Waterscape: Illusions2007

In this self-reflexive film, Ann Deborah Levy's camera captures compelling images of a mysterious wilderness lake and its elegant swans. The water serves as a canvas on which upside-down reflections of trees, clouds, and colors in the landscape are acted upon by wind and light to make an ever-changing painting. Against these images and painted illustrations, a woman making a film on swans serves as the focus for an exploration of perceptions of reality as filtered through the human mind in science, mythology, art, and documentary filmmaking; a meditation on illusion and reality. Off-screen voices personify the womans thoughts as she shoots her film and researches and shapes her script: the filmmaker reads from her shooting diary; young girls recount swan myths; a scholar discusses swan symbolism; and supposed 'experts' from across history debate whether swans really sing or not before they die. These distinct yet thematically related scenarios interweave throughout, but never intersect. They float like elements in a dream for the viewer to connect and interpret later on.