Movies Filmed in New Mexico

Zia Theater mural, Fort Sumner, NM

I've tried before to compile a list of movies filmed in this state, but it's kind of a moving target so I've decided to leave it up to the professionals. Here is what I can find online.

Top Movies Filmed in New Mexico (indexed by location for all states)--I notice, however, that they've left out Believe in Me, filmed in Clovis.

State Theater, Clovis NM

FilmNewMexico, which features an online search by genre, title, and location, and is updated each year

Movies Filmed in New Mexico Compiled by title and/or year released for New Mexico USA from the Internet Movie DataBase

Zia Theater, Fort Sumner, NM

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency

You'll rarely read anything on this blog about television because, although I watch it now, I've spent most of my life up to this point avoiding the ubiquitous TV. When I was a child, my family would insist that I put down my book and join them in the living room to watch The Jackie Gleason Show or Red Skelton. Imagine having to coax a child to watch television!

Now, here I am, breaking with my own tradition and recommending--no, insisting!--that you watch HBO's new series, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. It is based on the series of books by Alexander McCall Smith, and the main character is the melodiously named Precious Ramotswe. Although the filmmakers have taken some liberties, you will still love the characters, the setting, the language, the accents, the music, and the story. 

To read about the books and to find out why you should be reading them, see my post from last year called Meet Precious Ramotswe.

Image is from TVScoop.com.

Her Life Before Her Eyes

Now here's some irony. I would like to recommend that you watch this movie, but I can't tell you why. I won't give you a link so that you can read more information about it, because that might spoil it for you. I can't explain why we talked and talked about the movie after we'd watched it, and why we decided to slit open the Netflix envelope so we could watch it once more before sending it back. It's called Her Life Before Her Eyes, it was made in 2007, directed by Vadim Perelman, and it stars Uma Thurman.

That's all I can tell you, except that although I was worried that it might be too far outside my comfort zone, being about events surrounding a Columbine-like shooting at a high school, it turned out to be an amazing viewing experience.

I usually stick to feel-good movies and I love the ones made from classic children's stories (I hope you remember that I am a retired children's librarian). My current favorite is The Secret Garden because it is so beautifully filmed and even though there are some slightly spooky parts, it all turns out well in the end. And, see, I've even given you a nice link to more information about it.

Believe in Me

"Never let them tell you what you can't do"

If you want to see what the land around Clovis looks like, you can't get a better view than by watching the 2006 movie Believe in Me. It is based on the true story of Oklahoma high school basketball coach Jim Keith, who arrives at his new job in 1964 to find out that he will be coaching girls, not boys, at a time when girls' athletic teams were not at all respected or taken seriously. After a lot of hard work, team bonding, and some threatening local politics, the team goes on to the state championships. Though predictable (especially now that I've told you what happens) the story is a sweet one. It took me the better part of a box of Kleenex to get through it.

The producers chose the Clovis/Portales area for most of the filming because many areas had a mid-century look about them, and because there are a lot of vintage autos here. They were met with that famous Clovis hospitality--the locals brought them homemade suppers, donated vintage clothing and props, and lent them classic cars. The producers said that if they had a particular need, they had only to broadcast it on the local radio station, and they'd get donations by the next day. You can read more in the Production Notes.

The video is, of course, a big hit around Clovis, and the local video stores have a hard time keeping enough copies on their shelves. People here watch to see local street scenes, their cars, and themselves in the crowd scenes. Even though I'm fairly new to Clovis I recognized a few spots. The prairie scenes and the sunsets were absolutely stunning.

Movies Made in New Mexico

A discussion on the New Mexico Forum of the City-Data web site about the best movies made in New Mexico made me wonder just how many movies have been made here. The people at the New Mexico Film Office have a great web site that includes a New Mexico Filmography,
listing and describing all the movies made here by year of release. They start with the 1898 documentary, Indian Day School, and continue right through all 35 (!) movies made here so far in 2007.