LIBRARY STORIES:
Books on the Backroads
A Documentary About New Mexico’s Rural Libraries
by Ben Daitz & Mary Lance
There are over 50 rural libraries in New Mexico. They are the educational and cultural centers of their small towns, villages, and tribal communities, and critically important to their social well-being. Rural Libraries have wonderful stories to tell. Have a look at some!
Our Current Work
2019
is a documentary about one of the most innovative and far-reaching health initiatives on our planet. It is narrated by Peter Coyote.
Project ECHO began In 2003 at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, developed to meet the challenge of an epidemic of hepatitis C, an epidemic caused by heroin addiction...MORE
2019
This year, 55 million Americans will spend about 55 billion dollars on the medicine in marijuana. In 31 states and the District of Columbia, they will use it for a myriad of medical conditions. They will depend on so-called bud-tenders to give them anecdotal advice about the frequency and dosage of cannabis, a plant with over 400 different chemical molecules, and still classified as a schedule 1 drug, having no medical use and a high potential for abuse...MORE
About the Film Makers
Ben Daitz is Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, a writer, and documentary filmmaker. His many films have been screened and honored by PBS, American Public Television, and film festivals. Recent documentaries include: “The Sun Never Sets”, about Española, New Mexico’s Rio Grande Sun, one of the best small-town newspapers in the country, screened at multiple festivals and The Newseum in Washington, D.C.; “The Medicine in Marijuana”, a scientific look at the plant and people who use it, co-produced with Ned Judge, and aired on NM PBS; and the latest, “Project ECHO: A Democracy of Knowledge”, about an extraordinary world health project, aired on NM PBS and PBS affiliates around the country. Ben’s novel, Delivery, was named to the Best of the Southwest. He has been a contributing writer for the New York Times, the Atlantic, Undark, and Eclectica.
Ned Judge is a writer; producer and director. He is also an experienced DP and editor. Ned has done documentaries and short features for NBC, PBS, Discovery, National Geographic and Turner Broadcasting, among others, and has won numerous accolades, including two Emmys and the duPont-Columbia Award. He directed and produced a four-hour series based on Pulitzer Prize winner Laurie Garrett’s book “The Coming Plague”. He did a film with the environmental author Ed Abbey, entitled, “I Loved it All”, one of the few projects Abbey did for television Ned more recently produced feature segments for the PBS series Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
Dale Sonnenberg is a nationally recognized and honored documentary filmmaker, videographer, editor, teacher and technological innovator. His awards include: six regional Emmys, Six CPB gold and silver awards among many others. Dale has filmed for the Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, and network television. A few among many documentary productions include: “What Does Normal Mean?”, about children with disabilities in public schools, and “The Truth or Consequences of Delmas Howe,” screened at numerous film festivals, and, he was Director of Photography for the feature film “Jim.” His most recent documentary is about Reyes Lopez Tijerina, land grant activist and provacatour.