High Noon in Santa Fe

Talking Films with Friends in Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Israel

Welcome from the site of ancient inscriptions in stone along a lava wall in Santa Fe, New Mexico, carvings that date back hundred of years, between the 13th and 17th centuries or even earlier in some accounts, from 8000 to 2000 BC. Perhaps the unknown person who wrote on stone wished to express a basic human desire for connection: I was here and I want you to see me as a fellow human being.

We see the same impulse with a new video on my YouTube channel—Santa Fe at Noon—participants from Serbia, Bulgaria, Israel, Russia and myself in the USA gathered on the internet to discuss films and filmmaking, with added clips from documentaries that I directed.

We call the interview, Santa Fe at Noon, originating from Moscow and organized by Nikolay Simankov. I met Nikolay eight years ago when the US State Department sponsored my travel to Russia to present a film I directed on recycling, Racing to Zero, produced by Diana Fuller. The tour was coordinated with Russian organizations such as Greenpeace Russia.

As I traveled from Moscow to Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok, I presented workshops on Cinematography using phone-based cameras and offered a workshop on Environmental Filmmaking. Nikolay was the cinematographer and editor who recorded the Cinematography workshop in Moscow.

In today’s Russia, the government has already blocked social media including Facebook, YouTube, X, WhatsApp, and Instagram with restrictions on Telegram and Signal. I have been told that this month, April 2026, new internet restrictions will be introduced by the Russian government. A videoconference like Santa Fe at Noon that used Google Meet may no longer be possible in Russia due to technical restraints.

Here are excerpts from the words of Nikolay Simankov regarding his thoughts on the consequences of the interview:

“Environmental issues and water conservation are a common theme on our planet. I believe this videoconference will help strengthen much-needed trust between the people of our countries… When holding our conference, we considered the consequences of critical comments in both Russia and the US. We’re ready and willing. Give us the happy moment of seeing yourself on YouTube. Publish the video!”

Please welcome the newest addition to my YouTube channel: Santa Fe at Noon – Talking Films with Friends in Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Israel.

In my previous newsletter, I asked for financial assistance with new film projects. My request managed to raise a total of 2500 dollars from a dozen individuals, a deeply moving affirmation of my filmmaking, the first steps of a new journey.

My current plans call for a three-day location scout in mid-May or June. I will travel to explore Elephant Butte Dam on the Rio Grande, completed in 1916, at the time, the second largest irrigation dam ever built. From there I will turn southward to the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks, a land of swirling dust devils. Around the nearby town of Hatch, well-known in New Mexico as the source of Hatch chilis, I will be looking into the impact of water scarcity on the people who grow chilis.

If you are in a position to support my research and location scouting at the beginning of what I hope will lead to a new film, donations can be made at Green Planet Films. You’ll be among the first to see images from my research and share the experience of what I encounter along the roadways of Southern New Mexico.