Hell or Hot Water and Other 16mm Films

An evening of films 16mm films from the Basement Films archive, live musical performance by The Flute Loops, and the world premiere of Hell or Hot Water at the historic El Cortez Theater in Truth or Consequences, NM.

Hell or Hot Water (2025) is an experimental “hot tub western,” created by an ensemble of New Mexican artists and filmed in Truth or Consequences.

The film is an irreverent reimagining of the western film genre, playing with the vocabulary of Hollywood – saloon, showdown, dust, card game, fate, death – to create a campy surreal pastiche. The project was inspired by underground films of the 1950’s-70’s, such as Andy Warhol’s Lonesome Cowboys (1968), Kenneth Anger’s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo (1970), and Sheila Page’s Women’s Happy Time Commune (1972) — filmed by Truth or Consequence’s own Ariel Dougherty.

Hell or Hot Water was created in an anarchic, potluck-style: each player came up with their own character and costume, and the ensemble developed scene ideas together. The project was shot on rolls of expired 16mm film with a hand-wound Bolex film camera and all the sound in the film was sourced from vinyl records and cassette tape recordings.

The filmmakers/ensemble include Beth Hansen, Jenette Isaacson, Lacey Chrisco, Chandler Wigton, Alys Griego, Joseph Reeves, Holly Adams, Leon Rael, Ariel Dougherty, Charlotte, Nina Fonoroff, and James Riedeman. Made with equipment and film support from Basement Films.