AFMX 2025 Festival Selection List
This page provides a comprehensive alphabetical listing of all selected films featured at the AFMX 2025 Film Festival.
Festival Passes to experience this great lineup are now available! Click here to get your pass!
A Brief Silence
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Josiah Daniel Solis
Summary - An only son must contend with the return of his mother's cancer just weeks before leaving for college. As a First-Gen college student, he is willing to forego school to stay behind and care for his mother but she will not allow it. The film deals with the very real struggle that faces minority communities in regard to school aspirations and family responsibility.
A House To Share
Category - Animation
Director - Pascale Hecquet
Summary - After the departure of his children and the death of his wife, René-Claude lives alone in his large house. One day, he decides it's time to share it.
A Life In Rhythm: The Ray Conniff Story
Category - Documentary Feature
Director - Jonathan McHugh
Summary - A Life in Rhythm: The Ray Conniff Story chronicles the life and legacy of Ray Conniff. From his beginnings as a trombonist/arranger during the heyday of swing working with Bunny Berigan, Bob Crosby and Artie Shaw to his acclaim as the leader of his own orchestra and chorus topping the charts in the United States and Latin America, Grammy-winner Ray Conniff is among the few musicians to have had a successful career that spanned 65 years. He recorded over 100 studio albums, selling over 70 million copies, and created the “Ray Conniff Sound” by being the first to use voices to double as instruments on his recordings.
A Thousand Paper Cuts
Category - New Mexico Film
Director - Sam Quinn
Summary - After killing her husband, a suburban housewife’s emotional shock manifests through mundane household chores, troubling reflections on her marriage, and absurd sexual fantasies.
A Trapdoor
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Angela DiMarco, David S. Hogan
Summary - Francis comes home after 30 days of rehab for her sister's wedding rehearsal dinner. As the evening unravels, her past continues to haunt her. Francis must confront her demons, the pain of the past and the truth of her father's death.
Aloha Means I Love You
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Katy Dore
Summary - Clara and Bertie have been friends for nearly 60 years, but when Clara wants to add a new man into the mix, Bertie's devotion to her friend is tested.
An Old Friend
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Nuk Suwanchote
Summary - An imaginary friend (Jason Faunt) finds out his sole purpose is to bring happiness to his child, only to discover his child is a 90 year old man (Tom Skerritt) on his death bed.
Angelito
Category - New Mexico Film
Director - Brent Peterson
Summary - 12-year-old Angelito dreams of becoming a gang member like his older brother until a tragic accident forces him to grow up far too quickly.
Beethoven's Great Great Great Great Great Grandchild
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Daniel Maggio
Summary - The last living descendant of Beethoven tries to capitalize on their heritage, but they have no musical talent whatsoever.
Brain Break
Category - Animation
Director - Gretchen Kowalczyk
Summary - Brain Break is a film about an artists acceptance of failure. Sometimes we just can't make it work, and that's okay. Stepping away and living life is just as important as your craft, even if the only thing that comes out of it is a good day.
Breakups Suck
Category - Student Film
Director - Ben Arndt
Summary - Luca fears for his life when attempting to dump his girlfriend Ruby, who may or may not be a vampire.
Bucket List #47
Category - New Mexico Film
Director - Sheila A Warren
Summary - When a woman sets off on an orienteering race, as part of her life's bucket list, the experience morphs into a lesson in fear.
Chickflip
Category - Animation
Director - Lia Wollerman
Summary - A flightless bird discovers a new way to experience life to the fullest despite his limitations.
Cleaning's a Cakewalk
Category - Indigenous
Director - Ryan Begay
Summary - (Navajo Language Short) An imaginative and independent young boy, Albert, learns the value of hard work and finds his place in his community after having to clean the Chapter House which he finds out is no cake-walk in the park.
Composer Bot
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Oktay Deniz Ortabasi
Summary - As AI music apps flood the internet with millions of songs a composer codes his own app which clones his music sensibilities in an effort to compete in the ever-changing musical landscape.
Counterfeit
Category - Student Film
Director - Addison Ross Cendejas
Summary - A woman is given only five minutes to convince a young girl to testify against her trafficker.
Counting In
Category - Narrative Feature
Director - Griffin Davis
Summary - Counting In is a mockumentary exploring the life and current whereabouts of rock-n-roll’s mysterious legend Steve Staccato, the world’s greatest at counting to four before any song begins. This independent film, directed by Griffin Davis, is the comedy group Probably A Cult‘s debut feature.
Courage
Category - Indigenous
Director - Eric Michael Hernandez
Summary - A young Native American boy discovers strength and identity through the sacred art of Hoop Dance in this powerful story of cultural resilience and self-acceptance.
Creativity on Trial: The Music Copyright Dilemma
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Alexa Secrest, Dugan Bridges
Deliver Us From Devil
Category - International Narrative
Director - Andrea Casaseca
Summary - For days, Eloísa, a woman focused on her routines, has been troubled by unsettling dreams. Despite trying to ignore them, deep down she knows those visions are trying to reveal something to her.
Every Moment Of You
Category - International Narrative
Director - Guillermo Reyes Campos
Summary - Gilberto leaves his home on the last day of his father's life, wandering the city in search of places that were significant to him: his old house, the museum where he worked, and the lively city streets. This escape becomes a reconstruction of his father, a journey through memory, and a farewell.
Forward Is a Pace
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Robin Oroso
Summary - Forward Is a Pace is an inspiring look at the inaugural Every Woman's Marathon, a race for women, from the perspective of five participants. More than a running story, it’s a celebration of resilience, purpose, and the strength found in movement. From first-time runners to seasoned athletes, these women challenge outdated definitions of what it means to be a runner—proving that pace is personal, and progress is powerful.
Full Coverage
Category -New Mexico Film
Director - Kaaren Ochoa
Summary - Set in the 1940's New Mexico desert a couple has an in counter with an extraterrestrial.
Gibbous
Category - Student Film
Director - Ang Yi Benet
Summary - A mother gibbon tries to rescue her baby from a mysterious supernatural light that plagues the jungle during the night.
Go On
Category - New Mexico Film (Feature)
Director - Landon Ashworth
Summary - Two strangers on a remote mountain, scorched by forest fires, help each other process baggage from their previous lives on Earth.
Guardian Asshole
Category - Narrative Short
Director - The Neese Twins
Summary - Roy, a jaded Guardian Angel on celestial parole, drifts through life on Earth, wasting his divine powers on petty pranks and dodging his sacred duties. His only real companion? Breeda, a sharp-tongued demon kicked out of hell for being too soft, who delights in tempting him further off course. But when Roy stumbles upon a cosmic bombshell - the imminent apocalypse - his slacker existence is thrown into chaos. With eternity on the line, he and Breeda hatch an audacious plan: a high-stakes, otherworldly heist to clear his sentence and maybe, just maybe, cheat fate itself.
Gutter
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Jevon Edward Donaldson, Jordan Nicolas Donaldson
Summary - Tyler Thompson, haunted by the memory of his father's death, isolates himself in his bedroom, surrounded by comic book sketches and memorabilia. As he reflects on the notion of becoming a superhero, he rejects calls from his mother and avoids confronting his grief.
Happy End Day
Category - International Narrative
Director - Anastasiia Mykhalchuk
Summary - А family is preparing for a holiday. The holiday is the end of the world. They have no evidence, only faith. The only one who doesn't is grandfather. His only wish is to be with his family and watch their future happening. As they all wait their fears come out as the keys to what is within. Eventually, shall the quiet end come? Will there be tomorrow?
Trailer
Healing Hands
Category - Student Film
Director - Jordan Ochel
Summary - A deaf boy longing for acceptance finds himself in a situation that will change his understanding of what it means to be "complete."
Heartstorm
Category - Narrative Feature
Director - Jerry White Jr.
Summary - A young woman goes on a cathartic journey through memory and imagination inspired by the performances at an open mic. A self-love story of discovery, acceptance, and the transformative power of art. Lucia is a closet poet, so when she attends an open mic for the first time and is faced with signing up to perform, she declines. She opts instead to just take it all in as an audience member and throughout the course of the evening her memory is triggered by the performances. Lucia is launched into a series of sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking flashbacks in which she is forced to examine her views on family, love, and queerness.
Honor Song
Category - Indigenous
Director - Ryan Begay
Summary - Celebrating the long history and service of Native Americans in the United States military, Veterans of the Southwest share personal stories and perspectives of their military service and their cultural experience. Honor Song, serves to highlight the continuing dedication of service in the military; the particularly high level of representation of Native American females; and how the integration of cultures plays a role for the future.
Indigenous Economics ENOUGHNESS The Prequel
Category - Animation
Director - Chris Eyre, Lonnie Anderson
Summary - Indigenous Economics ENOUGHNESS The Prequel: Indigenous Economies have “values added”. Today’s economy values hoarding, greed and consumption. Using Indigenous values of sharing, cooperation and fairness with the millennial old design principles of indigenous economies see how we can transform today’s finance system to meet the most needs of the most people and provide a sustainable path for out future.
Invaders of the Valley Saloon
Category - Student Film
Director - Dustin Tidwell
Summary - In this Twilight Zone inspired short set in 1875, a saloon is visited by invaders.
Kekeno
Category - Documentary Short
Director - George Rufus Robinson-Hill
Summary - 'Kekeno' follows a unique journey made by the Pups of the Kaikōura Fur Seal Colony in New Zealand’s South Island. Mysterious, unexpected & beautifully playful, we follow their journey upstream to a pool at the bottom of a waterfall, hidden within a dense forest. The Colony, however, are under serious threat. If they continue to die at the same rate this may be the last we see of this behaviour. This non-narration piece is an experimental short documentary aimed at highlighting both the warmth & beauty of the behaviour against the tragedy that the colony faces.
Kokuhaku
Category - International Narrative
Director - Adrià Guxens
Summary - 'During an interview, Tadashi, a young Spanish-Japanese actor who plays female characters in a theatrical practice similar to kabuki, will return to the past to relive his most intimate memories.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Politics of Listening
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Ian Forster
Summary - Lawrence Abu Hamdan is a sound and video artist whose work centers around the politics of hearing and, more specifically, listening. Using strategies akin to forensic analysis, his practice investigates human rights violations, geopolitics, and evolving forms of state violence and intimidation. From his investigations, the artist produces video essays, performances, lectures, and installations while contributing to ongoing legal proceedings and working with international aid organizations like Amnesty International.
Light Sensitive
Category - New Mexico Short Films (Winner of Rack Focus Albuquerque 2025)
Director - Hannah Sutter, Julia Storch, and Jackie Luchini
Summary - Two restless souls, searching for meaning and contentment, reconnect after years apart. Their familiarity quickly falls back into place, making them question the paths they have separately chosen.
Look at My Furniture
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Michael X Ferraro
Summary - This is the mutant birth story of "David Lynch Has a Painting Made of Flies Eyes," a documentary rock song by Butch Vig and the Silversun Pickups-- aka SSVU, the Silversun Vig-Ups.
Micro Budget
Category - Narrative Feature
Director - Morgan Evans
Summary - "Lights. Camera. Asshole." When Terry (Patrick Noth) discovers he's about to be a father, he does what any other sane person would do. He moves himself and his nine-months-pregnant wife from Iowa to Los Angeles to shoot a low-budget indie movie and sell it to a streamer for a “fuck-ton of money.” Documented by his cousin Devin’s behind-the-scenes camera crew, Terry suddenly finds that his beliefs about diversity, the #MeToo movement, and what technically qualifies as a properly financed film production put him at odds with, well, every single person who meets him. Featuring a cast of comedy MVPs, the uproarious Micro Budget follows Terry’s disastrous attempts to make a disaster movie, and his inability to serve a decent lunch.
Muertos
Category - Student Film
Director - Matthew McDuffie
Summary - A cop confronts a string of murders that brings up her past...
My Back Pages
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Nick Canfield, Paul Lovelace
Summary - A portrait of Mitch Blank, the world’s foremost collector of Bob Dylan memorabilia and recordings, all kept in his tiny New York City apartment. This short documentary follows Mitch as he donates his life’s work to the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is a voyage into the ephemera of one of the greatest American musicians, a study on the nature of collecting and what it means to devote your life to something - then let it go forever.
My Message to You
Category - Indigenous
Director - 'Wáats'asdíyei Joe Yates
Summary - With less than a handful of fluent Haida speakers, Nayak'aq Yaahl (6) shares a message all in the Haida language: even though we may be going through difficult times, be still and listen to our ancestors.
Orgullo Zapatero
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Alejandro Fernando Tarango
Summary - This is a short portrait of a shoe repair man on Richmond in Albuquerque. He discusses the hardships he's faced being a immigrant who also owns a small business.
Out of the Shadows
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Chris Files
Summary - Out of the Shadows examines the mental health crisis in rural America through the eyes of the farmers who experience the struggle every day. This gripping documentary offers firsthand accounts of the crisis impacting our rural communities and those who grow the food that feeds the world.
Patient Comes First
Category - Animation Short
Director - Zoltán Zsolt Porpáczy
Summary - Emergency room. Three cabbage-form doctors are trying to revive an old goat on an operating table. The goat’s charming daughter is waiting behind the door, watching the scene through the door’s window and crying. When the goat returns, he immediately devours one of the cabbage doctors. Above them a big picture is hanging on the wall. It depicts a shady wolf professor with a hand gesture remembering the doctors to the Hippocratic Oath. They have to make a choice between their duty and their own survival.
Perpetual Motion
Category - Animation
Director - Pascale Hecquet
Summary - If there's an antidote to the fear of ageing, it's called Geneviève. Inspired by her former gymnastics teacher whom she admired, Geneviève has devoted her career to instilling a love of sport in her pupils. Once she reached retirement age, she had only one watchword: to continue the virtuous circle of perpetual motion.
Pick Me Up
Category - New Mexico Film
Director - Cole Velasquez
Summary - Nick, trapped in a cycle of depression and grief, is pulled from his isolation when his best friend Cal unexpectedly bursts in with an adventurous proposal: a scavenger hunt. As they race solving clues, Nick's spirit lifts, reminding him of the unbreakable bond he shares with his friend.
Pocha
Category - New Mexico Film
Director - Anna Lisa Padilla
Summary - A young woman struggles to learn Spanish in order to reconnect with her immigrant grandfather, but when life gets in the way, she learns that love transcends language.
Rebel with a Clause
Category - Documentary Feature
Director - Brandt Johnson
Summary - One fall day in 2018, Ellen Jovin set up a folding table on a Manhattan sidewalk with a homemade sign that said “Grammar Table.” Right away, passersby began excitedly asking questions, telling stories, and filing complaints. What happened next is the stuff of grammar legend. Ellen and her filmmaker husband, Brandt Johnson, took the table on the road, visiting all 50 US states as Brandt shot the grammar action. Media outlets across the country celebrated the adventures of the Grammar Table in over 100 print, radio, and television stories. People from every imaginable background visited the table to share a laugh, settle disputes, and talk about their grammar insecurities.
Rolling Altars : Riding Low in Northern New Mexico
Category - Student Film
Director - Peter Monro
Summary - Rolling Altars is a short documentary produced by Taos-based nonprofit True Kids 1 that looks at Lowrider culture as it evolves from lifestyle to art form, documenting the colorful and vibrant pastime in the cultural epicenter of New Mexico. Featuring Nicholas Herrera, Fred Rael, Diego Lopez, Toby Morfin, Don Usner and others, the film was shot and edited by New Mexico youth, under the direction of True Kids 1 Director of Media, Pete Monro.
SATURDAY, October 7
Category - Documentary Feature
Director - Alving Garcia Marcano
Summary - Best International Documentary at the New Jersey Documentary Film Festival! At dawn on October 7, 2023, thousands of Israelis woke to what seemed like a routine rocket barrage from Gaza. Within hours, their world would change forever. Through intimate testimonies of seven survivors, "Saturday October 7" chronicles the darkest day in modern Israeli history, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated civilian communities across southern Israel.
Sculpted
Category - International Narrative
Director - Hannah Collins
Summary - Eve stands at the crossroads of life and memory, guided by a guardian angel who unveils the raw fragments of her past. As she drifts through a dreamlike realm, shadows of her mother, partner, friends, and younger self emerge - each replaying moments of joy, anxiety, love and regret. But are these memories real, or is Eve rewriting her own history? Blurring the line between reality and imagination, first-time director Hannah Collins blends movement, poetry, and an original score to depict the intensity of human emotion.
Shellfish Knish
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Camille Carlson
Summary - Young, Jewish and misunderstood Simon Markowitz gets himself into hot water with his Rabbi when he creates his own recipe for a knish that no one in his family seems intent on eating.
Silent Courage
Category - Student Film
Director - Matthew Bacher
Summary - My film is about Noah, a 17-year-old high school student who confronts his deaf insecurities after wanting to ask a girl to the winter dance. He decides that he will try his hearing aids and speech therapy again. After struggling, he gives up and decides not to go to the winter dance. However, his mom won’t let that happen and encourages him to go. He builds courage in the car and manages to gain the confidence to talk to the girl. Upon approaching her he discovers that she has learned sign language so that she could talk to him.
Skin Deep
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Juliet Lashinsky-Revene
Summary - A self-promoting influencer inadvertently conjures an evil version of herself.
Something New
Category - Indigenous
Director - Jordan Wanakamik
Summary - When Daniel gets caught stealing food, the store manager calls his uncle Bernie to come get him. Bernie brings Daniel over for a home-cooked meal, where Daniel learns that his uncle danced traditionally. Inspired, Daniel learns how to grass dance and in the process discovers his family's history.
Sometimes I Imagine Your Funeral
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Vince Dixon
Summary - As Max prepares to eulogize his sister Chloe just minutes before her funeral, he wrestles with the anger, frustration, and grief of losing her to an overdose, attempting to understand who Chloe was.
Sticky Buns, Ravioli, and White Cake
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Nicole Pouchet
Summary - During breakfast, a grown-up Alice tries to convince the Mad Hatter to share his emotions so that Wonderland won't collapse along with his mental stability.
Sweet Appalachia: The Story of DelFest
Category - Documentary Feature
Director - Annie Danzi
Summary - Sweet Appalachia: The Story of DelFest is a feature-length documentary that explores the celebrated music festival and its transformative impact on a rural city in Appalachia. Join Grammy Award Winning Bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and his family, and experience their connection to the region, and how they give hope through music and philanthropy.
Tahnaanooku’
Category - Indigenous
Director - Justin Deegan
Summary - A grandmother. A source of existence. A portal to other worlds. For thousands of years, the Indigenous Peoples of what is now known as North and South Dakota co-existed reciprocally with the Missouri River, its waters offering life while also inspiring legends and languages. In Tahnaanooku’, filmmaker Justin Deegan takes an experimental approach to the severing of this relationship between his community — the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara — and the river, the result of over 80 years of US government efforts to control the Missouri, including via the Garrison Dam.
Talking Heads
Category - Student Film
Director - Nicole Overbaugh
Summary - Arthur moves into a new apartment with his best friend, Melvin. But Arthur’s real roommate, Corey, takes a strong disliking to him.
Tango in Room 1310
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Colin Alistair Campbell
Summary - Brimming with hope, Patrick arrives in the city to propose. But when the night takes an unexpected turn, he discovers that new beginnings come in unexpected ways.
Teeth
Category - International Narrative
Director - Frank Dell'Oro
Summary - Returning home to her dying father, a damaged woman with a strange obsession with teeth gets a chance to avenge her childhood trauma.
The Art of Sound
The Art of Sound
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Andrew Lee
Summary - Centuries of French bellmaking, decades of research, and an innovative idea come together to tell the story of The Ars Sonora – the most technologically advanced bell tower in the world which now soars above the campus at the University of Tampa.
The Fun in Funny
Category - Narrative Short
Director - Christine Lakin
Summary - A stand-up comedian hangs up his microphone until an unlikely friendship with a young girl inspires him to give the stage another shot.
The Letter
Category - Student Film
Director - Riley San Nicolas
Summary - Two good friends cheer each other up and show us the true value of friendship.
The Most Beautiful Noise
Category - Documentary Short
Director - Joe R Pavlo
Summary - A virtuoso violinist turns a London double-decker bus into a mobile music school to provide free music lessons to low income kids in the UK and tries to keep it running against all odds. Sensing an increasing gap in the access to music education in the UK, virtuoso violinist Petru Cotarcea retrofits a double-decker bus into a mobile music school with the dream to make music education accessible and free for every child in London. Coming from poverty himself, Petru, a Romanian immigrant in the UK and visionary educator, believes in the power of music to enrich and uplift children's lives. “The Most Beautiful Noise” showcases Cotarcea's passionate commitment to making high-quality music education accessible to all children, regardless of their race or socio-economic backgrounds.
The Order
Category - Student Films
Director - Thomas Keegan
Summary - A restaurant customer has a difficult time ordering dinner from a very nice but difficult waitress.
The Rows
Category - Narrative Feature
Director - Seth Daly
Summary - Little girl hides from masked home invaders in mysterious cornfield. Deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues as the rows reveal their secrets.
The Swan
Category - Animation
Director - Ian Jacquel Kelewae
Summary - A waiter serves a picky customer in a surreal restaurant that only sells swans.
YAPs
Category - Documentary Feature
Director - Miriam Gordon-Stewart
Summary - A traditional career as an opera singer seems less and less viable. And yet: in spite of a system stacked against them, young singers continue to follow their calling. In this searing, intimate documentary, 5 of the nation’s most compelling Young Artists share a year of their lives with unprecedented access.