Among all the sanctuaries around the Sea of Galilee, few positions are as photogenic as this one: a Greek Orthodox church with rose-red domes and white walls, standing in a garden that runs down to the water beside the ruins of Capernaum. The lake fills the horizon behind it, the Golan hills rise across the water, and palms, bougainvillea and peacocks give the enclosure an atmosphere quite unlike the archaeological site next door. The dedication to the Twelve Apostles connects the church to the Gospel accounts set in and around Capernaum, the lakeside town central to the ministry described in the Gospels, whose excavated synagogue and houses lie a short walk away. The film moves between the two neighbouring realities: the archaeological zone, dense with visitors and interpretation, and the Orthodox enclosure, where a very small community keeps its offices and its garden. Shot at first light and at the end of the day, when the domes take colour and the lake goes still, it is a short, contemplative portrait of one of the most recognisable images of the Galilee shore.
