From Friday, December 5 through Tuesday, December 9, 2025, Deaf Santa Claus had its New Mexico Premiere at The Guild Cinema in Albuquerque — a five-day run at 5:30 PM each evening that became one of the strongest community-event stops on the entire national tour. The Guild, a beloved independent cinema at 3405 Central Ave NE in the Nob Hill neighborhood, is Albuquerque’s oldest still-running movie theater (operating since 1966) and one of the most respected independent venues in the Southwest.
The Guild’s programmers chose the film based on its festival-circuit reviews — the Awards Buzz blurb featured prominently in venue marketing — and on the foundation’s track record of accessibility-first programming. The December run was presented with open captions throughout, and ASL interpreters were available for community Q&A nights. The screening drew strong audiences from across New Mexico — local Albuquerque viewers, traveling audiences from Santa Fe and Las Cruces, and Deaf community members from the broader Southwest.
The response was strong enough that The Guild brought the film back for an extended theatrical engagement running April 30 through June 28, 2026 — the longest single-venue run of the entire national tour. For the foundation, the Guild’s two bookings are the proof point that this story can sustain itself in front of audiences not just for one screening but for weeks at a time.
