NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Santa Fe, which was recently named the best small city for filmmakers to live and work in by MovieMaker Magazine, is now a hub for New Mexico’s booming film industry. There are more independent movie theater seats per person in the city than nearly anywhere else in the country, if not the entire world.
Big names in the early days of the film industry, including D.W. Griffith, Tom Mix, and Romaine Fielding, traveled through Santa Fe and first recognized its potential as a filming location. More than 300 feature films in a variety of genres have been filmed in New Mexico since then.
One of the most popular film locations in Santa Fe is the Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch. A working cattle ranch, Bonanza has been used as a backdrop for Western films dating back decades, including “The Man from Laramie” and “Cowboys and Aliens.” The ranch is also infamously the site of the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust” that took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Other notable filming locations in Santa Fe include The Plaza Cafe (“Did You Hear About the Morgans?”), the New Mexico State Penitentiary (“The Longest Yard”), Garson Studios (“No Country for Old Men”), and Evangelo’s Cocktail Lounge, which Jeff Bridges used as interiors for both “Crazy Heart” and “Only the Brave.”
With hundreds of films spanning over a century, Santa Fe has cemented its legacy as a unique, versatile, and visually stunning setting for movies of every genre.
1940s
Beginning in the late ’40s, nearly one-third of all Hollywood films at the time were Westerns. The golden age of the Western, which lasted well into the 1960s, led filmmakers to New Mexico’s iconic landscapes. The onset of World War II also led to more morale war films like “Flying Tigers,” released shortly after the U.S. entered the war.
- Santa Fe Trail (1940)
- Flying Tigers (1942)
- The Leopard Man (1943)
- Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
1950s
The introduction of television drove studios to bring audiences back to theaters, utilizing new visual and big-approach methods. Gimmicks like 3-D film and lens techniques like CinemaScope dominated the film industry in the ’50s. One of the first Westerns to be shot in CinemaScope, evoking the expansive landscape of Santa Fe, “The Man from Laramie” was shot in Technicolor.
- Fancy Pants (1950)
- The Man from Laramie (1955)
- Hollywood or Bust (1956)
- Cowboy (1958)
1960s
The abolition of the Hays code, which had historically restricted the content of films in the U.S., allowed for more experimental filmmaking. The first generation of film school graduates began to populate the industry, lending fresh perspectives and studious approaches to their filmmaking. Counterculture films like “Easy Rider” helped to spark the New Hollywood movement in the early ’70s.
- A Covenant with Death (1967)
- Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968)
- Easy Rider (1969)
1970s
In the ’70s, the decline of the Western ultimately led to a decline in New Mexico filmmaking. Despite this trend, Westerns like “Flap” and “The Ballad of Cable Hogue” continued to be filmed around Santa Fe. The Eaves Movie Ranch was built for the film “The Cheyenne Social Club” and continues to be a prime filming location in the area to this day.
- The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
- Flap (1970)
- Chisum (1970)
- The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
- Shoot Out (1971)
- The Hired Hand (1971)
- Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
- Billy Jack (1971)
- The Cowboys (1972)
- Every Which Way but Loose (1978)
- Nightwing (1979)
1980s
Easily marketable “high concept” studio-driven films made their return in the ’80s. Action blockbusters ruled the decade, blazing the trail for fight choreography and box-office success. The success of “Young Guns” helped to revive New Mexico’s film industry, bringing about a renaissance of filmmaking in the state.
- Second Thoughts (1983)
- The Prodigal Planet (1983)
- Little Treasure (1985)
- Silverado (1985)
- Power (1986)
- Outrageous Fortune (1987)
- And God Created Woman (1988)
- The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
- Twins (1988)
- Young Guns (1988)
- Begotten (1989)
1990s
The ’90s introduced milestone advancements in CGI technology in films like “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” Both the development of independent film studios and the wide appeal of many low-budget directors from the latter years of the 1980s led to a boom in highly lucrative independent films. John Carpenter filmed several movies in Santa Fe throughout the decade, including “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” “Village of the Damned,” and “Vampires.”
- Young Guns II (1990)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- City Slickers (1991)
- Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
- White Sands (1992)
- Lightning Jack (1994)
- The Cowboy Way (1994)
- Wyatt Earp (1994)
- Village of the Damned (1995)
- Fools Rush In (1997)
- Last Stand at Saber River (1997)
- The Staircase (1998)
- Vampires (1998)
- Wild Wild West (1999)
2000s
Starting in 2003, the Film Production Tax Credit went into effect, promising companies a 25-40% tax credit, with further credits offered for standalone pilots and TV series filming within 60 miles of Albuquerque of Santa Fe (or at one of the state’s qualified production facilities). This tax credit led to a surge of filming in the state. Live-action musicals experienced a revival around this time, with films like “Rent” produced in the area. A return to landscape-based Western classicism in highly lauded films like “No Country for Old Men” led directors back to the timeless scenery of Santa Fe and the desert aesthetics of New Mexico.
- The Tao of Steve (2000)
- Lockdown (2000)
- All the Pretty Horses (2000)
- The Missing (2003)
- The Longest Yard (2005)
- North Country (2005)
- Rent (2005)
- Seraphim Falls (2006)
- Employee of the Month (2006)
- Undead or Alive (2007)
- No Country for Old Men (2007)
- 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
- The Hitcher (2007)
- Wild Hogs (2007)
- Felon (2008)
- Appaloosa (2008)
- The Eye (2008)
- Carriers (2009)
- Terminator Salvation (2009)
- Georgia O’Keeffe (2009)
- Cansada De Buscar Marido (2009)
- Crazy Heart (2009)
- Brothers (2009)
- Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009)
2010s
Westerns once again had a continuous resurgence in popularity at the start of the twenty-first century, significantly impacted by the revival of American mythology, admiration for vaquero folklore in Mexican and southwestern American cultures, and fascination with the music and attire of the Western way of life. Big spectacle films with out-of-this-world settings and colorful comic-book adaptations took hold of Hollywood. Extraterrestrial flicks like “Cowboys and Aliens” and “The Space Between Us” and superhero stories like “Thor” became popular options in attempts to rule the box office.
- The Book of Eli (2010)
- Legion (2010)
- True Grit (2010)
- The Killer Inside Me (2010)
- Passion Play (2010)
- Cowboys and Aliens (2011)
- Thor (2011)
- 5 Shells (2012)
- Dead Man’s Burden (2012)
- On the Road (2012)
- Bless Me, Ultima (2013)
- The Last Stand (2013)
- 2 Guns (2013)
- The Host (2013)
- Lone Survivor (2013)
- Odd Thomas (2013)
- We’re the Millers (2013)
- A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
- The Ridiculous 6 (2015)
- Jane Got a Gun (2015)
- Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
- In a Valley of Violence (2016)
- The Magnificent Seven (2016)
- Outlaws and Angels (2016)
- The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (2017)
- Shot Caller (2017)
- The Space Between Us (2017)
- Woman Walks Ahead (2017)
- Hostiles (2017)
- Only the Brave (2017)
- Ideal Home (2018)
- Fast Color (2018)
- Deadman Standing (2018)
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
- Corporate Animals (2019)
- The Kid (2019)
- Rattlesnake (2019)
- Santa Fake (2019)
- Walk. Ride. Rodeo. (2019)
2020s
The COVID-19 pandemic accounted for the steep dropoff in the film industry, leading to fewer productions, theater closures, and delayed releases that largely affected the first half of the decade. Despite the blockbuster status and critical success of films like “Oppenheimer,” filmed in multiple locations all around New Mexico, theater attendance isn’t what it used to be. Films are now made with a streaming audience in mind, and the methods in which they are produced, distributed, and consumed worldwide have rapidly evolved.
- Half Brothers (2020)
- News of the World (2020)
- Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)
- The Harder They Fall (2021)
- Holiday in Santa Fe (2021)
- Finch (2021)
- Dead for a Dollar (2022)
- Americana (2023)
- Dead Man’s Hand (2023)
- Oppenheimer (2023)
- Hold Your Breath (2024)
- Please Don’t Feed the Children (2024)
- Trigger Warning (2024)
- Rust (2024)
- Eddington (2025)
With a film history this extensive, it is no wonder Santa Fe is host to multiple film festivals. The Santa Fe International Film Festival kicks off in October, presenting a diverse selection of international and independent films along with industry panels, special receptions, and discussions with film professionals. The IndigenousWays Film Festival will showcase Indigenous storytelling, cultural traditions, and interactive workshops in May. The Santa Fe Film Festival in February honored the best in film production and focused on bringing together both industry professionals and cinema enthusiasts through workshops, panels, and screenings. The Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival fosters an understanding of Jewish culture, identity, and history in Northern New Mexico with an eclectic mix of documentaries, narrative features, and more.