Author: Sedona Best

By Amaya Gayle GregoryEverything is real. Nothing is real. What the heck does that mean anyway? I’ve written those words before with what seemed deep understanding … and thought them appropriate. I may have been off track, short-sighted, oh call it what it is – wrong. 😉 Those two sentences insinuate separation into the storyline, albeit quite slyly, and may be the best way to point to something important, but I question that now. There’s gotta be a better way. I just haven’t found it yet. Everything is real assumes an everything. Nothing is real assumes a nothing … an…

… I have never tired of shooting the San Francisco Volcanic field from every direction and in all conditions and all seasons, hundreds of hours in the air shooting them … I love it up there and it tells the tale of millions of years in a single photograph. In this photo I am about level with the eastern most ridgeline of Kendrick Peak at an altitude of 10,179 feet; the peak of Kendrick is the pyramid formation left of center and it is 10,425 feet. Coming down the right side of Kendrick and about 20 miles to the west…

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Official Competition” showing July 15-20 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas star as two egomaniacs commissioned by a billionaire to make a movie together in “Official Competition” — a sharp comedy skewering wealth, art, and pride. When a billionaire entrepreneur impulsively decides to create an iconic movie, he demands the best. Renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz) is recruited to mastermind this ambitious endeavor. Completing the all-star team are two actors with enormous talent but even bigger egos: Hollywood heartthrob Félix…

… SW of Sedona there is a place called The Gap and that is the space between Black Mountain on the south and Casner Mountain on the north. Through this gap you have a physical and visual entry into Sycamore Canyon. The gap is located about halfway up Sycamore Canyon and you are looking at some of the most beautiful formations in the canyon through the gap. Above and about 30 or so miles behind Sycamore Canyon is Bill Williams Mountain on the horizon. Bill Williams Mountain was the first volcanic eruption in what is now known as the San…

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of the award-winning historical drama “Benediction” showing July 15-21 at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre. Legendary 20th Century English poet Siegfried Sassoon’s life-long quest for personal salvation, through his experiences with family, war, his writing, and destructive relationships, goes unresolved; never realizing it can only come from within. Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Terence Davies, “Benediction” explores the turbulent life of WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon (Jack Lowden). The writer and soldier was a complex man who survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and…

Music in the Stacks returns on Thursday, July 14th at 5:30 pm in Camp Verde Community Library’s Fireside Room. Music in the Stacks is a showcase of local and national musicians who entertain regularly in Northern Arizona. There are 3-5 different performers during the show, with a rotating variety each month. July’s concert features Eric Douglas, Reno McCormick, and Gioia. Eric Douglas is an Arizona singer/songwriter who combines contemporary folk, classic rock, and Texas country to tell stories of people finding their place in the world…for better or worse. Eric paints an American landscape, with songs from the Southwestern desert,…

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona one-day-only premiere of “Big Wave Guardians: First Responders of the Sea” on Thursday, July 14 at 4 and 7 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. “Big Wave Guardians” highlights dramatic stories of Hawaii’s big wave guardians — some of the world’s best athletes, first responders and surfers, who risk their lives in the world’s most dangerous waves while deploying innovative water safety techniques previously unimagined.Hawaii’s North Shore is the world’s most dangerous 7-mile stretch of beach. Massive swells, life-and-death rescues, and “the best job in the world”…

By Amaya Gayle GregoryI can be awake and actively involved in the manifestation. Yes, it is all unfolding in perfection, not because it’s right but because it must. Life mirrors the inner state. As above — so below. As within — so without. As long as collectively we run on fear, as long as we are enamored with the darkness — even when we see it as light — we will create from distortion and pain will be inflicted. Harm will occur. It is perfect; it couldn’t be any other way. Life unfolds as it must. Experiencing the pain and…

Sedona International Film Festival presents the Great Art on Screen series with the encore of “Botticelli: Florence and the Medici”. The event will show in Sedona on Tuesday, July 12, at 4 p.m. at the festival’s Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Great Art on Screen is a series of documentaries featuring an in-depth look at the most extraordinary and groundbreaking art masters of their time. Florence in the era of the powerhouse Italian statesman, politician and patron Lorenzo de’ Medici, was the heart of Renaissance art and culture. One artist, above all others, was able to evoke the lights and shadows…