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.

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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 CaptionOpen CaptionU.S. Only- less

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
Gabe Fazio

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.

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