A diptych, dream-like tale of sisterhood, paganism and mourning shot on Super 8 and 4K. A contemporary twist on acid westerns, featuring an original hypnotic score by Kali Malone.

Synopsis
A wanderer poetess announces the death of a horse. Two sisters living secluded in a desert begin to prepare a mourning ritual. Following a mysterious tradition, they work to create a “jar of sorrows”. Sisterhood evolves through a journey of loss.

 

Written and directed by Célia Hay

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Production : Samantha Steele

Cinematography : Célia Hay

Assistant Director : Bradley King

Editing : Célia Hay

Music : Kali Malone

Musicians : Kali Malone, Stephen O’Malley, Lucy Railton

Cast : Laurette Hay, Nairi Mila, Alisha Sofia

Artist's bio

Célia Hay was born in 1991 in Marseille. A graduate of Central Saint Martins in 2016, she lives and works in London.

Her practice combining photography, film and installation weaves performative stories through which her characters accomplish mysterious existential quests, thus freeing themselves from societal constraints. Her films touch on mourning, wandering, and how the loss of words can establish bonds between people at a given moment. There is a notion of fragile balance intrinsic to her work: the act of filming becomes a framework bringing the possibility of an event - perhaps an accident - in the manner of an uncanny ritual. She looks for something that slips from the other and cannot be fully grasped, an inner experience.

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Her work has been presented in various institutions including the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) of London, the Fiminco Foundation for the annual edition of Jeune Création 71 (Pantin), BétonSalon (Paris), the Friche la Belle de Mai for Art-o-rama (Marseille), the Yvon Lambert Collection (Avignon), the Pact Zollverein (Essen), the Kyoto Art Center, and during Plat(t)form 2016 at the Fotomuseum Winterthur.

Her films, produced by ICA London, Channel 4 Random Acts, Abandon Normal Devices, etc. have been shown at international festivals such as London Short Film Festival, FIDMarseille, Aesthetica Short Film Festival.