Inspired by the research of Masaru Emoto, the film is a dramatic short that explores the metaphysics of water and human relationships. Following a summer romance caught somewhere between the beginning and the end, the film follows a boy and a girl through a day and night in downtown Toronto, searching for love at the end of the world.
Director’s Statement:
There’s something special happening in Toronto right now. There’s a creative energy in this metropolis unlike anywhere else in the world. Where our cultures meet, our identities have been challenged – and in this way our storytelling, creation, and art has evolved. Our city’s music now plays on international airwaves, while a new wave of music videos has been inspired by its growing mythology. We are a shifting entity, a changing landscape – geographically, socially, culturally. We are a city coming into our own on the world stage, and I’ve been lucky enough to be within communities that have helped spur this growth. I believe our city’s next cultural evolution lies in framing this emerging landscape within the world of cinema. This film is about capturing a side of Toronto in the midst of this evolution, and exploring through a story of summer, love and water.
Water fascinates me. It always has. As a filmmaker, my work explores the ever evolving human relationship to water – environmentally, visually, and metaphorically. Water permeates our urban existence in all forms, but loses its magic within its everyday use. It becomes a resource – something outside of us – when it is truly the most crucial part of ourselves. Water is life. Our human bodies are more than half H2O. In fact, the Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto believed that the structural make up of water can actually be affected by human emotions and consciousness, meaning we hold our emotions in the liquid form. His research led me to question how we truly affect each other in everyday interactions and in the ways we learn to love. As the main character, Sands, says, ‘what the fuck is up with tears…’
After the events of this summer 2018, where instances of violence sent ripples of fear throughout Toronto, this film and its message takes on a new significance. How interconnected are we as a city? How do we affect each other in our daily interactions? How powerful can our energy truly be? As if our lives are held in cups, spilling into one another as we make our ways through this world. Our roads become rivers; the city becomes an ocean; we search for our own oasis of peace, caught up on shifting waves. WAYS TO WATER is a film that puts forward a different way of seeing the world around us, and we look forward to sharing it with you.
