The fifth annual Taos Shortz Film Festival cuts loose March 1 through 4 in Northern New Mexico. This year’s four-day fest features more than 70 short films from around the globe. There will be panel discussions, networking parties and more than 120 visiting filmmakers. The filmmakers come courtesy of the 48 Hour Film Project International Filmapalooza, which is running concurrently with this year’s Taos Shortz. Screenings take place at the Taos Center for the Arts. Panel discussions (which are free and open to the public) are at the TurnStyle Gallery. It all kicks off on Thursday afternoon with a collection of local shorts straight out of Taos County. Things wrap up on Sunday with the 48 Hour awards ceremony at 3:30 p.m. and the Taos Shortz awards at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for each block or $80 for the full festival “Taos Hmmmm” pass.
Reel World: Women In Cinema Women In Cinema
Every Thursday in March, the Bank of America Theater inside the National Hispanic Cultural Center (1701 Fourth Street SW) will present a series titled “Feminine Space Documentaries.” On March 1, it starts with a film about ritual female dancers in India called Dance in Freedom: The Last Devadasis . On March 8, director Olga Latorre will present her debut film Ellas Cuentan (They Count) about the reality endured by women of African descent living in the peninsula of Itapagipe in Brazil. A roundtable discussion about women and film is scheduled to follow. On March 15, it’s Tapologo , about a career-training hospice in a South African squatter settlement. The series wraps up on March 22 with Princess of Africa , which traces the melding of worlds between Senegalese and Spanish dancers. All films start at 7 p.m. and are free to the public. Go to nhccnm.org for more info.
Reel World: Eco Docs Eco Docs
The People Before Profit film series has returned to UNM’s Student Union Building theater for a third semester. The films—a collection of socially and environmentally conscious documentaries covering a range of topics—will screen every Monday at 7 p.m. This Monday, March 5, the series will feature Bitter Seeds . The film explores the future of farming, including the use of genetically modified crops to feed the world’s rapidly expanding population. Throughout the spring, P.B.P. will present a number of thought-provoking docs including Moolaadé and The World According to Monsanto— all of which are free to the public. If you want to keep up-to-date on future screenings, join the People Before Profit Film Series group on Facebook.
