14 • JUNE 2019
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Stills from short film “Pozole.” (Photos courtesy Jenn Garcia and Jessica Mendez Siqueiros)
ON SCREEN • MIKE COOK
Making ‘Pozole’
CMI graduate produces award-winning film
A
10-minute film produced by a recent graduate of New Mexico State University’s CMI program won the best narrative short film-comedy award at a major film festival and is now qualified to compete in the 2020 Oscars. The 10-minute film is called “Pozole.” The qualifying film festival is Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival, which drew more than 100,000 people to its 2019 festival earlier in April in San Jose, California. The film’s producer is Jennifer “Jenn” Garcia, who graduated from CMI in 2016 and now works for Hardline Films in Albuquerque. Garcia said only 140 short films qualify for Academy Awards nominations. “Pozole” was filmed in Albuquerque’s downtown and Martineztown over three days last summer, said its writer and director, Jessica Mendez Siqueiros, a filmmaker who divides her time between New York and Los Angeles. The story is set in Tucson, where Siqueiros grew up and centers around the death of the lead character’s great-grandmother five days after her 100th birthday. In the film, Siqueiros said she “wanted to explore the Hispanic traditions in my
Jenn Garcia
family,” which go back at least five generations to Arizona statehood and even the Mexican-American War. Siqueiros cast the lead roles in the film, she said, and then relied on Martinez to cast the remaining parts, help secure locations, hire the crew – including CMI students – and rent the cameras and other equipment to make the film. CMI students working on the film, including the costume de-
Say “Hi”to Ivan, the blue-gold macaw!
signer, “helped a lot on the set,” Garcia said. “Their training (at CMI) definitely helped in working on the film,” she said. “The mixed class productions and senior projects in CMI helped the most with my career,” Garcia said. “The structure allowed me to build productions from the ground up under the guidance of the professors and helped me find a group of talented filmmakers that I still hire and work with to this day.” Garcia grew up in Roswell and moved to Las Cruces to attend NMSU, where she obtained degrees in creative media and marketing. Garcia and fellow CMI alumni Keagan Karnes and Sheridan O’Donnell started Hardline Films in Albuquerque. Cinequest was founded in 1990, said Matt Opsal of Cinquest, Inc. Submissions just opened for the 30th annual festival, which will be held March 3-15, 2020. (Visit www.cinequest. org/submissions.) For more information, visit www.cinequest.org/cinequest2019-wrap-awards. For more information on Jenn Garcia, visit www.JennNicoleGarcia.com, www.HardlineFilms.com and cmi.nmsu.edu/2019/04/jenn-garcia/.
ARTS EXPOSURE
Art Camp
Workshop in Silver City for young artists
T
he 2019 Summer Art Camp is the third annual art workshop for young artists, ages 7-9, to be held again at the Elk’s Lodge Building in downtown Silver City. The Elk’s Lodge offers the art students a vast room with plenty of space to think and comfortably create large and small works. This year’s Summer Art Camp is scheduled in two consecutive Monday-through-Friday separate sessions: Week One: 9 a.m.-noon, June 17 -21 Week Two: 9 a.m.-noon, June 24 -28 Young artists may join for a one-week session or two. Young artists interested in learning and practicing a variety of art disciplines and techniques will meet to create art, think, spend time with old and new friends, work individually and in teams, and, most of all, have lots of fun. On the last day of each session the artists will have an opportunity to set up a gallery to exhibit their finished works.
They may choose to sell their art for summer spending money. It is recommended to bring small change to purchase art. Invitations made by the artists will be presented to family and friends, and the public is invited. Refreshments will be served. Carmen Ruiz is the program director and instructor. She is an award-winning, professional visual artist and a passionate, bi-lingual art educator with more than 30 years of teaching experience. Contact Ruiz for more information and registration at carmen. ruiz105@comcast.net.
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