Imum Coeli (bottom of the sky) is a film poem starring the wild horses of Vieques. It's a meditative journey from cold San Francisco windows to the idyllic island of Vieques (Puerto Rico), a former US military base where the horses roam free. The Imum Coeli, which in Latin means "bottom of the sky", is a specific point in space in a person's astrological chart. The Imum Coeli refers to our unconscious, private, psychological selves. It symbolizes family roots, our parents — traditionally, the father.
For me, the film came to symbolize my father's passing. It's not a memoriam, it's not really about my father. It's about my experience of his death. Whether I wanted it or not, the carefree footage of the landscapes of Vieques, which I had shot a few months before his death, took on this meaning. Despite this, it is a joyous poem, representing freedom from pain and ultimate liberation.
Imum Coeli (bottom of the sky) was the official selection in short programs of the Chicago Underground Film Festival, Antimatter, the Portugal Underground Film Festival and the Oakland Underground Film Festival, in 2011 and 2012.
6 minutes, 16mm on HD digital video, 2011