Scorched Water

The Axolotl is a fascinating creature for a number of reasons, including its grotesque appearance, its ability to regenerate and primarily the fact that it exhibits the phenomenon known as neoteny, meaning that it retains characters of the larval stage all through its adult life. It lives in the lakes surrounding Mexico City and is believed to be immortal. In the film, the Axolotl a.k.a. Mexican walking fish, becomes a metaphor for Mexico City itself, in an essayistic inquiry into survival and adaptation. Alexander Hick: “Beginning with a collection of impressions and quotes about the Axolotl, it´s the film itself that goes through metamorphosis: The places, the people, the protagonists, the atmosphere, everything goes through gradual change. I am interested in documentary filmmaking as a process, where the outcome is at first unpredictable, undefined.‘‘ (Astra Film Festival)