Southwest Anime lovers flower at festival

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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Hundreds of people dressed in brightly colored costumes, wielding plastic weapons ranging from the largest Styrofoam swords to the smallest light-up magic wands, telling heroic tales of giant robots, ninjas, death gods, magical girls and samurai flocked to New Mexico State University’s Corbett Center. Las Cruces Anime Days, the region’s premiere Anime and Japanese culture festival now in its second year of celebration drew the motley crowd on a Saturday in late January. Crossing the halls between the Artist Alley, Dealer’s Room, event rooms, karaoke, video gaming rooms and panels, the images that surround the crowd couldn’t be more different from one another. At one table, original volume of manga, depicts the semi-realistic lives of students in high school. At another you could find an independent artist selling uniquely styled glassware and embroidery.

Filmmaker Guillermo Arriaga Portraits ‘Other’ Realities of the Border

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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Whether it’s a giant fence separating Mexico and the United States or a less tangible barrier like language between people, borders are evident in most of director Guillermo Arriaga’s films. His latest, The Burning Plain, is set in the city of  Las Cruces, New Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border. “We’re tired that this is just a place of drugs and immigration. It’s also a place of love stories,” said Arriaga, at a press conference for a screening of his new film in Las Cruces. “Of course, there are also tensions because of it, but they are not the only reality.”

Arriaga has made a career telling the stories of ordinary people whose lives are intertwined in ways they never realized. The Burning Plain is no different and follows the story of several different people in different parts of the country.