Watermark is honored to present the short documentary “A Place on the Edge of Breath” at the Rail River Folk School in Bemidji, MN on Saturday, April 1 at 7pm.

Shaawan Francis Keahna, a producer of the documentary, has arranged to screen the film with the Bemidji community at no charge. He will be joined by co-producer Ava Aodha for a discussion following the screening.

Keahna, a cross-disciplinary artist and musician, currently has additional video work on display in Watermark’s Miikanan Gallery in a joint exhibit with emerging collage artist Joan Kauppi entitled Aanikoosijiaade “It is Linked”. A reception for the exhibition artists is scheduled for this Saturday, March 18 from 2 – 4pm at Watermark.

“A place on the Edge of Breath” Synopsis – Short
A duet of the intersecting lives of Ava and Francis over the course of a year, as their relationship evolves with the seasons, from lovers to friends, family, and finally, collaborators. Rejecting the socialization of gender norms from their childhood, they forge a new path towards adulthood, sharing moments of healing together on their journey to a place called home.

“A place on the Edge of Breath” Synopsis – Long
“A Place on the Edge of Breath” allows the viewer along to be a fly on the wall, as Ava and Francis share some of their most intimate moments during transition over the course of a year.

The film’s prologue – a poem that mythologises their childhoods as the time and place where they were one with nature, and connected to themselves – sets up the role that remembering will play throughout their healing process over the course of the film. It acts as an invitation to the viewer, to remember back to a time before society inevitably misshapes and distorts reality.

Over the course of four chapters, designated by the seasons, we witness Ava and Francis discovering a sense of home together, as they move in with Lio’s family, in their bodies, through hormone treatment and gender affirming surgery, and when an unexpected turn in their relationship sets them on their own paths, a renewed sense of home within themselves.

As they go through life’s ebbs and flows together, the feeling of the joy that chosen family can bring, and the power of self-knowledge is unearthed.

Running Time: 29 minutes
Genre: Coming of Age, Documentary, LGBTQ, Short Film
Directed By Veronica Rutledge
Produced By Shaawan Francis Keahna, Ava Aodha and Veronica Rutlege
Edited by Thomas Rivera Montes
Cinematographer Nada Stjepanovic
Composer Camilla Uboldi

Previous showings include the 2022 New Orleans Film Festival.