Beneath a searing desert sun, an endless landscape of sand and solitude brought together both cinepiles and history buffs alike to support a unique take on the classic western.
Tucked in a wooden cabin on Saturday, Sept. 20, the team behind the “Birth of the Acid Western” hosted a fundraiser supporting the post-production of their documentary on the filmmaker Orville Wanzer. Wanzer was a professor of film and journalism at New Mexico State University, as well as a surrealist western filmmaker.
The acid western genre, which first emerged from the counter-culture movements of the 1960s, is a film set against a western backdrop, but unapologetically engages with darker and more subversive themes, and deviates from the typical hero’s journey present in most westerns, Julia Smith said — a former NMSU film professor and the filmmaker behind “Birth of the Acid Western.”
“I hope it resonates with New Mexicans in terms of, ‘wow, this is so interesting and enriches our understanding of film history here,’” Smith said. “The goal is more about New Mexicans making films from within New Mexico that they want to make, versus ‘how can we attract Hollywood and Netflix?’”
Smith worked on preserving films in the NMSU archives, including another Wanzer project — “George Andrews” — and a host of student films made by NMSU students during the 1960s. She noted specifically the student films in the archives, for their unique place as art for art’s sake.
“It’s not like they’re sellable. There’s no money to be made. But, these films that these students made, and some of them are really good, and some of them are these time capsules of our state,” Smith said. “So I’m hoping that, student filmmaking as an art, instead of like a training ground for the industry, could be something that comes back in as well.”
The event featured tintype portraits — a form of nineteenth-century photography — as well as student films, Wanzer’s b-roll footage and twangy music by Betty Benedeadly. Attendees could also enter a raffle for merchandise, with proceeds benefitting the film.
The event also aired footage of an interview with Wanzer, where he discussed his role as a professor of journalism and film, giving a different glimpse into his personality than his filmmaking provided.
Wanzer’s best-known film is “The Devil’s Mistress,” an acid western following a young vampire woman who seduces and murders desperados to get revenge for her husband, who was gunned down by cowboys.
Tara Perrigue, a member of the “Birth of the Acid Western” production team and organizer for the event, said she first discovered “The Devil’s Mistress,” when she attended NMSU.
“(Wanzer’s) pushing against the norms, the roots of what the acid Western is, which is, not a cowboy overcoming the desert. The desert overcomes the cowboy. It’s a journey to death, typically,” Perrigue said.
Perrigue chose to hold the event at the Albuquerque Press Club because both the event and the host site honor the history of film and journalism in New Mexico, she said.
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“I always loved (the Albuquerque Press Club). We’re preserving history, we’re honoring this space, and it’s about building community,” Perrigue said.
Vanessa Clinton, an attendee of the event, went to NMSU and did not expect to have such a relationship with the screening as she did, she said.
“I wasn’t expecting that. I thought it was just gonna be a bunch of stuff that doesn’t really apply to me at all, in any way that I couldn’t relate to, but I wanted to check it out. I was like, ‘actually, I do know what you’re talking about,’” Clinton said.
Clinton was interested in the history and evolution behind the state and the event made her proud to be a New Mexican, she said.
Richard Farmer, another attendee, said the film reminds people of New Mexico’s film cultural history.
“I was glad to see just any kind of event happening at Albuquerque, of halo effect film culture here, so I’m glad to be here and support it. It’s just cool that it’s kind of rootsy and supports the independent film world,” Farmer said.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
