This Thursday, Aug. 10, will see the launch of the inaugural Taos Pride Film Festival. Starting at 6:30pm at the Taos Community Auditorium (145 Paseo del Pueblo Norte), you can catch 14 international LGBT+ short films. Tickets are a mere $6. Events, including a drag show and a pride parade, continue throughout the weekend. For more info go to taospride.org.
Reel World: Life In Film Life In Film
Local Albuquerque filmmaker Aaron Hendren (The Faithful and the Foul, Flicker, Psycho Bettys from Planet Pussycat) will premiere his newest film Pulling Push Doors at the Guild Cinema (3405 Central NE) this Saturday, Aug. 12, at 10:30pm. The surreal comedy tells the story of a woman named Bubblegum Teddybear (Katy Houska) who moves to Albuquerque after the death of her parents. Bubblegum is aware that her life is a cheap, black-and-white movie and spends her time living in a ghost world, rejecting the love around her in hopes that her movie won’t have a tragic ending. You can check out the trailer at eggmurders.com. In addition to Hendren, the film features local actors Jason Witter, Serouj Bingham, Laura J. Hosek, Katie Farmin, Drew Morrison and Joanna Furgal. Hendren and much of his cast and crew will be on hand for the screening. Tickets are $8 at the Guild box office.
Reel World: Return Of The Native Return Of The Native
In conjunction with this year’s Santa Fe Indian Market, the Smithsonian’s annual Native Cinema Showcase will run Tuesday, Aug. 15, through Sunday, Aug. 20, at the New Mexico History Museum (113 Lincoln, Santa Fe). This nearly week-long festival highlights the varied contributions of Native films and filmmakers by showcasing more than a dozen features, documentaries and shorts collections. It starts on Tuesday at 7pm with the opening night film, Valerie Red-Horse Mohl’s Mankiller. This documentary, produced by Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens, “The Walking Dead”), celebrates the life of Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to be elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Thursday night at 7pm, the museum collaborates with Sundance Institute and PBS Distribution to screen Dolores, an insightful documentary about workers’ rights icon Dolores Huerta. Saturday at 8pm there will be a special outdoor screening of Disney’s Pacific Island animated musical Moana at the Santa Fe Railyard Park. The showcase closes out on Sunday with Sam Wainwright Douglas’ doc Through the Repellent Fence: A Land Art Film, which follows the art collective Postcommodity as they work to construct Repellent Fence, a two-mile outdoor artwork that straddles the US-Mexico border. All screenings are free and open to the public. For a complete schedule of films and times, go to swaia.org.
Reel World: Back In Pink Back In Pink
Author Kevin Smokler—touring the country with his book Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to ’80s Teen Movies and the Places They Happened—will be returning to Albuquerque’s Guild Cinema (3405 Central NE) on Wednesday, Aug. 16, for a special screening of John Hughes’ 1986 classic Pretty In Pink. Not only will Smokler be talking about the film as it fits in to the writer-director’s cinematic universe, but Hughes’ son James Hughes will also be there to discuss his father’s legacy. Smokler and Hughes will be speaking at the 6pm and 8:30pm screenings. You can reserve tickets ($8), in advance, by going to brownpapertickets.com.
