Experimental Documentary, 90 mins, DCP, 2023
Dir: Terra Long (Canada / BC)
* Prairie region premiere
Sat Oct 5, 2024 at 7 PM
Venue: Dave Barber Cinematheque
with post screening Q&A with Terra Long
Admission is pay-what-you-can ($5 recommended)
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Terra Long’s experimental documentary takes us to California’s Coachella Valley, where date palms are closely intertwined with local community life, culture, and identity. A sensory meditation akin to a daydream in motion, the film unpacks the way these imported Middle Eastern palm trees have directly or indirectly influenced every aspect of daily life, as well as the region’s economy, gastronomy, and festivities. With its hypnotizing cinematic approach, the visual journey of Feet in Water, Head on Fire sweeps the viewer into a waking dream both mesmerizing and evocative, in which every detail of the landscape reveals layers of memory and meaning. (RIDM)
Feet in Water, Head on Fire was a programming selection made by Jaimz Asmundson, a longtime WNDX Festival Producer, before his untimely death earlier this year. Asmundson described the film as one of his “absolute favourite films of 2023.”
ABOUT TERRA LONG
Terra Long is a filmmaker whose work circles cultural, personal, and natural histories embedded within landscape. Her practice is collaborative, with a commitment to deep listening and material explorations of celluloid. Her work has been shown in festivals including, Toronto International Film Festival, Media City Film Festival, Images Festival, Ann Arbor, CPH: DOX, International Film Festival Rotterdam, EXiS, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival among others.
Long is also a member of the Independent Imaging Retreat Collective (the Film Farm) and F4A Collective, where she shares handmade filmmaking techniques. She frequently collaborates as lead editor on documentary films and regularly acts as an editing consultant. She lives and works on the traditional territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw in the Canadian province of British Columbia.