From the film-maker:

Turner’s painting is based on an old Greek myth. According to this myth, Leander would swim every night across a stream in order to find his lover, Hero, who lived on the other side. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way.
In the film I tried to keep the light and transform it into a symbol of love in a very simple way, by giving it the shape of a heart. I have taken two elements from the painting: first, the sea, to make a nice picture to animate, and to imply the distance between them, and second the excitement we can see in Hero’s body language. The film has a sad end in a way, as the guy experiences a big disappointment at the end of his journey.

Panagiota Chaidogiannou

A piece inspired by Joseph Mallord William Turner: The Parting of Hero and Leander, before 1837