On Saturday, Aug. 10, the Guild Cinema hosted the third annual Albu-crazy Film Fest Fundraiser, a charity film festival to raise funds for local film. The New Mexico Film Foundation and the OffSet Web Series jointly presented the festival and charity auction. Tickets were $5, and raffle tickets for various prizes were an additional dollar.
The OffSet was originally founded in 2017 by “G.I.” — “Good Intentions” — aka Joe Lonesome as a way to highlight local talent and allow newer filmmakers a chance to explore the film industry and make art and connections in a friendly, low-stakes environment.
“I developed a low-barrier-to-entry, open-platform film program for people to get involved and for people to be able to start a career in film or be able to continue their own career and try something new. It gave a lot of people new and fresh opportunities to express themselves. They can be plugged into our program,” Lonesome said.
The OffSet primarily makes short comedic mockumentaries about the lives of pop culture characters when they aren’t starring in their movies, hence the name “OffSet.”
The Albu-crazy Film Fest featured several OffSet shorts, including films depicting the personal lives of Deadpool, Rapunzel and Neo from “The Matrix.”
“Leave this Town” by Fool’s Gravity, which won Best Ensemble at this year’s 48-Hour Film Project festival, also played at the Albu-crazy festival. Other films showcased included “Angelito,” a film about the horrors of youth gun violence; “Not Yet,” a film about spirituality and depression; and “Peeling Sad,” a short comedy film about melancholy, heartbreak and onions.
Lonesome’s favorite things about film are the team work involved and the longevity of the project, he said.
“It’s a labor of love that has the opportunity to outlive myself or anyone who’s involved. That’s a real magical part about it, and that’s kind of what I grew up liking about videos and capturing things,” Lonesome said.
Before the OffSet procured a sponsorship from the New Mexico Film Foundation, Lonesome said he funded the project with the money gained from driving over 300 Ubers.
Lonesome described what he thinks makes New Mexico film uniquely valuable.
“Number one, we’re not sick of people yet. If you go to New York, if you go to (Los Angeles), even if you go to Atlanta, film is out there. It’s huge. California is film Mecca, but everyone out there is so sick of people because there are too many people and there’s no time to relax. No one has time to connect genuinely with heart,” Lonesome said.
He feels that the more close-knit film community in New Mexico is important for smaller filmmakers finding financial and emotional support, he said.
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“People care about your project in a real way — in a way you can really build a family around it. That’s what I love about it,” Lonesome said.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
