The Landscape Within

Fans of the body painting reality show SKIN WARS will find their palates sated with this visual extravaganza. A labor of love four years in the making, Andrea Capranico's film is a lyrical and spiritual journey of healing through art. In San Carlos City in the province of Negros Occidental, which proudly proclaims itself the queer capital of the Philippines, the openly gay Eric Nui Cabales, a body-painter, costume designer, photographer, and conceptual artist struggles to find new directions after the death of his father. Eric finds inspiration in Kayama, a patch of land owned by his forefathers; the place where the river meets the sea and where everything starts and comes to an end. Enlisting his wide circle of friends, a host of physically gorgeous men and women as models, Eric draws together all his talents to create a new series of one of a kind artworks, the breathtakingly beautiful but temporary body paintings that have made his name. Once ready for photographing, Eric places his intricately painted living canvases against the larger canvas of the lush surrounding landscapes and then allows nature – often within a body of water – to take them back. Though technically a documentary, Capranico's film is a visual and aural feast for the senses – a mind-blowing exploration into the healing properties of art. Recalling the immersive experience of Godfrey Reggio's KOYAANISQATSI and Ron Fricke's BARAKA, THE LANDSCAPE WITHIN truly is the place where art becomes limitless. (Chicago Reeling Film Fest)