 with the movie Smoke Signals. People Magazine called him "the preeminent Native American filmmaker of his time." Chris Eyre is currently head of Native Networkers, which just completed consultation on the Scott Cooper film Hostiles.