One of the brothers introduced him to the film Los Olvidados by the Spanish-French-Mexican surrealist filmmaker Luis Bunuel which influenced him greatly.

[2] Reggio worked with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico in 1972, to develop a media campaign dealing with the loss of privacy and the rise of surveillance, as well as the militarization of police in the U.S. during the post-Vietnam War era.

His short film Evidence explores the effect of cinema on the minds of children, and his documentary Anima Mundi is a montage of images of over seventy animal species.

[13] In an interview with Revus et Corriges, Reggio stated that he was particularly influenced by the work of experimental filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage and Maya Deren.

Like these filmmakers, Reggio uses film as a medium for exploring the boundaries of perception and consciousness, using the camera as a tool for capturing the unseen and the intangible.