The filmmaker Eléonore Huisse captures the moment when a fire is dying, still smoulders underneath the ashes and only flickers occasionally. In the almost static image, the minimal changes within this process are elucidated by her subtle drama, supported by Kassel Jaegers’s soundtrack.

"December 31st, Japan, in the countryside, near Mount Fuji. I was looking for a place to shoot the sun setting and falling below the surrounding mountains when my attention got caught by the sight of some smoke in a field. An old man was burning junk. I set up my camera and shot the fire. Suddenly, a terracotta buddha appeared from the ashes. There’s a tradition in Japan, called Otakiage, that consists of burning lucky charms and talismans to expel evil spirits and start a fresh new year. The old man’s fire wasn’t such a ceremony, but this buddha statue forgotten in a cardboard box, gave a purifying dimension. Once the fire was extinguished, the old man gave me the buddha. Night had come, I had missed the last sunset of the year." (Eléonore Huisse)