Pristine Film

Filmmaker Froukje van Wengerden’s 86-year-old grandmother shares a powerful memory from 1944, when she was just 14. As her story unfolds, we see a group of contemporary 14-year-old girls. Their procession of portraits permits the spectator to see simultaneously forward and back, into the future and towards the past. A miraculous testimonial that uses eye contact to focus the viewer inward and evoke unexpected emotions.

When Imaani enters the swimming pool, she is confronted with the memory of the sexual assault she experience here. In an attempt to leave behind the past, Imaani will have to face her trauma. Anahit, the goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and water, empowers her to confront her trauma through dance and movement. The swimming pool, the dressing room and the showers constitute the stage for this expressive dance tale that deeply affects the viewer.

A documentary crew go out into Philippine agricultural heartland to tail the lives made rich by miracle rice—a prized strain of the grain with almost mythic qualities.