New Mexico Filmmakers

With Shelle Sanchez, Arts & Culture Director City of Albuquerque and the filmmakers Erica Nguyen and Erik Sanchez. This roundtable will be held after the screening of the New Mexico Filmmakers Program.

Moderator: Milly Castañeda-Ledwith, founder of Cine Magnifico Festival.

Erica Nguyen is a grassroots filmmaker based seasonally between the deserts of the southwest. Her interdisciplinary studies framed this storytelling process around how estrangement from our origins manifests in our bodies. As a climbing instructor and adventure therapist, she engages people through felt experiences outdoors.

Erik Sanchez (Shoalwater Bay / Chinook / Chicano). Raised between the Imperial Valley in Southern California and the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation on the Washington peninsula, he graduated from Everett Community College in 2018 with an Associates of Fine Arts in Photography and is currently a senior studying Cinematic and Performing Arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Sanchez is the recipient of the 2021 George R.R. Martin Master Storyteller Scholarship.

Dr. Shelle VanEtten de Sánchez is currently the Director of Arts & Culture for the City of Albuquerque - a large and vibrant department that includes three museums, large-scale public events, a world-class BioPark (with zoo, botanic gardens, aquarium and more), a library system with 19 libraries, two theatres, a public access studio and four public channels, and a Public Art Division with 1000+ works of art. She has more than 30 years of professional experience and leadership in arts, culture and education. She carries a deep commitment to creativity, community building, and creative spaces. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Education, and a B.A. in Spanish and French from the University of New Mexico. She lives happily in the historic Barelas neighborhood of Albuquerque, with her very fun & supportive husband and two old dogs where they embrace a healthy balance of family, friends, health, work, and personal creativity.