Tierra, Agua y la Gente is a Taoseño movie series. It showcases films and conversations about the land, water, and people of Northern New Mexico, curated in collaboration with Alianza Agri-Cultura de Taos, Taos Valley Acequia Association, the NMSU Taos County Extension, and Taos Center for the Arts.

The Milagro Beanfield War was the second film in this series: a tale of how one man’s decision to water his beanfield sparks a community uprising, in the tiny village Milagro in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Filmed mostly in Truchas, this beloved 1988 film blends magical realism, northern New Mexican culture, and timely ecological themes. On August 17th 2025, it screened at TCA to a completely sold-out auditorium filled with laughter, clapping, gasps and overall shared resonance.

Will Jaremko-Wright, Taos County Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agent, introduced the film and moderated a panel conversation between Dr. Sylvia Rodríguez, Olivia Romo, Dr. Soledad Garcia, and Yolanda Silva Lewis.

Dr. Sylvia Rodríguez is a native Taoseña, professor emerita of anthropology and former director of the Alfonso A. Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies at UNM. She is a commissioner on the Acequia de San Antonio in Valdez and a member of the TVAA board of directors. She works collaboratively with acequia organizations and researchers.

Olivia Romo is a farmer, poet, water rights activist, and proud Taoseña. She has dedicated her work to educating and mobilizing New Mexicans around the risks and uncertainties of their natural resources.

Soledad García, Ph.D. is a cultural anthropologist, a graduate of UT Austin 2016, and a musician who reflects on the public spaces and cultural movements related to land-based knowledges in the US southwest / northern Mexican borderlands. Born in the Española Valley, they and their family have been parciantes on the Acequia de los Salazares for more than 6 generations, where they grow various crops in their hoop house and apple orchard.

Yolanda Silva Lewis, is a fifth-generation farmer from Arroyo Seco and mayordoma for the Acequía del Rebalse in Des Montes. Yolanda grows and harvests hay for her cattle, continuing long-standing agricultural traditions in the area.

This program is made possible, in part, thanks to support from the New Mexico Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.