NEW MEXICO<\/a>\u00a0(KRQE) \u2014 For more than a decade, the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience has brought together stars from the screen and stage for a week-long celebration at venues across the city. The fan favorite might not be where it is today without the guidance and inspiration of one of Hollywood\u2019s greatest.<\/p>\nEvery September, independent cinema, music, and community take center stage as part of the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience, or \u201cAFMX\u201d to those in the know. Since its first year back in 2013, the festival has welcomed the likes of Jeff Bridges, Marisa Tomei, T Bone Burnett, Bryan Cranston, Giancarlo Esposito, and a man who knew a thing or two about film festivals himself \u2013 Hollywood icon and activist, Robert Redford.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s one of the things Bob and I connected on immediately\u2026 Relationships that were genuine and true relationships where, you wanted to do for other people, where you could,\u201d said AFMX Founder Ivan Wiener. He has a long history of connecting people. In the early 2000s, he found himself working as a concierge in DC at the infamous Watergate hotel.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, when, when we first really sat down to talk and, he asked me, you know, about my background,\u201d said Ivan. \u201cAnd when I told him I was the head concierge of the Watergate hotel, that turned into, like, a two hour conversation just about All the President\u2019s Men.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two men originally met at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. Ivan was working as a personal assistant for the late actor Dennis Hopper at that time, and accompanied the \u201cEasy Rider\u201d star to a film premiere in Utah.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we arrived in Salt Lake City, you know, take a limo from the airport up to the hotel in Park City. And, that evening, he said, hey, we\u2019re going to a party. You know, it\u2019s just invite only, you know, make sure you dress nice. And so, Dennis has always dress really impeccably. Well, whenever he went to events. And, we get to this event and Robert Redford\u2019s there, I\u2019m like, oh, well, the founder of Sundance and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,\u201d said Ivan.<\/p>\n
When we asked Ivan what meeting Redford was like, this is what he said. \u201cSo, you know, so I met him very briefly. I mean, the room was abuzz and of course, you know, he he founded Sundance, you know, so I was just like, wow, Robert Redford, I, you know, I don\u2019t get starstruck because of the industry that I was in as a concierge and took care of so many people over the years and, you know, when Bob walked up to say hi to Dennis and I shook his hand, it was just\u2026 When he said, \u2018hey, very nice to meet you,’\u201d said Ivan. \u201c\u2026This sincere look in his eye of him not being a movie star, but him being this incredible human being that\u2019s bringing people together and connecting people\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a similar role Ivan has played throughout his professional life, and a guiding principle of AFMX. In 2012, Ivan was contacted by staff of Former Mayor Richard Berry\u2019s office, pressing him to curate a film festival in the Duke City, in the wake of the now-defunct \u201cAlbuquerque Film Festival.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then I got a call from Bob himself directly, and he was like, what do we need to do to create an event here in New Mexico that does have betterment for the community? And that\u2019s where I came up with the ten page business plan for AFMX,\u201d said Ivan. \u201cSo, I called Bob\u2019s assistance, scheduled a time to go to the house, took the business plan with me, walked in, sat down with Billy and Bob. They read through it and Bob just clapped his hands with that Redford smile and said, \u2018Fantastic. Let\u2019s move forward and getting this done, I\u2019m going to be your first guest.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Redford was no stranger to New Mexico\u2019s long legacy of filmmaking. He directed the academy-award winning picture, \u201cThe Milagro Beanfield War\u201d throughout northern New Mexico \u2013 his second gig in the director\u2019s chair after winning the Oscar for \u201cOrdinary People\u201d on his first outing in 1981. He later served as executive producer on \u201cDrunktown\u2019s Finest,\u201d as well as the AMC series, \u201cDark Winds.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while Redford is considered Hollywood royalty, he always kept his feet on the ground, focused on the work. \u201cAt the festival, after his experience at AFMX , he came to me and he was just like, \u2018you\u2019re ten years ahead of where we were in our first year of Sundance,’\u201d said Ivan. \u201cAnd I couldn\u2019t believe it. I couldn\u2019t let that sink in because, you know, I\u2019m thinking, this is Robert Redford. You know, one of the biggest movie stars in the world who started Sundance and, you know, invited as independent film friends there. But he was up front of the Egyptian Theater in year one of Sundance. Handing out tickets for free, trying to get people to come in. The town of Park City did not want that attention on their little sleepy ski town. What it\u2019s turned into now is $500 million a year in economic impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the years, Ivan says the Redford family continued their support and guidance for AFMX, as well as developing a close friendship. As the world mourned the passing of Robert Redford in September of 2025, the festival staff and army of volunteers continued their mission of collaboration and creative networking in the spirit of the Sundance founder.<\/p>\n
And as Ivan says, one thing\u2019s for sure\u2026 Redford\u2019s impact on New Mexico\u2019s film community will live on for generations to come. \u201cI always go back to, you know, if it wasn\u2019t for Redford\u2019s being involved with the festival, it would not be what it is today,\u201d said Ivan.<\/p>\n
Festival organizers held a celebration of Redford\u2019s life this past September at the festival.
Film submissions for AFMX 2026 will open next month.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 – Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albuquerque Film and Music Experience Founder talks on Robert Redford\u2019s impact NEW MEXICO\u00a0(KRQE) \u2014 For more than a decade, the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience has brought together stars from the screen and stage for a week-long celebration at venues across the city. The fan favorite might not be where it is today without the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2166116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[415911,373116,387433,38966,323890,415910,349037,360069,333528,304789],"class_list":["post-2166115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-billy-and-bob","tag-butch-cassidy-and-the-sundance-kid","tag-dennis-hopper","tag-film-festivals","tag-giancarlo-esposito","tag-ivan-wiener","tag-jeff-bridges","tag-marisa-tomei","tag-robert-redford","tag-sundance-film-festival"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Albuquerque-Film-and-Music-Experience-Founder-talks-on-Robert-Redfords.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2166115"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2166117,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166115\/revisions\/2166117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2166116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2166115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2166115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2166115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}