ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Three University of New Mexico filmmakers are getting a little extra cash to help them capture on film some of the biggest struggles New Mexicans face. Jay Alan Miller, Heathen Seagraves, and Thomas Manning are three of eight filmmakers receiving grants to help them create documentaries addressing the problems people in the state face, from regenerative farming to an intergenerational look at queer identity.
Manning hopes to tell the story of what life is like from outside a prison cell as felons learn to reintegrate into society. “It really is like in modern terms the marvel blip when you go to prison. The world just keeps going on like you never existed. And then you just come back and you’re supposed to hit the ground running? said Manning.
He said he plans to use the grant money to pay for equipment. The filmmakers will have six months to complete their projects.