GRANTS, NM Filmmaker, Peter DuBois of Las Vegas, Nevada has roots in Grants, New Mexico. He granted the Cibola Citizen an interview to discuss his film “Thunderbird Lanes”, which will be shown October 19th at the Santa Fe International Film Festival.
“Most of my family lives out there, so I go to New Mexico usually once or twice a year.”
He and his family also enjoy bowling. When in Grants they play at Thunderbird Lanes on Jefferson Ave.
“We started going to the bowling alley a few years ago and I always wanted to film it. I didn't know what kind of project it would end up being, but I wanted to shoot it at some point.”
The filmmaker noticed the difference between the lanes his family was used to playing at in Las Vegas, and the Thunderbird Lanes.
“Most of them are inside of casinos, and you know, there's like 50-80 lanes. You go there (Thunderbird Lanes), there's like 8 lanes, or something like that, and when you walk in the vibe is completely different. It's so retro and so genuine, authentic, and it's really unlike anything that I've ever experienced.”
DuBois was so comfortable and impressed that he told his partner about the lanes.
“I mentioned the bowling alley and possibly doing a documentary, depending on how it worked out when I talked to Sandra Encino, the owner. I didn't know if she would be willing to do it or not, or share her story. So I reached out to Sandra Encino, and she was all for it. She was down, and you know she was excited to do it.”
After talking with Sandra and a little more about her story, he knew this project was the one he wanted to do. The resulting story is Encino’s personal experience with the Lanes. It is about the history and struggles Encino has conquered over her years with Thunderbird Lanes.
“Once I learned her story it became much more personal, and something, a story, that I really wanted to tell.”
What sparked his interest in doing a documentary about a tiny bowling alley in Grants?
“There's lots of bowling alleys. Pretty much it came down to the authenticity. You go in there and it's like, it's truly unique… so rich and you know, I just wanted to explore more of that, I wanted to learn the background in (the) bowling alley itself, because once I learned, you know, it's been around for over 60 years, I've just wanted to learn more, and I wanted to learn more about her story.”
Dubois’ research led him to the year 1958 for when the bowling alley building was built by a man named Jack Dyer. Not much later, it was sold, in 1959, to a member of the Elkins family which traded it amongst family members. But from those dates, it wasn’t possible to discern the elusive Sandra’s age.
How did the film attract the interest of the Santa Film Festival?
“So I submitted, a while ago, I think it was back in like April or May, when I submitted to them. I found out one morning, they just emailed me, and they said ‘Congratulations! You're film Thunderbird Lanes has been accepted to the 60 Annual Santa Fe International Film Festival.’ So that's how I found out.”
DuBois will be attending the film festival along with his co-director, producer, and cinematographer, Sinai Basua. DuBois, who specializes in camerawork, is responsible for the editing.
The Festival will take place over four days, the 16th through the 20th of October. The 7 minute film “Thunderbird Lanes”, sponsored by New Mexico True, will be shown in the Short Film category at the Jea Cocteau Cinema. A few of the other categories are: Documentary Features, Narrative Feature, Film – In Competition, Indigenous Film, and New Mexico Film.
A Lifetime Achievements Award will be presented to Bryan Cranston, also on the 19th, at the Lensic Theatre. The full schedule can be found at Schedule | Santa Fe International Film Festival (eventive.org).
May I presume to say that we all wish DuBois’s film a successful screening. He has reached out to our Cibola Arts Council for a future screening at their W. Santa Fe Avenue location. Once again, our Arts Council attracts culturally enriching content to share.