LAST DITCH
P. Antonio Márquez
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LOGLINE
Period Thriller Short Film
Near the end of the Mexican-American War, two hunted rogues hiding in an irrigation ditch must choose between freedom and risking their lives one last time to save a child from a brutal U.S. frontiersman.
SYNOPSIS
Two men on the run, MIGUEL, a Mexicano, and BATO, a native of Taos Pueblo, bear witness from the shadows to the hanging of their fellow rebels by the American Army in the last days of the Mexican-American war. They make for a getaway into the larger New Mexico territory—where they find themselves hiding in an irrigation ditch in front of a large Hacienda. Bato is wounded from a gunshot and they are desperate for rest and help, out of musket-balls and water. The woman in the Hacienda, CECILIA, is white, so she could potentially help them—or turn them in to the army.
Then a rider comes along the road dividing the ditch from the hacienda. TAGGART, a brutish frontier army scout who hides behind a gentlemanly demeanor. And from the opposite direction comes a CHILD, traveling with a basket of wool. Soon it becomes all too clear the child is in danger from Taggart as the two unseen in the ditch overhear everything above them.
Miguel and Bato must decide if they are going to chance escape taking the last ditch to the Rio Grande, or if they will risk their lives one last time to save the Child. Even Cecilia must decide where her loyalties must lie as a bloody and climatic confrontation reaches its boiling point, at the Last Ditch.
WRITER / DIRECTOR ARTISTIC STATEMENT
Last Ditch is a tale told from the point of view of an irrigation ditch where our two war-weary protagonists are hidden. They aren’t soldiers. They’re farmers who fought, and right now they can’t use the ditch to water their fields, but maybe they can use it to survive. Based on the historical Taos Revolt that occurred in New Mexico during the Mexican-American War, Last Ditch is a story as yet untold on screen of Mexicano and Indigenous co-resistance against what we would now call war crimes. It’s a buddy comedy that turns into a harrowing thriller of violent consequences. This is history seemingly long past, but as I write this a new army is patrolling our country hunting primarily brown people. Being indigenous to the land doesn't matter if you don’t fit the image of the powers that be. This is a riveting and urgent tale whose parallels to our current world speak for themselves and ask what’s worth fighting and dying for.
P. Antonio Márquez, Writer and Director.
P. Antonio Márquez is native to the Southwest where he writes, directs, and produces independent award-winning films. He grew up part time in Santa Fe, and on a family ranch in Antonito, CO. He is a recipient of the inaugural MACEF Filmmaker Grant 2021 for his short film “¡Baca the Kid!” a producer of the 2024 short documentary “Voces de Latinidad” for the National Hispanic Cultural Center, a recipient of the 2025 Santa Fe Film Institute Los Luceros Grant and a 2025-26 Stowe Storylabs New Voices•New Mexico Fellow. He continues to practice art and agriculture in the high desert.
Mackenzie “Maz” Flores Reyes, Producer.
Mackenzie "Maz" Flores Reyes is a queer Tejano, Fronterizo & Euro-American filmmaker based in Santa Fe. Maz cut their teeth in Baltimore’s warehouse art scene producing and directing music videos, underground theatrical works, and site-specific performance. After joining IATSE in 2018, she worked primarily as a costume department coordinator on high-pressure union episodic projects in the DC area. In 2024 they moved to New Mexico to pursue indie producing and focus on writing and developing personal projects. Maz is currently working as a producer and video editor.
Dan Noah, Producer.
Dan Noah has worked in the NM film scene for over two decades. In that time, he has worked on over thirty films and TV series, including westerns like The Harder They Fall & Godless. Primarily work in the Art & Construction departments, he specializes in budgeting, tracking, purchasing and getting the maximum rebate possible for the production. Although he has worked on several big budget production, he takes a real joy in working on smaller, independent projects. Shows like that rely on creativity and ingenuity rather than solving problems by spending money.
Forrest Goodluck, Actor and Producer.
Forrest Goodluck made his onscreen debut in The Revenant, and has continued to work in front of and behind the camera, producing, and acting in, How To Blow Up a Pipeline, and most recently in AMC’s Dark Winds. Goodluck’s work has premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival, Santa Fe International Film Festival and LA Skins Festival, and has earned recognition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Goodluck is a Sundance Institute 2015 Full Circle Fellow. A member of the Diné, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian tribes, Goodluck currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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