Wide Open
Films about land, distance, and what people do with the space between themselves and everyone else. Not just Westerns. Anywhere geography becomes a character.
Programming · RIFF 2027
Films in conversation.
Every block has a point of view. Shorts and features meet through a shared question, a feeling, a way of seeing the world, not a genre label.
The Preview Reel
The shorts play first.
Four curated shorts open almost every feature block, like coming attractions with something real to say. Every director introduces their own film from the stage. After the fourth short, those filmmakers share a Q&A; the feature follows with its own director conversation.
The result is one room, one shared question or feeling, and one conversation, never simply a collection of films from the same genre.
The 2027 framework
Eight slates.
Filmmakers choose a submission category. Our programmers place selected work into the slate where it can speak most powerfully.
Indigenous Voices
Films by Indigenous filmmakers and films centering Indigenous stories from across the region and around the world.
The Asterisk*
Features made for under $150,000 and shorts made for under $10,000. Our signature competitive slate, for stories whose ambition was never limited by budget.
Beyond the Ridge
Films from outside the United States, in any language, subtitled. You can only see so far from any one mountain. This is what’s on the other side.
The Long Night
Films that sit in dread, suspense, or the unknown. Programmed in the last slot. A winter mountain town after midnight does the rest.
Nuevo México
Films by New Mexico filmmakers and films rooted in New Mexico stories, in English and Spanish.
Witness
Documentary features and shorts built from what actually happened, and the questions of what we choose to remember.
Good Company
Comedy and warm-hearted drama. The block you can bring anyone to, including someone who has never attended a film festival.
A full festival day
More than screenings.
Filmmaker badges include Shoot New Mexico location and incentive sessions, Behind the Screen craft workshops, one-on-one Office Hours, the daytime Filmmaker Lodge, and nightly Hidden Tap gatherings.
The complete 2027 lineup and block-by-block schedule will be announced after programming is locked.
Your film belongs in a conversation