FIRE + WATER: 'The Daughters of Fire' & 'In Water'

The FIRE+WATER double bill will couple Hong Sangsoo's "IN WATER" (61 min) with Pedro Costa's "THE DAUGHTERS OF FIRE" (9 min). Both films, fresh of their North American premieres, show consummate artists taking some of the boldest risks of their careers. For Hong it's shooting a feature film in varying focal lengths, a decision that comes fully into focus in the film's indelible final image. For Costa, it's staging a three-screen mini-opera with three incredible performers filmed independently but somehow performing in unison.

"THE DAUGHTERS OF FIRE" by Pedro Costa, 2023, 9 min
Official Selection - Cannes, TIFF, NYFF
Three young sisters are separated by the eruption of Fogo, but they sing: one day, we will know why we live and why we suffer.

"IN WATER" by Hong Sangsoo, 2023, 61 min
Official Selection - Berlinale, NYFF
A trio of friends venture to the rocky shores of a large island to shoot a film together. The director, Seongmo (Shin Seokho), recently gave up acting and has decided to make a film with his own money. His former classmate, Sangguk (Ha Seongguk), will operate the camera and Namhee (Kim Seungyun) will act in it. The only problem: Seongmo hasn’t decided what to make. As he wanders in the rocks and wind, Seongmo searches for a story. What he finds is a young woman picking up trash. And that is all he needs. His most overtly experimental work to date, "In Water" reveals Hong at the height of his allusory powers. The story is simple: three friends set out to make a film, and then they do it. But with bold formal choices and his signature impulse toward the uncanny, Hong evokes infinite mysteries and hints at whole worlds lurking below the surface of everyday reality.

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