
Tonight is the screening of Hearts In The Himalayas here at the Albuquerque Media and Film Experience Film Festival. This festival has been nothing but top notch laid back and first class everything. Great movie selections, great speakers, great parties! Best of all, I have met so many talented film makers here who are willing to share their experiences and expertise. I am not easily impressed (most of you know that), but the films screening here are wicked crazy good. If you get a chance to see SOLD, do it and expect to be moved. SOLD is a full-length feature film adapted from the National Book Award Nominated and Quill Award-Winning novel by Patricia McCormick. Based on true stories, SOLD is the story of Lakshmi's journey from a peaceful, rural village in Nepal to the gritty brothels of Kolkata, India. A few more films I highly recommend include Timeless and Grace.

Melanie Marden produced this compelling narrative short based on the true story of her mother's torturous journey of a misdiagnosis of mental illness and eventual commitment to a psychiatric ward, when in fact she was actually suffering from malignant brain cancer. Can you even imagine going through this let alone watching your own mother suffer through it? Bravo Melanie, for having the courage and strength to do this film.

I had the pleasure of spending time with filmmaker Cindy Joy Goggins who produced the incredible truthful and raw film Grace. The film is based on her recovery from the ravages of alcoholism, which nearly destroyed her life. I have always been fascinated by what inspires filmmakers and her story is one of the best. I really enjoyed hearing the back story on this film. Make sure you put Grace on your list of must sees.