A 20-minute fever dream where Nico wanders tombs naked chasing fire. You in?
Athanor (Nico) is searching for fire. A flame is always at the foreground. Nico naked in tombs, looking at herself in circular mirrors, Nico in castles, keeper of the fire. Nico and Musky as medieval princesses. Athanor is a film about fire.
Cinematography
Fire as constant foreground presence—primal, beautiful, slightly threatening.
Production
Genuine castles and tombs, zero budget, maximum atmosphere.
Director
Philippe Garrel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Athanor is the alchemist's furnace—Nico literally embodies the process of transmutation. Garrel was 22, obsessed with her, shooting their actual relationship in castle ruins.
This is part of Garrel's 'Zanzibar' films—so named because funding came from a mysterious producer who allegedly dealt hashish. The entire movement was fueled by drugs, aristocratic decay, and beautiful doom.
FR
