Pour the Water as I Leave

Runtime: 75', 60'

Expected release: May 2023

Production stage: Development, Pre-production

Budget: $784,000

Budget in place: 12,3%

1st feature: Yes

Looking for: Funding, Co-production

Synopsis:

Pour the Water as I Leave is a feature length animated docufiction about the exodus of Bosnian people during the Balkan Civil War in the 1990s. Interviews with eight Bosnians about their experiences of war and refugee life are seamlessly woven into a fictional narrative through animation, dance, prose and soundscape. The narrative flexes and moves between what is real and what is imagined.

Director’s profile:

Daniela Repas is a Bosnian born visual artist based in Portland, Oregon. Her work depicts storytelling through multiple mediums, from drawing and animation to installation and film. She has shown her work nationally and internationally, from New York to New Zealand. She is a recipient of the prestigious Dorothy Lemelson Scholarship and an alumna of the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she earned an MFA in Visual Studies.In 2019 she was a recipient of the Princess Grace Award for film and an IEFTA selected emerging filmmaker. Filmography:Pour the Water As I Leave (2021) feature film: director, writer, animator; Dogs of Home (2020) short film: director, writer, animator, editor, camera; Thank You for Supporting the Arts (2018) feature film: story, editor, camera; Mnemonics (2017) short film: director, writer, animator, editor;Bearing Witness (2016) short film: co-director, writer.

Producer’s profile:

Jessica Daugherty is an award-winning producer of documentary film and television, and co-founder of the production studio, Shrine13. Her films have screened at festivals across the US, Europe and Australia. Her film career started as an Associate Producer for documentary filmmaker, George Stoney. Her documentary feature films include Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust – The Bridge to Russia (Showtime, 2013), and Free to Rock (ARTE 2017) (dir. Jim Brown), Thank You for Supporting the Arts (Blacktop Films) (DOCLA 2018 Best Producer Award). Short film credits include “La Tienda” (Vimeo Staff Pick 2020) (dir. Karina Ripper), “Alto’s Library” (Blacktop Films), “LAVIRRA” (Shine13), and music videos “ARTAX” (Dust On Snow), and “Libations of Oceania” (Nhktar). She is a member of the Documentary Producers Alliance, The Living Theatre, founding member of Al Límite international arts collective, and co-founder of NettNett Radio.

Producer’s Note:

I dedicate my work to art and films that will change and channel the quotidian, colonialist narrative towards an equitable, empathetic, and humane existence. Pour the Water As I Leave is an essential story, not only for Bosnian people, but for all those who have ever been forced to leave their home, and for all those who receive them. The world continues to meet refugees from every corner, and so we cannot share this personal yet universal story quickly enough. This is an Emergency and we must signal through the flames, as Julian Beck said and Antonin Artaud instructs. My role as producer on “Pour the Water As I Leave” will be to build the support structure and add kindling every once in a while.