Film documents quest to photograph N.M. rock art

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — A special presentation of a documentary film, “In Place, Out of Time,” and several students’ films at New Mexico State University-Grants, is set for 6:30 p.m., at the college theater on Friday.

Doug Bocaz-Larson, creative media department head, said the documentary is by award-winning New Mexico documentary filmmaker Erin Hudson.

Hudson, and the subject of the film, Embree “Sonny” Hale, will be present at the showing to answer questions and talk about his quest to take photos of every petroglyph and pictograph in New Mexico.

“I worked about a year and a half filming and editing this documentary,” Hudson said.

At age 65, Hale, a fourth generation New Mexican, decided he wanted to photograph these historic and sometimes ancient drawings around the state. The documentary illustrates his daily successes and sometimes failures as well as his survival strategies while photographing.

She said she was in California a few couple of years ago and read an article in New Mexico magazine that she thought could help her return to the state to film documentaries.

“I am a native New Mexican, and I wanted to get back to the state and film documentaries here, about New Mexico,” she said.

“‘In Place,’ is 45-minutes long and is in color,” she said.
Bocaz-Larson said the film is being shown as part of a statewide set of presentations, allowing Hudson to get feedback before finally entering it into festivals.

“I am entering it in ‘Sundance’ and ‘Slamdance’ and plan to enter it in a festival in Santa Fe,” she said.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Several student documentaries and promotional films will also be shown, he said. Those films are:

• “What Are You Going To Be,” by Teresa Bradshaw-Hornberger
• “Saving Lives in World War II,” by Kim Bocaz-Larson
• “Myth of the Warrior,” featuring Zero Aakil-Bey
• “Heat Things Up,” featuring Bruce Williams
• “Ant and Grasshopper,” featuring Rachelle Simpson and Ryle Yazzie

Prior to the documentary, a meeting of the campus’s Poco Loco Club will be held, also in the theater, at 5 p.m., Bocaz-Larson said.

Hudson’s work is available online at www.inplaceoutoftime.com, and her main Web site: www.rotation films.

Bocaz-Larson said the students in the Creative Media program are working on a major full length film project titled, “Trinity Rises.”

“This film is about a young woman who is searching for meaning in her life,” he said.

Students’ work in the Creative Media program, is also available on line at: www.youtube/dbocaz, he said.

“There are about 200 films on that site,” he said.

On the net: www.rotation films, com, www.youtube/dbocaz.

— To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent
@yahoo.com.