Listen to Fountains by Temuka Zoidze 20587
What if the public fountains could tell their stories? Slovak director Eva Sajanová invites us to pause and truly listen to the urban landscape, offering a playful, witty tour of Bratislava’s forgotten water features.
Her short film, How To Listen To Fountains, is a delightful invitation to experience public spaces from a radically new perspective. It transforms familiar city corners into stages where objects—the fountains themselves—become the main characters, each ready to share the history of their existence.
This whimsical journey peels back the layers of the familiar, forcing viewers to engage with the overlooked details of their environment. It’s a reminder that the beauty of a city is often found not in the grand monuments we celebrate, but in the small, living elements we frequently ignore.
But the narrative moves beyond the aesthetics of water and stone. As political regimes shift and economic systems rapidly reorganize, so too do our urban landscapes. While attention often defaults to celebrated parks and historical statues, a stark reality emerges regarding public spaces in Eastern Europe: many fountains are left to languish, neglected and without water.
Walking through the city, one encounters monumental structures left disused and devoid of life. This documentary turns its focus directly onto these neglected water features, recognizing them as some of the most vulnerable and unprotected parts of our shared public spaces.
The film serves as a poignant commentary on how societal changes impact the infrastructure and care we provide to our urban environments. It prompts a necessary reflection: if we are to value our cities, we must pay attention to every element, even the most overlooked ones.
By treating these neglected fountains as subjects worthy of attention, Eva Sajanová’s work calls us to rethink our relationship with the city—to stop passively observing and start actively listening to the quiet stories unfolding around us. It suggests that true urban appreciation begins with a willingness to see what is forgotten.
Buy on Amazon
Credit
