Award of Excellence – “Fire in Water” (Austria)

Title: Fire in Water
Runtime: 12 min
Country: Austria
Director: Esther Sophia Artner and Julie Deffet
Placement: Award of Excellence
Competition: December, 2019

Synopsis: In their Villa in Italy, a couple in their 60s, ‘Sofia’ (Madeleine Assas) and ‘Olivier’ (Didier Flamand) are enjoying their regular vacation, the routine of daily life has become second nature. She takes care of him and the house, he is rarely present physically but also mentally and emotionally. When Olivier is denied the career promotion he worked for his whole life, he wakes up, he sees Sofia and decides to change his attitude towards her. Destabilized by his sudden change of attitudes, Sofia experiences the space to face her struggle, the loss of her purpose and she finally breaks through the delusions of their relationship and by her path by frantically painting the villa’s walls red.