Fires Of Katherine
From the Archives
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Animation, Short Films, 20-Jul-2026
In the aftermath of a near-death experience, a young woman finds herself stuck in limbo between two worlds. Izzy Aghahowa directs “Fires of Katherine,” a story-book-like animation featuring fantastic landscapes and pulsing streaks of color. The rules of the world are outlined—there are three lives in a soul’s life, reincarnation occurs after the prior life ends. First, a woman named Maria, deceased 1966; second, a man named Isaac, deceased 2000; and third, still alive, a girl named Katherine. In 2013, Death itself calls for Katherine’s time but somehow she lives. In the aftermath, she’s left with much more than the crack in her skull. Katherine embarks on the ability to live between two planes, taking steps into the vivid lives of those before her. Without any character dialogue, Aghahowa pushes the limits of her craft to an extreme, delivering on an extensive sequence of super-impositions, moody musical ambiences, and what are mostly hand-drawn, two-frame animations. -JM. Director: Izzy Aghahowa. Music: Jay Ragsdale, VOIDLOT, Lola Farnworth, prod. peril, Veronica Manuel, Betty Dwyer. Title Card: Bilqees. Introductory Painting: Allison Pully.
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