Friday, November 12 was the first southwest showing of “Pueblo Magico,” a film made by Patagonia native Linx Selby. There were two showings, one at the street end where Morley Avenue abuts the border in Nogales, AZ and one in at a large art space near the line in Nogales, Sonora.
About 160 people showed up at the event on Morley, even though there was very little advertising of the event. The atmosphere was festive as the crowd watched the film, participated in a Q & A with the filmmaker, and enjoyed Mexican food prepared for the event. On the Sonoran side of the line, the crowd was much smaller and younger, but equally enthusiastic.
The 30-minute “Pueblo Magico” includes a series of vignettes of people living in the borderlands. With a deft sense of place and very human touch, Selby captured a slice of the day-to-day life in Patagonia, Nogales AZ, and Nogales Sonora. Her lens painted a quite a different picture than typically seen in films and stories about the border.
Selby thanked the major funders for Pueblo Magico: Diana and Rick Nash at Circle Z Ranch, Marcey Olajos, Ron and Janice Pulliam, Quentin Lewton and Annie McGreevy, Dianne Ladd and Bruce Holland, the Women’s Alchemy Guild and many more.
Aissa Huerta, director of the La Linea Gallery, and Evan Kory, Arts Director, Santa Cruz County, School Superintendent’s Office, were hosts for the event on the Arizona side and Tony Plak, a well known muralist, hosted the event at his Churea Creative Space on the Sonoran side.
Selby’s vision for these showings and others to come is “building a cross-border community through shared art and music.”
She is already at work with new ideas and has been inspired by the response from the Nogales audiences and follow-up calls from other artists interested in expanding cross-border connections.
Selby plans additional local showings of “Pueblo Magico” in Patagonia and Tucson, perhaps before the holidays, as well as other sites, and will be distributing the film online soon. Selby can be contacted at linx.selby@gmail.com