The Alfonso Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies at UNM and the Society for Applied Anthropology are presenting “Films of New Mexico and the Southwest” at the Hotel Albuquerque Weavers Room (800 Rio Grande NW) this Thursday, March 20, from 5:30 to 7:30pm. The selections will include “Frontera! Revolt and Revolution on the Upper Rio Grande,” a 19-minute “documentary animation” about the “seminal events and colonial entradas that have shaped the deeply contested territories of the US-Mexico Borderlands.” The film is a collaboration between Chicano and Native artists in New Mexico and California. It will be followed by the 61-minute film Return of the Horse, a cultural and environmental documentary focusing on “the horse’s impact on the European conquest of the Americas, European settlement and Native American culture.” A Q&A with filmmakers will follow the screenings. This event is free and open to the public.
Reel World: Short Time Only Short Time Only
The Taos Shortz Film Festival returns this weekend with 111 films from 22 countries. It’s a veritable international feast of short-form storytelling. Taos Shortz runs from Thursday, March 20, through Sunday, March 23, at the Taos Community Auditorium (133 Paseo del Pueblo Norte). The films are grouped in a wide variety of programs—from Global Shortz to Family Friendly to something called “Freak Fest.” Tickets range from $5 to $15 per person and are available online through brownpapertickets.com. You can also purchase a full-festival pass for $111, which gets you into all four days’ worth of screenings, plus parties, the filmmakers lounge and various other drink specials and discounts throughout Taos. For a complete list of films and times, go to taosshortz.com.
Reel World: Imprisoned Parents Imprisoned Parents
Public Television’s Community Cinema at the KiMo returns on Wednesday, March 26, with the documentary Invisible Children. This “New Mexico in Focus” special examines the invisible victims of our country’s prison system, the children of incarcerated parents. After the screening journalist Gene Grant will interview a panel of policy makers and experts about what the state can do the help these children. Doors open at 6:30, the film starts at 7pm. Admission is free. The KiMo Theatre is located at 423 Central NW. Go to kimotickets.com for more info.
Reel World: Fund This! Fund This!
The mission of the New Mexico Film Foundation is to “help grow the independent film industry in New Mexico while offering financial support and educational opportunities to New Mexico independent filmmakers.” To those ends the foundation has just created a crowdfunding database. New Mexico media makers with a project on Kickstarter or Indiegogo are encouraged to submit their information to the NM Film Foundation website. There, interested parties can browse what shorts/features/documentaries/etc. are being made here in New Mexico and hopefully contribute a few spare bucks to some of these local projects. Crowdfunding is a valuable tool for today’s independent filmmakers—but when tens of thousands of filmmakers are competing for the same resources on the same websites, it’s often next to impossible to stand out from the herd. NM Film Foundation’s handy new database (nmfilmfoundation.org/crowdfunding) makes a great one-stop shop for wannabe filmmakers and would-be producers. Support your local filmmakers.
