Basement Films

Basement Films Serving up experimental, undependent, and under-represented film and video since 1991 There Basement Films houses a collection of roughly 8,000 orphaned films.

Basement Films is a nonprofit, volunteer-run microcinema for experimental, undependent, and under-represented forms of film and video making. We serve as a resource for artists, filmmakers, and students interested in exploring new approaches to moving image art. Our headquarters are located at the UNM Cinematic Arts Department building out at Mesa del Sol, in the yawning desert just south of the ABQ airport. The collection consists of 16mm educational films and religious films, 8mm films an home movies, 35 film slides, and educational filmstrips dating mostly from the 1950's through 1980's. We are very happy to be partnered with UNM Cinematic Arts Department, who are so graciously providing a clean, well-lighted place for this collection. Every April, Basement Films produces Experiments in Cinema: a film festival that celebrates recent trends in international cinematic experimentation. This 5-day event consists of film screenings, lectures, workshops, and thoughtful dialogue, always. http://www.experimentsincinema.com/

Basement Films screening in London this weekend! Against all Odds: AlbuquerqueSaturday, Sept 26, 2026 - 8:30pmAt Close-U...
09/24/2026

Basement Films screening in London this weekend!

Against all Odds: Albuquerque
Saturday, Sept 26, 2026 - 8:30pm
At Close-Up Cinema

Curated by Karel Doing Karel Doing and Basement Films’ Beth Hansen, the third edition of the programme series Against all Odds focuses on Albuquerque’s Basement Films.

Close-Up makes film culture and history accessible through its cinema programmes and library. Established in 2005, Close-Up is the most comprehensive independent film resource in London. Close-Up’s film programmes present a series of films that shaped the art of cinema and its history including regular special events with filmmakers present to discuss their work.

Think of a Cloud
Jeremy Rourke, 2024, 11 min
I brought my camera and guitar to a residency at Basement Films in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The films were waiting in the cans. The lyrics were waiting in the titles. Dreams were dreamt in a magical trailer in the desert
Jeremy Rourke

Objective, Objective, Repeat
Peter Lisignoli, 2014, 4 min
Objective, Objective, Repeat is a collaboration with composer Chris Frain in which the repeated arpeggios echo the looped square frame at the centre of the moving image. The resulting flicker film oscillates between negative, and reversal 16mm film prints of leaf material fed through an optical printer. Hole punched, taped, and digitally re-photographed, the faint microscopic footage of the leaf veins blurs the distinction between organic and inorganic forms.
Peter Lisignoli

Hell or Hot Water
Beth Hansen and Jenette Isaacson, 2024, 16 min
Hell or Hot Water is an experimental reimagining of the western genre, playing with the vocabulary of Hollywood film (saloon, showdown, dust, cards, fate, death) to create a camp pastiche and a counterpoint to the bleak, machismo individualism endemic to western films
Beth Lou

Do You Want To Go Down This Way, Or Go Back The Way We Came?
Bryan Konefsky, 2023, 6 min
An essay film by Bryan Konefsky that uses the lens of loss and grief to explore intersections between memory and artifact
Bryan Konefsky

Beth Hansen, 2025, 4 min
The Rio Grande reached Albuquerque 7 million years ago. Sit on your heels at the edge of the wat

For all our pals who will be in the NYC area in the coming weeks, please check out Toney Merritt's brilliant and much de...
09/15/2026

For all our pals who will be in the NYC area in the coming weeks, please check out Toney Merritt's brilliant and much deserved retrospective at Anthology Film Archives.

📽️CALL FOR FILMS! 📽️Submissions for the 2027 edition of Experiments in Cinema open now through November 1st.Seeking expe...
08/02/2026

📽️CALL FOR FILMS! 📽️Submissions for the 2027 edition of Experiments in Cinema open now through November 1st.

Seeking experimental essay films, film poems, portrait films, structural films, post-structural films, post-post-structural film, underground films, abstract films, experimental narratives, experimental documentaries, transgressive films, dance films, political rant films, video installations, expanded cinema performances, and more.

Submit through FilmFreeway:
www.filmfreeway.com/experimentsincinema

Experiments in Cinema strives to create an artist-centered, collaborative and critically engaged experience for all our attendees. We remain committed to paying screening fees to all included artists.

Experiments in Cinema v22.3 will take place April 15-18, 2027 in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the .cinema. The festival will be viewable online from April 29-May 11, 2027.

Huge thank you to MoMAZoZo for hosting us for a screening of Hell or Hot Water and other experimental films at the Lyric...
07/27/2026

Huge thank you to MoMAZoZo for hosting us for a screening of Hell or Hot Water and other experimental films at the Lyric Theater this past weekend! Paula Wilson, Visual Artist based in Carrizozo, New Mexico and Mike Lagg have created such a magical space and event series in Carrizozo, and we had a blast spending time with them. Thanks to the Carrizozo community members for welcoming us coming out to watch the program!

We’re excited to share a program of films at the historical Lyric Theater at MoMAZoZo in Carrizozo, NM on Friday, July 2...
07/15/2026

We’re excited to share a program of films at the historical Lyric Theater at MoMAZoZo in Carrizozo, NM on Friday, July 24th at HIGH NOON!

The screening will feature Hell or Hot Water (2025) as well as short films by members of the Hot Tub Western Ensemble and 16mm films from the Basement Films 📽🎞🎥📼📽 archive. Flute Loops, an anarchic amateur flute ensemble, will perform a live musical score. This event is FREE!

Hell or Hot Water (2025) is an experimental “hot tub western,” created by an ensemble of New Mexico based artists (many of whom are members of Basement Films!) and filmed in Truth or Consequences, NM. The film is an irreverent reimagining of the western genre, playing with the familiar vocabulary of Hollywood - saloon, showdown, dust, card game, fate, death - to create a dreamy camp pastiche. The project took inspiration from such films as Andy Warhol’s Lonesome Cowboys (1968), Kenneth Anger’s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), and Sheila Page’s Women’s Happy Time Commune (1972).

We hope to see you there! 💦

Friday, July 24, 2026
12pm
503 12th St
Carrizozo, NM

Last Day of Experiments in Cinema v21.5!!! Full Sunday of film programs, all showing at the . Experiment 10 - 1:00 - 2:...
04/19/2026

Last Day of Experiments in Cinema v21.5!!!
Full Sunday of film programs, all showing at the .

Experiment 10 - 1:00 - 2:00pm (99 Ho**er live)
Experiment 11 - 2:45 - 4:15pm (EXiS Festival)
Experiment 12 - 4:45 - 6:15pm (Dance on Film)
Experiment 13 - 7:45 - 8:45pm

Conversations with the filmmakers after each program. Filmmakers present with films showing today!

99 Ho**er
Rosie Trump
John Akre
Mark Street
David Sherman .sherman.560

Full program information at experimentincinema.org. For those outside of Albuquerque, programs will be viewab le online April 28 - May 10, pay what you want.

Day 3 of Experiments in Cinema v21.5! A beautiful Saturday for experimental cinema! All programs at the . Experiment 8 -...
04/18/2026

Day 3 of Experiments in Cinema v21.5!
A beautiful Saturday for experimental cinema! All programs at the .

Experiment 8 - 4:30 - 6:00 (Q***r X 3.0)
Experiment 9 - 7:30 - 9:00

Conversations with the filmmakers after each program. Filmmakers present with films showing today!

Peggy Ahwesh
Csanad Baksa-Soos .baksasoos
Rebecca Barten
Lily Greene .b.greene
Toney Merritt
Rankin Renwick

Full program information at experimentincinema.org. For those outside of Albuquerque, programs will be viewable online April 28 - May 10, pay what you want.

Day 2 of Experiments in Cinema v21.5! All programs at the Experiment 4 - 1:00 - 1:45pmExperiment 5 - 2:30 - 4:00pmExper...
04/17/2026

Day 2 of Experiments in Cinema v21.5!
All programs at the

Experiment 4 - 1:00 - 1:45pm
Experiment 5 - 2:30 - 4:00pm
Experiment 6 - 4:45 - 6:00pm
Experiment 7 - 7:30 - 9:00pm

Conversations with the filmmakers after each program. Filmmakers present with films showing today!

Alison Johnson
Lynne Sachs
Nina Fonoroff
Rebecca Barten
Dominic Angerame

Full program information at experimentincinema.org. For those outside of Albuquerque, programs will be viewable online April 28 - May 10, pay what you want

Day 1 of 4 of Experiments in Cinema v21.5! A full Thursday afternoon of artist films from around the world, all screeni...
04/16/2026

Day 1 of 4 of Experiments in Cinema v21.5!

A full Thursday afternoon of artist films from around the world, all screening at the beloved Guild Cinema. $10 for a full day pass. Grab popcorn, grab a program, and open your mind to the experiments!

Experiment 1 - 2:00 - 4:00pm
Experiment 2 - 5:30 - 7:00pm
Experiment 3 - 7:45 - 9:15pm

Conversations with the filmmakers after each program. Filmmakers present with films showing today!

Susan DeLeo susan deleo
Mélissa Faivre
Salise Hughes Salise Hughes
Heidi Kumao Heidi Kumao
James Lawrence fredricksbrooke
Diane Noreen Diane Nerwen
Lynn Silverman
Yinan Wang Yinan Wang
Kit Young Kit Young

Full program information at experimentincinema.org. For those outside of Albuquerque who can’t attend in person, all programs will be viewable online April 28 - May 10, pay what you want.

More tomorrow….

Highlights EICv21.5 Experiment 13 Sunday, April 18 at 7:45-8:45 Film stills: 🎞 “BETTER LIGHTING” by Kathryn Ramey🎞 “Spi...
04/16/2026

Highlights EICv21.5 Experiment 13
Sunday, April 18 at 7:45-8:45

Film stills:
🎞 “BETTER LIGHTING” by Kathryn Ramey
🎞 “Spirit Away” by Sally Cloninger
🎞 “Prefer Not To Say” by Tommy Becker

All programs screen at the Guild Cinema in Albuquerque. $10 for a full day pass.
Full program details at experimentsincinema.org

Address

1415 4th St SW
Albuquerque, NM
87102

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