The New Mexico Film Office Announces Winners of the 2017 NM Filmmakers Showcase

Santa Fe, N.M. – New Mexico State Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced the winners of the 2017 New Mexico Filmmakers Showcase which took place November 4 & 5, 2017 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. The following winners were announced in seven (7) categories.

Comedy Category: Georgia O’Keefe and Me – dir. Robert Belinoff, Corrales
Chaos and order compete as a married man falls for an artist ingénue. Art prevails.

Documentary Category: Una Nueva Tierra (A New Land) – dir. Jesse Fisher and Jackie Munro, Santa Fe
Una Nueva Tierra (A New Land) traces the struggles of three families living without access to water or electricity on the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Drama Category: Doc – dir. Dave Witt, Las Cruces
Liz ‘Doc’ Roberts is a homeless former Army combat medic struggling with memories from her deployment to Iraq. Through the help of her psychiatrist, fellow Veteran, and dog, Liz, takes her first steps towards recovery.

Horror Category: Family Tradition – dir. Robert Posey and Justin Holtzen, Albuquerque
Bekah finds a terrible family secret locked in the shed outside. Her father and his father before him have been torturing a vampire for decades, now it is Bekahs turn to carry on the family tradition. But everything goes wrong when the vampire gets loose and seeks revenge.

Music Video Category: The Hard Road Trio- Whiskey in a Glass – dir. Orlando Martos, Las Cruces
The Hard Road Trio, a bluegrass/folk band performs the song ‘Whiskey in a Glass’. The song and video tells a tale two former lovers who, when running into each other at an underground high stakes poker game, evokes memories of their former relationship.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy Category: Above Home for Christmas – dir. Justin Golightly, Albuquerque
Alone on a space station for Christmas, an astronaut brings the holiday spirit to the darkness of space.

Student Category: Strange Love – dir. Mikel Cruz, Albuquerque
Follows a lonely-hearted Celia and her journey to mend her broken heart after the unexplained loss of her husband. This is a love story…but something strange and twisted lies beneath the surface. This is STRANGE LOVE.

Wild Card Category: Great Eggs – dir. Sam Roberts, Albuquerque
A naive young man notoriously bad at cooking gets more than he bargained for on a quest to find his stolen car.

“We commend the local filmmakers who worked hard on these projects,” said Nick Maniatis, Director of the New Mexico State Film Office. “The quality of all the submissions and winning films is a great example of the high level of talent we have across New Mexico.”