In Water
“A youthful trio has convened off-season on the desolate yet beautiful Jeju Island. The director, leading actress, and cinematographer are preparing to shoot a film, yet the subject matter remains unclear. While potential professional and romantic jealousies simmer in the background, Hong Sangsoo instead prioritizes the contingencies of artmaking and inspiration, as the film-within-the-film’s first-time director (Shin Seokho) gradually discovers the melancholy centerpiece of his self-funded passion project. Characteristically small yet enormously touching, Hong’s latest treasure happens upon a simple aesthetic conceit that pays dividends: the image is mostly out of focus, lending each frame a delicate, smudgy impressionistic quality. As the young director’s movie gradually makes itself clear on screen, so does Hong’s vision of the often all-consuming pursuit for artistic meaning. ” -New York Film Festival
screening with The Daughters of FireÂ
“A ghostly oratório from Portuguese auteur Pedro Costa, The Daughters of Fire features a widescreen triptych image of three Cape Verdean women singers, with their separate expressionistic spaces conjoined by a plaintive, haunting song overlapping like a disruptive musical.” -Toronto Film Festival
Pedro Costa | 2023 | In Portuguese with English subtitles | 9 minutes | NR | DCP
