EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) -- The Las Cruces International Film Festival is reaching a major milestone this year. It returns for its 10th year, and it is bigger and better than ever, said film festival founder and executive director Ross Marks. This year's film festival will run from Wednesday, Apr il 9 through Sunday, April 13. All film screenings will be at the Allen Theatres Cineport 10 at the Mesilla Valley Mall, 700 S. Telshor Blvd. Other film festival-related events will be held at New Mexico State University and the Rio Grande Theatre in Downtown Las Cruces. Ross Marks, founder and executive director of the Las Cruces International Film Festival. Photo courtesy of NMSU "It is rewarding to see how much it has grown," said Marks, himself a film director and independent filmmaker with credits such as "Walking with Herb" and "Twilight of the Golds." "The first year, we brought in one guest, Danny Trejo," Marks said. "In our 10th year, we are bringing in 26 guests. The first year, we had 60 films. This year, we have 164 from 40 different countries. The first year, we had about 1,500 people (in attendance). This year, we are expecting attendance of somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000." This year, the festival will be headlined by Emmy and Academy Award-winner Helen Hunt. Hunt will be honored with the festival's Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Award. Hunt won an Oscar for best actress for her role in "As Good As It Gets" and won four Emmys for her role as Jamie Buchman in the television series "Mad About You." Academy Award-winner Helen Hunt will serve as the face of the Las Cruces International Film Festival this year. Photo courtesy of NMSU She will give a free talk at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 10 at the Mark Medoff Theater at the ASNMSU Center for the Arts, 1000 University Ave. This event is open to the public. "Helen (Hunt) is the most accomplished person we have ever had -- she has four Emmys and an Academy Award," Marks said. "She is most certainly the most decorated actress we have ever brought in." Michelle Hurd, who starred in "Star Trek: Picard" and in "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," will also be one of the headlining celebrities. Hurd will receive the festival's Outstanding Achievement in Drama Award. She will also headline a panel on "Star Trek" at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12 at the Rio Grande Theatre, 211 N. Main St. That panel discussion is also free and open to the public. Actress Michelle Hurd, of "Star Trek" and "Law and Order: SVU" fame. Photo courtesy of NMSU The "Star Trek" panel will also feature actor Wilson Cruz and three or four writers and directors from different "Star Trek" series, Marks said. "We are giving back to the community in more ways than ever by offering these free events," Marks said. Opening night on Wednesday, April 9 will feature four showings of "Brewmance" which was filmed in New Mexico. On Thursday, April 10, Hunt will have a question-and-answer session before four showings of "As Good As It Gets." Having multiple showings of these two films is a way to make sure that everyone who wants to can enjoy these offerings, Marks said. This year's poster for the Las Cruces International Film Festival. Photo courtesy of NMSU "One thing we have learned over the years was which films will be super popular and to try to accomodate the audience as much as possible," Marks said. Other highlights include: A casting panel at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 12 at the Rio Grande Theatre. The awards show at 7 p.m. April 12, also at the Rio Grande Theatre. Marks, an associate professor at NMSU, said the film festival has a two-fold purpose. It serves as a "world-class" showcase for independent filmmaking, but it is also a hands-on learning experience for students at the university. Marks teaches two classes on the film festival each year. During the one in the fall, students program the festival. They make decisions on what films get in and recruit films and filmmakers to participate in the festival. During the spring, students in his class actually run the festival, doing "everything from marketing, to driving our celebrity guests around, to selling tickets at the theater, to projecting movies to doing the VIP parties, and doing a Q and A with the filmmakers," he said. "It's as much a classroom as it is a film festival," he said. The Las Cruces International Film Festival is now the largest film festival in the country that is run by a university, he said. "We have more films, more panels and workshops (this year)," Marks said. "We are really focused on educating people to work in the film festival." Panels will include doing stunts safely, screenwriting, independent filmmaking and navigating Hollywood and casting and acting. Marks also said that another important focus of the festival is to provide a home for independent films and independent filmmakers. "I'm an independent filmmaker myself," Marks said, having won the best director award at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995 and 1997. "Sundance, in the 1990s, was this incredible home and celebration of independent filmmakers," Marks said. "It is no longer that. That was the other reason I created the Las Cruces International Film Festival -- to create a home for independent filmmakers." Tickets range from $15 to $200 and include VIP passes ($200), all access-passes ($100), day passes ($35) and admission to celebrity screenings ($35). You can learn more by clicking here.  ...read more read less