Annie is an award-winning independent filmmaker from Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA. She enjoys the art of storytelling and finds passion in documentary filmmaking, especially when it works to bring attention to the complicated relationship between humans and our environment. As a poet, writer, musician and artist, she uses her emotions and feelings to dive deep into her own relationships with the world around her. She was awarded Outstanding Undergraduate at New Mexico State University, where she graduated in 2023. Annie is currently completing a documentary about her time abroad in Australia.
I live in the desert where our river, the Rio Grande, is dammed and released for irrigation each season. I’ve learned to celebrate when the water comes. To get closer to the cycles of each season, dry or wet. How can something man-made bring me closer to the cycle of nature? I explore that complicated relationship in my own life and reflect that in this film.
Modern conveniences have not only made us comfortable but far away from the cycle of nature. I think the first step to Regeneration is to get close to what we have lost. Regeneration is listening and feeling what is around us. Analysing our relationships and hearing the Earth's heartbeat. Hearing that thump and finding out what will make it beat harder and louder for everyone. Getting out into nature teaches me everything I need to know. She teaches us how to live within our bounds. She teaches us about ourselves. She lets us know, the heat makes us proud of rain. Only in balance and grace do you comprehend true beauty. For these lessons, my gratitude is endless.
