New Mexico Student Filmmaker Showcase Highlights Four Winners from UNM
Four students from the UNM Film & Digital Arts program received awards from the New Mexico Film Foundation’s 2019 and some were featured at the New Mexico Student Filmmaker Showcase in September at the Kimo Theater in Albuquerque.
Noah Yacko – Best Cinematography
Michael Romero – Best Visual Special Effects
Donut Disaster written and directed by Rachel Bossert – Best Animation
Garden of Bones written and directed by Noah Licona – Best Science Fiction
The showcase highlighted the talent coming out of New Mexico’s numerous film and media programs. Nine colleges from across New Mexico submitted a total of 28 videos, 13 of which were chosen for the festival. Each New Mexico Post-Secondary school was invited to submit up to three student videos of no more than 15 minutes each, plus and optional special effects reel of up to one minute in length.
List of films and schools:
- Alters and Me– DACC
- Roasted– ENMU
- Simone– IAIA
- Before the Light– NMJC
- Pop By– NMSU
- Nothin– NNMC
- Exit– NNMC
- Navajo Youth Build– SJC
- Fading– SJC
- Garden of Bones– UNM
- Donut Disaster– UNM
- Michael Romero VFX– UNM
- Rio Grande Water Story– UNM Taos
This screening in Albuquerque had the “Best of” films with categories including Best Cinematography, Best Writing, Best Directing, and Best Sound. Students winning in specific categories received prizes from the following sponsors: Canon, Avid, Write Brothers, iZotope and Director 4.5 Notebook.
Spotlight on Art Studio & Art History Faculty: Featured Exhibitions
Art History Professor Ray Hernández-Durán was recently featured in two articles and interviewed by the Latin American and Iberian Institute. UNM News published “UNM Professors Create Exhibition, First-Ever Scholarship of Local Chicano Artists’ Work” by Anna Padilla, highlighting an exhibition curated by Hernández-Durán and Dr. Irene Vásquez. The show, now on view at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, features six talented New Mexican Chicano artists whose work has been historically underrepresented in academic scholarship.
Art Faculty: Awards, Residencies & Revisited Projects
Distinguished Professor Jim Stone is an exhibiting artist who uses photography. His photographs have been published in three monographs and exhibited internationally; they are represented in the permanent collections of over 30 major museums and public archives.
Emmi Whitehorse at 12th Site SANTA FE International
Art Alum, Emmi Whitehorse’s work is featured in the 12th Site SANTA FE International with a piece titled “Cloud Gate” (2025). Whitehorse was born in Crownpoint, New Mexico, and is a member of the Navajo Nation. She earned her BFA in painting here at UNM, and she also went on to get a master’s degree, majoring in both printmaking and minoring in Art History.