The third annual Taos Shortz Film Festival takes place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 5 through 7, at the Best Western Kachina Lodge up in Taos. There are five separate short film blocks screening Friday and Saturday. The weekend gets topped off by an awards ceremony on Sunday. More than 50 short films from New Mexico and beyond will be featured. There’s no overriding theme to the shorts blocks, but they are helpfully separated into ones reserved for mature audiences, ones in which parental guidance is suggested and ones to which kids of all ages are welcome. Individual tickets and all-event passes are available through the festival’s website at taosshortz.com.
Reel World: A Nightmare In Las Cruces A Nightmare In Las Cruces
It’s hard to tell how much of an impression Charlie Minn has had on New Mexico. His run as a sportscaster on KRQE back in 1992 was a brief one. It’s far easier to calculate how much of an impression New Mexico has had on Mr. Minn, however. For years, Minn admits he’s been “haunted” by a brutal 1990 massacre that took place at a Las Cruces bowling alley. Seven people were shot, including four children, during an alleged “robbery in progress.” Three of them died at the scene, one more passed away at the hospital. The crime has never been solved. Last summer, Minn decided to turn filmmaker, returning to New Mexico to compose a documentary about the crime he’s had stuck in his head for the last 20 years. Filming began in July on A Nightmare in Las Cruces . The finished film premieres this Tuesday, Feb. 10, in Las Cruces (at Cineport 10) and Albuquerque (at Guild Cinema). The director will attend screenings in Cruces on Wednesday and Albuquerque on Thursday. Minn calls it “a small miracle” that the film was able to come together so quickly. Minn interviewed police, eyewitnesses, family members and survivors for his film, which also features an emotional re-creation of the crime, courtesy of one victim’s vivid 911 call. The first-time filmmaker is hoping his film generates some tips. “I want this crime to be solved,” says Minn. “Somebody out there knows something.” Log on to bowlingmassacre.com for more info on the film and its screenings.
