On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the 12th annual Albuquerque Film & Music Experience began across several venues in Nob Hill, including the Guild Cinema and the Historic Lobo Theater.
According to the festival’s mission statement, AFMX brings together award-winning and up-and-coming filmmakers and musicians. The event ended on Sunday, Sept. 29.
It provides “a platform for education, collaboration, discovery and the sharing of impactful stories,” its mission statement reads.
Festival-goers had three different options for which type of pass they obtained: a full festival pass, a day pass for any of the five days or tickets to individual screenings and events.
The short films screened during AFMX were grouped together in “blocks.” Categories included “Narrative Shorts,” “Animation/Music Video,” “Student Films” and “Indigenous Films.”
There were also several feature-length films in the AFMX lineup. Narrative films included “The Strangers’ Case” by Brandt Andersen and “Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox” by Stimson Snead, as well as documentaries like “The Opener” by Jeff Toye and “Goddess of Slide” by Alfonso Maiorana.
Many of the films screened prominently featured music and musicians in their storylines, bridging the dual focuses of the festival.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, the Guild Cinema presented six narrative shorts. The screening opened with “Two Roads,” directed by Michael Trevino, which showed a man caught between two different career paths — music and accounting.
Four more films followed before the day’s concluding piece, P. Patrick Hogan’s “Shatter the Glass,” which portrayed a young girl who turns to music to cope with cyberbullying.
One of several AFMX concerts was held on Friday, Sept. 27 at the Nob Hill Stage at Public House ABQ and featured the band Los 33 ABQ. Nob Hill Stage owner Edgar Wonder is its frontman.
Wonder described the band as an “Albuquerque cultural experience.”
Los 33 ABQ took the stage that evening, performing a mixture of original songs and covers. Wonder said the band was not initially slated to perform that evening, but the original band was unable to make it.
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“I have a band that’s just ready to rock, so I said, ‘You know what? If those guys don’t show up, we’ll be there.’ And sure enough, they didn’t show up, so here we are,” Wonder said.
As first-time AFMX performers, Wonder said the festival organizers were easy to work and communicate with.
“We’re more than happy to do this again, and I’d love to see it grow,” Wonder said.
Festival board member Stephanie Becker said AFMX is vital to connect both university and secondary students to it.
“There are many great panels that introduce students to the intricacies of the film industry,” Becker said.
But the music component of the festival, Becker said, is what sets it apart.
Due to the wide variety of events that AFMX puts on, participants are able to exchange ideas and experiences with other artists, she said.
“They say our city and festival is inviting, collegial and incredibly productive for their work,” Becker said.
Elijah Ritch is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. They can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
