MoMA Presents: Sterlin Harjo’s Barking Water

May 12–17, 2010

MoMA

Barking Water. 2009. USA. Directed by Sterlin Harjo

Native American filmmaker Sterlin Harjo traces the impromptu journey taken by weathered, handsome couple Frankie and Irene as they visit the stations of their fractured relationship. Though their history together has been frequently interrupted, they mean everything to each other, and this wise second feature affectionately travels Oklahoma’s roads, stopping now and then to reveal itself as one of the most moving—yet mature and unsentimental—love stories to have appeared in a long time. With his absorbing shooting rhythms, keen eye for landscape and drama, and two remarkable stars (Richard Ray Whitman and Casey Camp-Horinek), Harjo reinvigorates the notion of a road movie, investing the genre with profound emotion.

Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film.

  • This film series is part of MoMA Presents.
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