Jack Fessenden: A Conversation About the New Feature, "Alfalfa" | DIFF 2026

AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION WITH WRITER/DIRECTOR JACK FESSENDEN ABOUT THE NEW INDEPENDENT FEATURE, "ALFALFA"

While Desertscape prides itself on the latest and greatest in independent film, this 4-day movie showcase is also all about the storytellers themselves. Join us for this intimate conversation with writer/director Jack Fessenden and producer Lu Robinson as they dish on their upcoming independent feature, ALFALFA. This intriguing slice of modern noir is slated to shoot in Southern Utah in the Fall of 2026. During this discussion, Fessenden and Robinson will share details on the film and talk about the magic of shooting on location in majestic areas like Southern Utah. And no doubt, they'll be recruiting local creatives and professionals to assist in bringing this project to fruition. This panel is also the perfect platform to ask questions and network as well. A must-attend for filmmakers and film enthusiasts alike. 

BIOS--

JACK FESSENDEN

(Writer, Director, Producer) Cited as one of “11 Great Indie Filmmakers 30 and Under You Need to Know” Indiewire, 2017), at age 17, Jack completed his first feature film, Stray Bullets, during his sophomore year in high school. It received a 12-city theatrical release through Screen Media Films, and is available to stream on major platforms. Starring James Le Gros and Kevin Corrigan, Stray Bullets was heralded by the Hollywood Reporter as a “strikingly impressive…blazingly confident debut” and by Slant Magazine as “[reducing] a stock scenario to its primal essence, informing genre blood sport with pulp transcendentalism.” His second feature, Foxhole (2021), “achieves an almost abstract beauty” (Josh Siegel, MoMA) and is the winner of the Woodstock Film Festival’s ‘Best Ultra Indie’ award, heralded as a “deft and accomplished piece of work” by the festival jury. It was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films with a theatrical run at the IFC Center in New York and the Laemmle Music Hall in L.A.

LU ROBINSON

(Producer) A New York City-based producer. Her latest feature, CRUMB CATCHER, was named one of the “Best Horror Films of 2024” by The Hollywood Reporter and acquired by Music Box Films. Past work includes Ramin Bahrani’s Oscar-shortlisted documentary IF DREAMS WERE LIGHTING (DocNYC) and his Sundance feature 2ND CHANCE.