Movie Pick of the Month
Burning Man: AquaBurn
by Director: Bill Breithaupt
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"Aqua Burn" is a documentary by Bill Breithaupt showcasing the "Floating World" theme of 
the 2002 Burning Man Festival. As would be
expected from a film featuring such extraordinary subject matter, "Aqua Burn" is an extraordinary documentary. Aqua Burn captures the energy, spirituality and passion of the annual event.
Aqua Burn explores several different aspects of the Burning Man Festival, from one artist’s adventures creating a life-size 3D zoetrope to an insane sky diving sequence thst will blow your mind away.AquaBurn premiered in New York and London, winning The Coney Island Short Film Festival 2003's Best Documentary Award and the Action/Cut Short Film Festival 2004 Documentary Special Jury Award.
Aqua Burn is an award-winning documentary film by director Bill Breithaupt showcasing "The Floating World" theme of the 2002 Burning Man Festival.Aqua Burn features many of the incredible Burning Man art installations, the imagination and originality that went into their creation, and the artists who conceived them. Unlike conventional documentaries on the Burning Man Festival, Aqua Burn captures the true feeling and excitement of the event itself, transporting the viewer to a hot, dusty wonderland without ever leaving home.
Aqua Burn introduces you to artists like Peter Hudson, who created Sisyphish, a life-size 3D zoetrope of a swimmer, Nate Smith, who conjures a 20 ft. fire tornado, David Best & his crew’s 78 ft. Temple of Joy - a tribute to 9/11, Deirdre DeFranceaux’s beautiful sculpture of singing sirens, Shane Rogers and the Sky People show off their sky diving skills over Black Rock City, Terry Shreck’s glowing metal sculpture Beacon, and Kiki Petit’s incredi ble fire waterfall Egeria.
A few months later, in July of 2002, Burning ManHead of Media Operations, Jim Graham offered Bill Breithaupt a spot in the 1st annual Burning Man Film Festival held in Santa Cruz, CA. This was a surprising request, as Burning Man is known for having strict policies regarding filming at Burning Man and the usage of such footage. Jumping at the opportunity Breithaupt headed to Burning Man for his fourth year in a row, partying with his friends and filming the entire week as usual. Aside from the beautiful time-lapse footage and cinematic shots he’s known for, he also captured some fantastic insight from his fellow burners thanks to the verbal skills of his good friend Scott Sheppard. When he returned home he locked himself in his studio and edited, determined to make his best film yet. With only three weeks between the end of Burning Man 2002 and the day of the film festival, he began burning the midnight oil, editing 14-16 hours straight, rarely sleeping.
At the end of this crazy schedule Breithaupt had edited a total of 180 hours, and was off to the festival without having slept for two days straight. The final result was the film "Aqua Burn". The 300 + audience that packed into the Rio Theater that day were awed. At the end of the film they cheered, then quieted to watch all the credits, and then cheered again, rising to give Breithaupt a standing ovation (at the end of which he thanked his mom). True to form, he filmed the audience’s enthusiastic reaction, and was even quoted as saying “it was one of the best moments of my life”.
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