By the sea, the ancient Greek poet Sappho and the nymph Britomart are talking of love and death. Sappho is supposed to have thrown herself into the ocean from heartbreak. Britomart, to have accidentally fallen into the water from a cliff, while running from a man. Together they discuss the stories and images created around them, hoping to grasp, at least for a moment, the bittersweet nature of desire. An adaptation of “Sea Foam”, a chapter of Cesare Pavese’s book “Dialoghi con Leucò” (1947). The film adapts not only this text, but also its footnotes and lacunae, and introduces a collage of readings and translations, expanding beyond the myths of Sappho and Pavese.

Presented at the Berlin International Film Festival.