Feet in Water, Head on Fire

An invisible line connects California to parts of the Middle East and North Africa, where similar climates provide ideal growing conditions for date palm trees. Using textural 16mm, filmmaker Long surveys the arid California landscape along the San Andreas Fault—from microscopic plant cells to macroscopic pans of the golden mountains—and zooms in on the lives of those whose livelihoods are dependent on the trees’ sweet fruits and the exoticism they lend the region. Interlacing personal stories with historical images, Feet in Water, Head on Fire explores how a landscape and community have been shaped by shifting trends. As one of the film’s subjects says, “the dates will likely survive us all.”