Trailer for Flames.
In front of the camera, New York City–based multidisciplinary artists Josephine Decker and Zefrey Throwell are way into each other. Before our eyes, that first flush of infatuation smoulders straight into passionate—and mostly naked—crazy love. But the emotional stakes ratchet up when the couple literally throw a dart against a map and take their fragile affair overseas. Not every heart can survive such wild romance—or an ever-present camera. What changes? And why are they filming everything? Co-directors, lovers, but maybe not friends, Decker and Throwell take us to great lengths, including forced editing sessions together and even a therapist, to investigate what went on between them. Conceived of as a short film for MOMA, but extended over five years, this dizzyingly creative observation exposes not only the implosion of a relationship, but the performative quality of all relationships. Is the act of love real or really acting?