South Central New Mexico

“The Astronaut Farmer” (2006) Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen with cameos by Bruce Dern and Bruce Willis, directed by Michael Polish, written by Michael and Mark Polish, filmed in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Espanola and Las Vegas, New Mexico. Perhaps it is the vastness of the landscape in the Southwest that encourages people to dream, for whom among us does not know a crazy uncle, obsessed friend or quirky neighbor who holds on to a fantastic dream and who refuses…

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“Split Estate” (2009), documentary, directed by Debra Anderson, filmed primarily in Garfield, Colorado but also in Bloomfield, New Mexico. The purchase of property does not guarantee complete ownership. Under the Stock Raising Homestead Act (SRHA) of 1916, surface rights belong to the owner of land patented under the SRHA, but not the mineral rights that lie beneath that land. The result is a split estate and this film explores what happens when energy companies come onto private land to drill…

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“Sea of Grass” (1947), starring Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, directed by Elia Kazan from a novel by Conrad Richter. Filming locations include Magdalena and Gallup, New Mexico. Director Elia Kazan wrote that he was so disappointed in this film that he told friends not to watch it. Like many, Kazan had a romantic idea of the plains but was forced to use stock photography for much of the background shots. The presence of Tracy and Hepburn in a love triangle…

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