Press Release Curatorial Statement

The 12th International takes the title Once Within a Time, after a recent film by Godfrey Reggio, the legendary experimental filmmaker who has long resided in Santa Fe. Known for his Qatsi trilogy—comprising the movies Koyaanisqatsi (1983), Powaqqatsi (1988), and Naqoyqatsi (2002)—and his decades-long collaboration with composer Philip Glass, Reggio has remained one of the most singular voices in independent cinema. His most recent film, Once Within a Time (2022), which was shot entirely in studio during the Covid-19 pandemic, is a surreal tour de force through a world of handcrafted vignettes and miniature sets. The film intertwines fairytale atmospheres with apocalyptic landscapes, presenting an allegory of human nature and its conflict with technology.

Through its hypnotic vortices of images—in which children seem trapped, like broken ballerinas in a music box—the film Once Within a Time pursues a form of storytelling that blends the fantastical and the mundane in a moving portrait of the existential condition. As the title seems to suggest, the stories Reggio tells are both exceptional and endlessly repeatable.

Inspired by Reggio’s circular narratives, the 12th International places storytelling at its heart, with the aim of highlighting the lived experiences of several characters connected to the history of Santa Fe and its surrounding region. Conceived as a vast family album, Once Within a Time takes cues from the lives of a vibrant collection of Santa Feans, bringing together figures both historical and current, real and imagined, whose existential adventures step into dialogue with works of contemporary art.