Hot Water

United States202597 minEnglish, Arabic, French

After he’s kicked out of his Indiana high school, an American kid and his Lebanese mom hit the road west.

+ More

After he’s kicked out of his Indiana high school, an American kid and his Lebanese mom hit the road west.

Ramzi Bashour’s lyrical debut feature is a rippling reflection on westward motion. Expansive landscapes literally and narratively unfurl epic canvases large enough to hold this duo’s dual exploration of home. Lubna Azabal (Strangers, 2008 Sundance Film Festival) and Daniel Zolghadri (Lurker, 2025 Sundance Film Festival) deliver remarkably connected central performances and are joined by Festival familiar Dale Dickey (Winter’s Bone, 2010 Sundance Film Festival). A personal story tracing the impact of a longitudinal experience of this country — its variety and the unusual circumstances under which any person traverses it — grapples with definitions of home, histories of diaspora, and the disruptive but good work of education. An allegory about the way forward motion often leads to return, Hot Water brings beginnings and endings into insightful alignment. — AC

The following film contains mature content and is not recommended for audiences 17 and under.

Available in person. Also available online for the public (January 29–February 1) and credentialed press and industry (January 28–February 1).

U.S. Dramatic CompetitionAll FeaturesBIPOC StoriesFirst-Time FeaturesAction/AdventureDramaFictionClosed CaptionEnglish SubtitlesOpen CaptionU.S. Only- less

Screenings

in persononline

Jan 23, 11:30 AM MST
Premiere
Eccles Theatre
Park City
Jan 24, 9:00 AM MST
Screening
Megaplex Redstone - 1
Park City
Open Caption
Jan 25, 5:30 PM MST
Screening
Broadway Centre Cinemas - 3
Salt Lake City
Jan 29, 9:00 PM MST
Screening
The Yarrow Theatre
Park City
Jan 31, 6:00 PM MST
Screening
Holiday Village Cinemas - 3
Park City

Jan 29, 3:00 PM GMT -
Feb 2, 6:55 AM GMT
Online Screening

Credits

Director(s)
Ramzi Bashour
Screenwriter
Ramzi Bashour
Producer
Jesse Hope
Max Walker-Silverman
Josh Peters
Executive Producers
10mK
Spark Features
The Sakana Foundation
Cinereach
MacPac Entertainment
Further Adventures
Liucrative Media
Morning Moon Productions
Northwood Pictures
Adam Wyatt Tate
Co-Producers
Nathan Harrison
Nicole Townsend
Vesta Tuckute
Director of Photography
Alfonso Herrera Salcedo
Casting
Ann Goulder
Editor
Mollie Goldstein, ACE
Production Designer
Juliana Barreto Barreto
Costume Designer
Stine Dahlman
Sound Designer
Javier Umpierrez
Composer
Ramzi Bashour
James Elkington
Principal Cast
Lubna Azabal
Daniel Zolghadri
Dale Dickey

Contact
Jesse Hope
hot.water.inc.film@gmail.com

Meet the Artist

Ramzi Bashour

Ramzi Bashour is a Syrian American filmmaker based in New York. He grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, studied creative writing and music at Indiana University, and received his MFA from NYU Graduate Film. Hot Water is his first feature film as writer-director.

The Friend’s House is Here

In Tehran’s underground art scene, two young women build a blissful world of freedom and sisterhood. But when their creative circle is exposed, they must fight to save each other.

(1hr 36mins)

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Bedford Park

Haunted by an abusive childhood, Audrey, a Korean American woman in her 30s, faces her emotional past. When her mother’s car accident brings her back to her parents’ home, she meets the man responsible for the accident. Their relationship builds, passions ignite, and they form a loving connection.

(1hr 59mins)

Episodic

The Screener

An independent film screener leaks from a talent agency.

(1hr 32mins)

U.S. Dramatic Competition

The Musical

When a frustrated playwright and middle school theater teacher finds out his ex-girlfriend has started dating his nemesis, the school’s principal, he decides to ruin the principal’s chances of winning the Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence.

(1hr 27mins)