A program of local short films selected for this year's Santa Fe International Film Festival!

New Mexico Shorts (5pm)

Buff directed by Christopher Gessner

After being released from jail for climate activism, a woman encounters an abused rodeo Buffalo for which she will trek the American Southwest in an attempt to free it and herself in BUFF.  (15 minutes)

Cannibal Oasis directed by Donny Kelley-Currens

CANNIBAL OASIS shows the bizarre life cycle of the New Mexico spadefoot toad, a creature with one of the most dramatic and violent starts to life of any animal. They must rapidly transform from egg to land-dwelling frog before the puddle they were born in evaporates in only two weeks.  (8 minutes)

Dancers at the Crossroads directed by Casiano Andrés Salazar

DANCERS AT THE CROSSROADS is the story of dance in New Mexico, one of survival after centuries of brutal Spanish and American colonization. It takes an intimate look at dancers from the Rio Grande region who share their generational traditions of Indigenous Hoop Dance, Flamenco, Folklórico, and Breaking.  (26 minutes)

La Carne Asada directed by Aldo Morales

Tensions rise at a family cookout in LA CARNE ASADA. Tony, the family loudmouth, tries to cheer up his heartbroken nephew, Danny. Mari tries to gain her mother-in-law’s respect. Sarah makes her way with her white boyfriend, Brian, to meet the family, setting the stage for a memorable cookout.  (22 minutes)

The Bookstore directed by Mykel Salazar

Ten-year-old Leo spends his afternoons in a neighborhood bookstore run by his mother, Maria, a trusted pillar of their community. When Maria is taken by masked federal agents, Leo is left to confront a reality that contradicts everything he’s been taught about fairness, safety, and the law in THE BOOKSTORE.  (11 minutes)

In Between directed by Brent Morris

In IN BETWEEN, a young boy leads his mother on a journey to a home where he believes he lived a previous life. His arrival unearths deep-seated emotions in the family of a daughter missing the past seven years.  (16 minutes)

New Mexico Shorts After Dark. (7:30pm)

Valentina's Tax directed by Fox Maxy

An aspiring finance-bro assumes he’s in control when a woman walks into his bar, but her presence is no accident; it’s a calculated move to collect a debt in VALENTINA'S TAX.  (6 minutes)

Amygdala directed by William Frankenstein

When Zoe is attacked by a mysterious woman and begins to experience strange visions, she has only minutes to get help or else uncover the mystery behind the madness that surrounds her in AMYGDALA.  (10 minutes)

Frontera directed by Jack Evans

FRONTERA follows a boy fleeing a tragedy in the US who crosses south into post-revolutionary 1923 Sonora, Mexico, taking refuge with a healer woman who prepares for the spiritual chaos of a solar eclipse. As he fumbles to outlast his grief, she readies herself to meet the total darkness.  (17 minutes)

Meathead directed by Lex Lotito, Julia Storch

The titular MEATHEAD is expecting a few easy bucks from a boring house-sitting job. If only they’d read the house rules! This darkly comedic horror short satirizes youthful apathy and the soul-sucking jobs we take just to survive.  (6 minutes)

Last Ditch directed by P. Antonio Márquez

Near the end of the 1847 Taos Revolt, two rogues hiding in an irrigation ditch must choose between freedom and risking their lives one last time to save a child from a brutal U.S. army scout.  (13 minutes)

Red Razor On Soft Skin directed by Luca Silver

RED RAZOR ON SOFT SKIN is a giallo horror short film about a timid son forced by his mother to get a shave and a haircut from a mysterious barber. From writer-director-editor Luca Silver comes a Technicolor nightmare of love, hate, betrayal, and self-destruction, hand-crafted by Dust Wave Collective in Albuquerque, NM.  (14 minutes)

We Didn't Know Why directed by Evan Henderson

Two women, speeding down a lone desert highway, confront death, birth, and rebirth in WE DIDN'T KNOW WHY.  (7 minutes)

Shroomery directed by Dane A Benko

When Lacey's boyfriend, Miles, buys the wrong type of 'shrooms' in the hopes of reviving their ailing relationship, the two must team up to fight off a growth of malicious mushrooms that have overtaken their refrigerator in SHROOMERY.  (14 minutes)