This Albuquerque festival shows that experience is the best teacher

September 20 — It’s rare for a film or music festival to go beyond post-screening Q&As, offer one-on-ones with industry experts, or focus on industry education as much as the performances and screenings.

That’s what sets the annual Albuquerque Film + Music Experience (known as AFMX) apart from similar events across the country — AFMX combines film, music, networking, and education in the vein of South by Southwest in Austin, but with a distinct, intimate New Mexico feel.

This year’s AFMX, which opens Wednesday, Sept. 25, and runs through Sept. 29 in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill neighborhood, will be no different, says Kira Sipler, AFMX executive director, writer, assistant director, director and producer.

“(AFMX) started in 2012, and (founder) Ivan Wiener was the executive director,” Sipler says. “Robert Redford and his wife Sibylle (Szaggars-Redford) encouraged him to bring part of the Sundance Film Festival to New Mexico. And from there, Ivan turned it into the Albuquerque Film and Media Experience in Nob Hill. Then it became music, because he wanted to focus on both music and film in New Mexico.”

Sipler adds that the goal wasn’t to compete with Sundance or SXSW. “We wanted it to be more intimate, more of an experience for people, where you can sit down and talk to musicians, even play with musicians, and where we can bring in celebrities and talk to them,” he says. “It’s like bringing a little bit of Hollywood to Albuquerque and using that sense of community in Albuquerque to make connections. That’s why it’s called an ‘experience’ and not a ‘festival,’ because we like to really instill and embrace all aspects of the community—the creative community—to open doors and make connections.”

Sipler says AFMX is trying to make networking as accessible as possible for ticketed attendees. “It’s hard to talk to other people. So if we can make it easier for people (to talk to each other), we’ll do that.”

details

Albuquerque Film and Music Experience (AFMX)

* Opening on Wednesday, September 25 and will last until September 29

* Festival pass $125; one-day pass $50

* Several locations in Nob Hill, Albuquerque

* 505-265-7866; afmxnm.com

For example, a speed-networking event for media creators will take place Wednesday, September 25, in a small side room at M’Tucci’s Bar Roma. “We specifically choose smaller spaces so that people don’t get lost and are kind of forced to talk to each other,” Sipler says. “We look at it from an introverted perspective.”

Education is also key to AFMX. This year, attendees can listen to six talks on center stage at the Lobo Theater, one of AFMX’s two main venues.

Those interested in the combination of music and cinema will be able to take part in a conversation on Wednesday, September 25 with Marcello de Francisci, composer and producer of music for films such as Jane Got a Gun (2015) and Ferrari (2023).

On Thursday, September 26, producer rep and Guerrilla Rep Media founder Ben Yennie will debunk the myth of film distribution—a problem that many new and seasoned filmmakers struggle with but depend on because distribution is what allows filmmakers to get their work out to audiences.

Established and aspiring actors can learn more about their craft and the intricacies of their profession from actor Patrick Fabian, who plays attorney Howard Hamlin in Better Call Saul, who will lead a discussion on September 28.

When it comes to the art of pitching—the bane of most creative existences—AFMX is presenting two panels: one on September 27 with writer/producer Christopher Lockhart, and the other on September 29 in a session at the Lobo Theater titled “Perfecting Your Pitch Panel.”

This year’s Perfecting Your Pitch Panel — an educational event, not one where panelists must accept or reject pitches — will feature four people: Yennie and Lockhart, as well as Karen Criswell, executive producer at Koncept Films and former executive vice president of operations at DreamWorks Studios, and Matt McDuffie, a writer who has written for HBO, Showtime, ABC, CBS, Fox, Lifetime, USA and Warner Bros.

Four panelists will hear mock pitches from producers and writers whose pitches were pre-selected by AFMX and who have undergone training sessions and will provide feedback.

The two main film screening venues are the Lobo Theater and the Guild Cinema, both on Central Avenue and a few blocks from each other. Each venue will host a variety of short films, divided into the following categories: fiction, animation, music videos, documentaries, student films, horror, Native/Indigenous films, and New Mexico shorts, for a total of about 60 films.

A dozen feature films will also be divided by genre: narrative, documentary, and Native/Indigenous. Several documentaries have musical themes, such as director Cullen Blanchfield’s Sharing Breath Has No Label (2024), which follows the Credo Community Choir, a Dallas-based band whose mission is to encourage acceptance through the power of music; and Michael Treen’s The Session Man (2023), a documentary that tells the story of Nicky Hopkins (1944-1994), an underrated session pianist who played with The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, and The Who.

Another film at AFMX this year is Ian Ebright’s The Way We Speak (2023) starring Fabian; it tells the story of an aspiring writer who will do anything to stay in the spotlight.

Nob Hill Public House will host the majority of AFMX’s musical acts, followed by Tractor Brewery and The Smoky Note, all within walking distance in Nob Hill. Musical guests will also have the opportunity to interact with the festival crowd.