Las Vegas Optic

‘Burn, scar’ Premieres at Indigo Theater

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“Burn scar” is a popular shortcut term locals have been using to describe the vast devastated disaster area of the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon wildfire which raged during spring and summer of 2022 in Mora and San Miguel Counties. Now ‘Burn, scar’ is a deeply moving documentary movie about the tragic fire and a few of its survivors.

‘Burn, scar’ will make its theatrical debut at Indigo Theater on Friday, Oct. 30 for an exclusive one-week run.

Taos filmmaker Hillary Bachelder has produced and directed ‘Burn, scar,’ which won the Best New Mexico feature at the Santa Fe International Film Festival on October 19, 2026. Bachelder is an award-winning documentary director, cinematographer and editor with roots in Chicago. Among her many honors and film credits are the Emmy award winning “The Flagmakers,” Emmy winner “Trials of Mohammad Ali,” and work on the New York Times’ Edward R. Murrow award winning series.

‘Burn, scar’ interprets the deep emotional and economic trauma caused by the fire through the recovery narratives of Mora County residents Ernie Lovato, Martin Romero, and Rio Arriba County residents Moises Morales and Antonio “Ike” DeVargas. Additionally, the survivors’ struggles to secure recovery compensation from FEMA is depicted through the efforts of attorney Antonia Roybal-Mack, a Mora native.

‘Burn, scar’ provides an historical context for northern New Mexican suspicion and distrust of federal agencies and oversight of public lands which preceded the wildfire by at least a century. Historical footage and interviews filmed during the Reies Tijerina raid on the Tierra Amarilla County Courthouse in 1967 illuminate the loss of common grazing lands of the traditional land grant management jurisdiction before the Mexican War of 1846.

A counterpoint to the local anger and scorn is provided by U.S. Forest Service employees Angie Krall and Dennis Carril, who are anguished by the mismanagement of the prescribed burn on April 6, 2022 that eventually took nearly six months and 3000 fire fighters to extinguish.

Through the eyes of the local survivors in burn, scar and Bachelder’s inspired cinematography, the surreal beauty of the seared forest lands provides a bittersweet stage for the frustrations with time, and money and the unrelenting seasons.

Hillary Bachelder will be present at the movie’s premiere screenings on Friday, Oct. 30 for Q & A. Advance tickets for the performances of burn, scar are recommended and available at the theater’s website www.indigotheater.rocks or at the box office during regular showtimes.

Las Vegas Optic reports