After the red carpet has been rolled up and the end credits have rolled on hundreds of the world’s best independent movies, the dollars spent remain circulating in Sedona’s economy.

The 32nd annual Sedona International Film Festival wrapped up its nine-day run on March 1 with roughly 32,000 tickets issued, $227,000 in ticket revenue and an estimated attendance of 10,500, which is a modest but steady climb above the festival’s annual turnout of just over 10,000, according to Executive Director Patrick Schweiss.

“The enthusiasm of people this year was kind of over-the-top,” he said. “That’s what we all were noticing. The staff, the volunteers — there was a different vibe, a different feel, a real, a real, genuine enthusiasm and excitement about the films, the events, the guests. You could feel it in the lobbies and you could sense it in the theaters.”

SIFF’s annual budget is $1.8 million, nearly split between putting on the festival and running its programming the rest of the year at the Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill-Sheldon theatres at 2030 W. SR 89A.

While it has been several years since SIFF conducted an economic impact analysis of how much the festival directly stimulates Sedona’s economy during what is otherwise a winter tourism lull, the most recent analysis conducted prior to 2020 found that the festival pumped $4 million into the local economy, through retail spending, hotels, tours, restaurants and activities.

“We’re hoping to do a new economic impact study next year,” Schweiss said. Those figures are important, Schweiss added, as SIFF starts its most ambitious capital fundraising campaign ever in its effort to build a new theater complex on 3.4 acres at the Western Gateway, with an estimated price tag of $20 million to $25 million following initial approval from Sedona City Council in December.

The city and SIFF have been going back and forth on the lot lines, and there is currently no timeline on the completion of the project or next steps.

“We’ve taken SIFF’s initial concept and that they sent to us to see what kind of boundaries they would actually need in order to make a site work, and then they’re going to get back to us,” Community Development Director Tony Allender said.

“As far as mapping out the next steps, we’re working with the city and we’re following protocol,” Schweiss said. “Until we get more determined with the city we have been keeping a low profile on any construction just because we didn’t have enough information. So maybe next year’s festival is when we will really start making that pitch to donors to help us build our new theater complex.”

The 32nd annual Sedona International Film Festival screened over 140 feature documentaries, feature narrative films, documentary shorts and animated and narrative shorts over the course of nine days, with films like “Sons of Detroit,” Suzannah Herbert’s “Natchez,” Kahane Cooperman’s “Creede U.S.A.,” Alexander Hammer’s “Room to Move,” David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin’s “Mr Nobody Against Putin” and Norbert Lechner’s “The Secret Floor [Das geheime Stockwerk].”

SIFF’s “day job” is bringing to local audiences over the other 356 days of the year in their Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill-Sheldon theaters.

“Our goal is to expand culture in Sedona and Northern Arizona by offering the opportunity for people to see award-winning films from around the world,” SIFF’s mission statement reads.

“We were all bedazzled by the enthusiasm,” “Sons of Detroit” filmmaker Jeremy Xido, told Variety about his experience at this year’s SIFF. “Sedona wasn’t on our radar at the time, but their unwavering certainty moved us. We have spoken with friends and colleagues about SIFF, and across the board, they say it’s one of their favorite festivals in the country. So here we are. And we could not be happier.”

“This year, we had over 1,700 film submissions and nearly 500 screenplay competition entries,” SIFF Executive Director Patrick Schweiss said in the same article. “From the first, two-day Sedona International Film Festival over 30 years ago, that kind of growth makes us all so proud, and it’s all thanks to the filmmakers and the stories they tell. We’ve always put filmmakers first, and the results, year over year, make SIFF a really special event for everyone involved.”

The 33rd Sedona International Film Festival runs from Saturday through Saturday, Feb. 20 to 28, 2027. See filmmaker interviews, recaps and more on SIFF’s official YouTube channel. Visit sedonafilmfestival.com for more information.