YDA winner Phoebe Arnstein's immersive film

Director Phoebe Arnstein's short film, We the Bathers, looks at a ritual in which we all partake, but which most of us likely think little about.

Her intimate documentary, which was created for cosmetics brand Lush, and which picked up a Gold Screen award in the Branded Film category at this year's Young Director Award, takes us into the lives of a series of people and explores their relationships with water and the act of bathing. Among others is a pregnant woman who battled prenatal depression by swimming in tidal pool, a homeless woman in Los Angeles who uses bathing facilities on Skid Row to rejuvenate her mind as well as her body, and a Buddhist in Japan who uses a waterfall to separate his mind and body.

The subjects of the film reveal themselves both emotionally and physically in this fascinating portrayal of water and its healing powers. Above, Arnstein discusses the making of the film, how being scared to take the plunge into directing was what propelled her forward, how the people she spoke to for We the Bathers were "extraordinary bodies that have carried life around", and why she fought to keep the nudity in the film for the sake of authenticity.