For When You Wanna Confer
The New Mexico Film Office has announced that its annual Film & Media Conference will indeed return in 2025, this time on May 31. The event, “will feature panel discussions, vendor presentations, networking opportunities, and career development sessions to support filmmakers, crew, business owners, and industry professionals. Attendees will gain insights into workforce development, tax incentives, industry trends and film production business opportunities,” according to a release. And it all goes down in Albuquerque this May. For more info, click right here.
Gala—Gah!
That’s a Galaga joke, btw, but the point is that the Santa Fe International Film Festival’s upcoming Black & White Ball gala to benefit its grants program for emerging filmmakers is comin’ up in July. We tell you now, because it tends to sell out, and because the festival does a lot of good work in helping budding New Mexico filmmakers in picking up a few bucks to realize their vision. Single tickets start at $195 with a table for 10 running $1,795. We know that’s not doable for everyone, but movies are expensive to make and galas ain’t cheap. The fest itself later this year will still be plenty accessible, though, so don’t worry. Learn more about the ball by clicking right here.
A Little Longer
Speaking of SFIFF, the folks behind our state’s biggest film fest announced earlier this week that the 2025 iteration will expand to six days, which means it’ll run Oct. 15-Oct. 20 this year. Sweet!
Who Doesn’t Love Frybread?
If you somehow missed out on writer/director Billy Luther’s most excellent and New Mexico-made 2023 movie Frybread Face and Me, you’ll have a chance to catch a screening alongside a Q&A with Luther at the Jean Cocteau Cinema on Friday, April 18. We’re telling you a week-and-change earlier because we think it might sell out. A simple but poignant tale of Indigenous cousins who bond over the summer, Frybread Face and Me impressed SFR when it first dropped. “Frybread Face and Me comes packed with a quiet beauty for those who have the patience to let it unfold,” our review read.