This Friday, June 19 will be the seventh annual ABQ Indie Film Festival, a local festival showcasing new films from international independent filmmakers. This year’s event will start at 6 p.m., with doors opening at 5 p.m. and is hosted by FUSION New Mexico, a performing arts center located in Downtown Albuquerque.
The ABQ Indie Film Festival has been an important local film event every year since it began in 2019. Since then, the festival has been dedicated to connecting Albuquerque audiences to emerging filmmakers and independent cinema that may otherwise never reach local screens. The festival showcases a small selection of diverse feature length and short films from independent filmmakers around the world, offering awards the following categories: Feature Film, Short Film, Feature Documentary, Short Documentary, Experimental, Animation, and Student Film.
The ABQ Indie Festival is organized by HF Productions, an international production company run by independent filmmakers and producers. The company was founded as a connecting platform, encouraging artistic diversity and culture exchanges; it runs many annual festivals internationally that celebrate different films as part of a broader mission to build “a more welcoming, inclusive, and supportive community of independent filmmaking,” through their values of independence, ambition, inspiration, creativity, integrity and community.
In a festival overview, organizers described this year’s festival as creating “a vibrant artistic tapestry of independent storytelling—moving seamlessly from sharp narrative fiction and abstract animation to piercing documentaries that capture iconic cultural history.”
Festival Schedule
- 6:00–7:30 p.m. — Feature Film Screening
- 7:30–7:45 p.m. — Intermission
- 7:45–9:10 p.m. — Short Film Screenings
- 9:10–9:20 p.m. — Winners’ Announcement
An Evening of Screenings
Unlike many larger festivals, the ABQ Indie Film Festival presents a small selection of all nominated films, allowing audiences to experience the screenings together in a single evening.
The festival’s feature documentary selection is My Father and Qaddafi, directed by Jihan K.
Born in exile and raised in Paris, Jihan K studied International and Comparative Politics before earning a master’s degree focused on Art Education and Storytelling. Her documentary follows the director and her mother’s search for answers about her father Mansur Rashid Kikhia, a former Libyan diplomat and political dissident who vanished in Cairo in 1993.
The festival’s first short film is in the narrative short film category: Bottles, directed by Moroccan filmmaker Yassine El Idrissi.
El Idrissi began his career as a photojournalist before earning a master’s degree from the Netherlands Film Academy. His film centers on Said, a 13-year-old boy living in Rabat’s historic Medina, who secretly shelters a dog until his best friend tells him it is Haram to do so.
Next is another short film selection: Counterpoint (also called Контрапункт) by Ukrainian filmmaker Yelyzaveta Klymets, a directing student at the Ukrainian Film School in Kyiv.
The 12-minute film follows a young composer who goes from “thinking” music to “feeling” it. The short is “an exploration of the female perspective on autonomy – the moment where the body stops following the rules and starts following its own beat.”
The next film represents the animation category: Teri Djougou, directed by French filmmaker Cheyenne Canaud-Wallays.
Born in 1993, Canaud-Wallays has established herself as a notable visual storyteller specializing in animation. Her four-minute short transforms a weekly community gathering into a colorful but increasingly tense social landscape, exploring pride and rivalry beneath public interactions.
Next is a documentary short film: More Than Santa Baby, directed by filmmaker and licensed social worker Tamar Springer.
This documentary is a tribute to composer Philip Springer, father of director Tamar Springer, and his musical legacy. The film explores this period of music history and a powerful message that “it is never too late.”
Last is another documentary short film: Rolling Film, Rocking History: Al Maysles Captures the Beatles, directed by award-winning filmmaker, editor, and educator Bart Weiss. The documentary revisits footage captured by legendary documentarians Albert and David Maysles during The Beatles’ first visit to New York City in 1964, providing viewers with a rare glimpse into this pivotal moment in music history.
More Nominations
Though only six films are being shown at the festival, competition itself attracted 22 entries from around the world.
In the Feature Film Competition, additional nominees include: Cáceres, an 89-minute 2025 production from Mexico and Venezuela directed by Alexánder Fernández and Jorge Saim Hostos; Starstruck, a 71-minute American feature directed by Yev K’banchik; and I Never Said Goodbye, a 69-minute film from the United States directed by Antonio Muñoz de Mesa.
The Feature Documentary Competition also includes: Pictures in Mind, a 77-minute documentary from Switzerland directed by Eleonora Camizzi, and Metamorphosis, an 80-minute documentary from Portugal directed by Antonio Luis Moreira.
The Experimental Competition includes: Stereo Framework / Asynchromy, a just over one-minute experimental film from the United States directed by Antoni Pinent; Physalia, a four-minute Australian short directed by Ian Gibbins; and No Horses on Mars, a 15-minute Dutch production directed by Bea de Visser.
The Animation Competition’s other nominees include: Little Caesar, directed by Ireland’s Amy Tierney; The Forest of the Honey Bees, directed by France’s Erwan Le Gal; and Kurry: A Love Story, a 29-minute American animated film directed by Yazzer Plasm.
In the Student Film Competition, nominees include: The Rebel Reef: Seeds of Hope, directed by Brynne Eliza Rardin and Patrick Joseph Krum, Lebedynske, directed by Artur Kedzierski, and Choke, directed by Tidiane Diallo.
The Short Documentary Competition also includes: Heal: Returning to the Roots of the Community Health Center, directed by Elaine Uchison, a 12-minute documentary that “explores the connection between the first federally recognized community health centers in rural Mississippi in the 1960s and a health center program in Portland, Oregon that’s returning to those roots through relational community organizing, training, advocacy and love.”
Looking Back at 2025
Last year’s festival winners were from all over the world and diverse cultural backgrounds.
Backstage from Morocco, directed by Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane, won Best Feature Film. Brazilian filmmaker Isabella Secchin’s Natal captured Best Short Film, while Italian director Angelo Comba’s The Outlaw Gardeners received Best Documentary Feature.
Other winners were Jess T. Dugan’s Letter to My Daughter, Antoine Colomb’s Our Summer of Freedom, Kiersten Houser’s Voicemail, David Rendall’s Triage, John Osment’s Supercritical, and Marie-Anne Hafner’s Swiss film Half-witted Gnus Are a Myth, which earned both Best Directing and Best Student Film.
Reservations and Volunteers
Organizers are encouraging attendees to reserve seats as soon as possible due to limited capacity. This year, festival tickets are only $5.
The festival is also seeking volunteers who would like to help with event operations. Those who are interested are encouraged to sign up at the ABQ Indie Film Festival website.
In an increasingly competitive media landscape, the ABQ Indie Film Festival remains committed to spotlighting emerging filmmakers and bringing international stories to local Albuquerque audiences. For one evening in Downtown Albuquerque, viewers will have the opportunity to experience films from many continents, cultural backgrounds, and artistic styles.