Lost in New Mexico: The Strange Tale of Susan Hero is an American independent film shot in and around Albuquerque, Mountainaire, and Grants, New Mexico. The movie was one of the first independent New Mexico films to receive a production rebate from the NM Film Incentives program. Post production began in the US and continued in Southeast Asia, where Jason Rosette had relocated for work; final editing was completed in Lower Manhattan, with delivery of the final cut in 2009. A remastered version was delivered in 2018; an AI-enhanced version and visual novel are currently in production.
A Pioneering Movie
Lost in New Mexico is notable for its all-local New Mexican cast and crew, even though the production had no funding requirement to hire accordingly. This was simply part of a goal of accurate representation in a story involving authentic local New Mexican characters.
Shows like Breaking Bad, which came to New Mexico several years later, benefited from the creative risk-taking of local films like this one. It's often smaller indie productions that push topical boundaries first — independent film in New Mexico helped prepare a more receptive environment for the edgier mainstream content that followed.
Diverse Local Cast & Crew
The film was far ahead of its time in terms of on-screen representation: a majority of cast and crew are POC, mainly Latino and Native American.
Helmed by the filmmaker just after completing his feature documentary BookWars, the film has a gritty, improvisational style reminiscent of John Cassavetes and Nicolas Roeg — though the screenplay itself was thoroughly written and rewritten over three years.
Finally, the film broke new ground with its creative handling of uncommon themes including illegal immigration and human cloning.
The hook of Lost in New Mexico is its human cloning element and the ethical questions that very real dilemma raises. While controversial issues like this are certainly compelling, the film really shines when it explores the emotional implications of such drastic thinking
- Eric M. Armstrong, The Moving Arts Film Journal
The premise, the characters and the general spirit of this movie make it more than another out-of-the-box Indie flick...If Pet Sematary and The Mexcian were ran headfirst into one another, the result might be this movie. That said, it’s definitely a fun little Sunday afternoon film to check out.
- Katie Wynne, Rogue Cinema
This atmospheric and moody no-budget feature shot around the city of Albuquerque is aptly marketed by its resourceful director as "a sci-fi cloning road movie for the 21st century."
- Robert A. Sica, Library Journal
New Mexico & Independent Film
Lost in New Mexico was made in 2003-2004 with an all-local cast and crew, just prior to the state's emergence as a major film and TV production hub. Writer-director Jason Rosette had already worked on several New Mexico productions, including the Sam Elliott feature Desperate Trail, and edited his first scripted drama (Charlie's Box) and first feature documentary (BookWars) in Albuquerque in the early-to-mid '90s. He returned in 2003 to cast and produce this film out of fondness for the state's landscapes, locations, and people.
It was one of the first independent films to shoot in New Mexico under the newly established New Mexico Film Office incentives program, and one of twenty feature films recognized as shooting in the state that year. Despite its micro-budget, the production secured a rebate from that program. At the time, the Screen Actor's Guild had no microbudget feature agreement in place, so the director took a voluntary hiatus from the union to appear in his own film, since the workman's comp fee to appear in it himself would have exceeded the production's entire budget.
Dust-Up!
Some controversy followed the production after the director wrote a letter to then-Governor Richardson's film office, encouraging the development of local New Mexico talent and crew rather than focusing exclusively on attracting out-of-state productions. There was significant resistance to this notion at the time, leading to a sizeable dust-up and consequent obstacles to the movie's release.
However, capacity building in the local New Mexico film industry has since been fully implemented, with world-class levels of local talent and crew developed as a result — now a centerpiece of the many reasons out-of-state productions elect to shoot in NM.
Cast & Crew
Starring
Jaime Estrada as Javier Apollinaire
Dr. Alan Rice as Dr. Kurt Morell
David Paytiamo as Lonnie Paytiamo
Jason Rosette as Agent Carl Wisconsin
Featured Cast
Carlos A. Cabarcas — Sanghpop Elpee
Alice Fernando-Ahmie — Alice
John Francis — Pierce Hope
Christopher Hagen — Nervous Guy
Ray Leos — George Boole (voice)
Dug Moore — Radio Interviewer (voice)
Carrie Morrisson — Evil Woman (voice)
Patrick Stayton — Chuck Wing (voice)
Andrew Thomas — Flute Player
Jan van Bangkokus — Evil Man (voice)
Additional Cast
Crew
Produced by Dennis Garber, Judy Henry, Jason Rosette
Music by Little Muddy & Gone Marshall
Edited by Giacomo Ambrosini & Jason Rosette
A Camerado Media Production
Watch Other Films by Jason Rosette
Visit the filmmaker's website at jasonrosette.com
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