“And the Water is Rising” is a videopoem that follows the last three New Yorkers left alive in the moments after a flood washes the city away for good. A meditation on class, nativism, and climate change, the film was shot during the height of the pandemic in December 2020, with one director working from a “high-risk” quarantine bunker and the other working with the team on the ground.
The piece is based on a performance poem developed by writer-performer David Potters while in residence at Bowery Poetry Club. The version of the text that appears in the film functions as a kind of love letter-eulogy for New York through the prism of the pandemic. Captured entirely on 16mm and super 8, the accompanying visuals provide a snapshot of the spectrum of emotions—isolation, grief, and hope—experienced by the city and its inhabitants during one of the most grueling years in living memory.
CREDITS
Written & Performed by: David Potters
Starring: Jason Charles + Emilie Wilde + Max Meneses
Directed & Produced by: Tomi Heady + David Potters
DP: Carmelo Varela
Sound Op: Purav Virdi
PA: Julia Gomez-Kramer
Post Production: Forager Collective
Editor: Sophia Lou
Colorist: Carlos Flores
Color Producer: Maria Webb
Sound Design & Mix: Dominick Michele
Original Music: Davis Whitfield
Title Design: Nick DiPillo
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