SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL
February 21–23, 2025

WHAT YOU’LL SEE: The state’s longest-running film festival showcases 90 narrative features, documentaries, and shorts programs—about a quarter of which are made in New Mexico—as well as panel discussions, receptions, after-parties, an awards ceremony, and celebrity appearances. DON’T MISS: The New Mexico Film and Television Hall of Fame honors New Mexicans who contribute to the state’s growing film industry. “We provide a variety of venues to network and welcome our filmmakers, 90 percent of whom attended in person in 2024,” says board member Susan Rivera.

Run entirely by students, the Las Cruces International Film Festival features 100 diverse films, industry workshops, and celebrity guests. Photograph courtesy of Las Cruces International Film Festival.

LAS CRUCES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
April 9–13, 2025

WHAT YOU’LL SEE: One hundred narrative features, documentaries, and shorts from 40 countries, at least 20 from New Mexico, as well as industry workshops and filmmaker panels. Past celebrity guests include Danny Trejo, Pam Grier, and Brendan Fraser. DON’T MISS: New Mexico State University students run every aspect of the festival, including projecting films, moderating Q&As, and hosting networking sessions. “It’s a classroom as well as a film festival,” says Ross Kagan Marks, the filmmaker and associate professor who founded the festival in 2014. “The students’ enthusiasm is very attractive.”

Albuquerque Film Office’s Cyndy McCrossen and Experiments in Cinema director Bryan Konefsky. Photograph courtesy of Experiments in Cinema.

EXPERIMENTS IN CINEMA
April 16–20, 2025

WHAT YOU’LL SEE: The Albuquerque-based festival offers 100 experimental films, mostly shorts, from around the world, with 10 from New Mexico. Selections include hand-painted visual diaries, abstract travelogues, and silent films with live musical accompaniment. DON’T MISS: A workshop with influential Tokyo filmmaker Makino Takashi, online screenings, and the annual youth program. “We’re a niche festival,” says founder and director Bryan Konefsky. “Some people think bigger is better, but that’s not always true.”

Discover the spirit of the West at the Tucumcari Film Festival, showcasing international features and shorts, with a spotlight on global Westerns. Photograph courtesy of Film Tucumcari.

TUCUMCARI FILM FESTIVAL
April 2025

WHAT YOU’LL SEE: Tucumcari, site of a train’s unscheduled stop in the opening scene of For a Few Dollars More (1965), hosts this fest, featuring 13 international features and shorts—mostly Westerns and science fiction—from professional and amateur filmmakers, with a handful from New Mexico. DON’T MISS: Westerns from around the world. “Westerns touch other genres, and many genres fit under the Western tent,” says executive director Robert F. Hockaday.

SANTA FE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
October 2025

WHAT YOU’LL SEE: Founded in 2009, the City Different festival continues to grow, delivering more than 50 independent feature films and 100 short films in juried competition, a New Mexico short-film program, a student showcase from the Institute of American Indian Arts, and panels, parties, and networking events. DON’T MISS: Pre-theatrical presentations of major movies like Marriage Story (2019), Women Talking (2022), and Anatomy of a Fall (2023). “Our programming isn’t available elsewhere regionally unless you go to Telluride,” says festival director Stephanie Love-Riner. “We’re the biggest film festival in the state and an unforgettable experience.”

WAY OUT WEST FILM FEST
October 2025

WHAT YOU’LL SEE: An Albuquerque-based celebration of LGBTQIA+ arts and creativity, it shows more than 70 feature films, documentaries, animated shorts, and experimental films with LGBTQIA+ themes from more than 15 countries, with a couple from New Mexico. DON’T MISS: “Twenty years into doing this festival, people come from all over because there’s nothing else like it in the region,” says festival director Roberto Appicciafoco. “In the end, it’s about watching your lives represented on screen.”