Take an artful, startling journey into unexplored regions of feminine sexuality. A sensitive and lyrical film set to become a cult classic as it explores what it considers centuries of patriarchal oppression. The land of feminine pleasures has remained very much 'terra incognita'. Deep Waters opens the door on rare and precious spaces where words are freed.
Alice heit - Director
Filmography:
– “Deep waters”, January 2019.
– “Blood and Light” co-directed with Violaine Picaut, April 2016.
– “Arachne” co-directed with Emmanuel Piton, February 2012.
– “Red”, February 2012.
– “hairy” co-directed with Colas Ricard, September 2012.
– "Spasmes" co-directed with Colas Ricard, October 2012.
– “To the neck” co-directed with Colas Ricard, April 2012.
– “Magma”, May 2012.
– “The night stirs”, June 2012.
– “Sabbath” co-directed with Adrien plantive, June 2012.
ALICE HEIT OFFICAL WEBSITE-
Visit Alice Heit's official site here
Alice Heit is a textile designer, artist, filmmaker, born in 1981. She is a graduate of the National Textile Art school and the National School of Applied Arts and Crafts in Paris. Her works have been exhibited many times in Paris, and her first super 8 short film was presented during the "Etats généraux du film documentaire de Lussas" in August 2012. She works mostly with super 8 films (color or black and white), which she develops herself by hand.
The story of this film began in 2012 following a personal experience. I knew nothing about female ejaculation until having the experience myself. Amazed by the late discovery of this capacity of my body and surprised by the general silence and lack of information available, I felt the need to find out more about this mysterious and obscure subject.
I started by suggesting to friends that we record our discussions not only on this subject but around feminine pleasure in general. I also read all that I could find in books, blogs and even scientific publications...
This work led first of all to the making of a short film, but the recordings I had made revealed themselves to be so rich and passionate that I felt the need to continue the work in more depth. The project thus became part of my life, and every summer between 2013 and 2018 one film shoot succeeded another with the help and support of many women friends.
At the heart of this work I wanted to depict women's bodies that are very much alive and lived in, human. Far from the sexist, standardised patriarchial vision of the female form. Bodies that don't conform, lived in by the beautiful souls of women. I filmed my friends, with respect, admiration, friendship, but also with love; these summers were magnificent times of great intensity, of sharing beauty and sisterhood.
In artistic terms my film shoots spontaneously integrate graphism with form and volume. This work gave rise to a number of animated sequences: body painting, starfish, sea urchins, sand, shapes cut out of paper...
Concerning the soundtrack, my bias was to leave the most space possible to the female voice, in all it's full bodied sober authenticity. The music was entirely created specially for the film, and recorded in part in the crypt of a nearby church which has a particularly interesting acoustic quality and was in ancient times associated with the veneration of a water source. This crypt gave birth to a number of songs, the result of intuitive improvisation. The theme song is a humorous reworking of a well known traditional song the lyrics of which evoke female ejaculation, but this interpretation seems to have been long forgotton. I was helped in all the songs by my many talented friends who joined me.
As the film grew, online contributions helped to finance the purchase and developing of film rolls and the digitalisation process. (In keeping with my spirit of independence and freedom, the film was entirely self funded.)
The film was entirely made in film super 8 colour and black/white, then processed by hand (by me, in my own darkroom). The super 8 is my preferred tool for filming; I love the texture of the images, I like the handling of the camera, I like to able to develop the film myself, and I like the connection to the image, which has a tangible dimension; palpable but also precious because each film only lasts three minutes. This requires diligence and rigorous selection of the scenes.
For the finalisation of the film a post production residence was offered by « Atelier 105 » in Paris, in conjunction with the association « Light Cone ».