Where Even Mavericks Have a Home

Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dave Ellis, New Mexico's most prolific documentary filmmaker, offers a cogent explanation for why the state captivates so many great photographers and cineastes. "There is a geography of optimism here that, in at least my case, has to do with a creative expansiveness," Ellis says. He translates, "When I first saw the canyons, the mountains, the skies of New Mexico, I started to stretch out a little bit and go back to when I was a kid. I had never seen a place before that inspired that kind of soul-searching."

The former Merchant Marine knows whereof he speaks, having wandered the globe from Africa to Alaska. Originally a press photographer, Ellis served as a cameraman for KOB-TV and KNME-TV in Albuquerque, refining his craft. A series he put together on artists led him to make a clean break and try his luck as an independent filmmaker.

The subjects of his New Mexico documentaries range from travelogues to artist profiles. But he's most proud of his gritty Doing Time. When he shot it inside the New Mexico State Penitentiary in 1980, Ellis had little inkling the place would soon be rocked by the bloodiest prison riot in American history. But Ellis could sense the profound hopelessness of the inmates, who candidly vented their anger and frustration. Ominous and prophetic, the cinema-vérité Doing Time earned Emmy Awards for directing and cinematography.

Ellis hasn't toiled alone in the documentary trenches. Celebrated photographer Danny Lyon lived for a spell in Bernalillo, where he made Llanito, Willie and other poignant studies of rural New Mexicans on society's fringes. Taos Pueblo's Diane Reyna won the Peabody Award for her PBS documentary Surviving Columbus. Godfrey Reggio scoured the planet for the stunning images in Koyaanisqatsi and its sequels, but assembled his mesmerizing collage in Santa Fe with the help of Anton Walpole, Ron Fricke and other talented filmmakers now branching out on their own.

In a relatively recent phenomenon, independents based in southern New Mexico have become as active as their northern counterparts. Playwright and screenwriter Mark Medoff formed his own production company to develop Homage (1995), a taut and edgy drama of a brainy loner (Frank Whaley) stalking an actress (Sheryl Lee) visiting her mother (Blythe Danner) at a ranch outside Las Cruces. In 1997, Medoff collaborated with director Andrew Shea, the founder of the New Mexico Repertory Theater, to film Santa Fe (1996). It offered tart commentary on the capital city's flourishing New Age scene and appeal to cultists.